London's public transport is divided into fare zones, numbered from Zone 1 in the centre to Zone 9 on the edge of the city. Your Tube and rail fare depends on which zones you travel through, but most of the major sights are in Zone 1 or 2, and for Zones 1-2 the daily cap is £8.90 with contactless or Oyster.
Think of the zones as rings around the centre. Zone 1 covers the West End, Westminster, the City of London and the South Bank. Zone 2 wraps around it and includes areas such as Camden Town, Canary Wharf and Brixton. The rings carry on outwards, and National Rail calls the whole area from Zone 1 to Zone 9 the "London Zonal Area".
Zones only matter on the Tube, the DLR, the London Overground, the Elizabeth line and trains within London. Buses and trams ignore them: every bus journey costs the same flat fare, however far you go. So if you are wondering whether a hotel in Zone 3 will cost you more to get around, the answer depends on how often you use the Tube and trains, not the bus.
London fare zones in brief
- Number of zones
- 1 (centre) to 9 (edge of London)
- Daily cap, Zones 1-2
- £8.90 (contactless or Oyster)
- Daily cap, Zones 1-6
- £16.30
- Heathrow Airport
- Zone 6
- London City Airport
- Zone 3
- Buses and trams
- No zones: £1.75 flat fare (rising to £1.85 on 1 November 2026)
How zones decide the price of a journey
When you touch in and out with a contactless card, phone or Oyster card, the system works out which zones your journey used and whether you travelled at peak or off-peak times. More zones usually means a higher fare.
Peak times are Monday to Friday (not public holidays), 06:30 to 09:30 and 16:00 to 19:00. Everything else is off-peak, including weekends. A journey from outside Zone 1 into Zone 1 between 16:00 and 19:00 also counts as off-peak.
| Example journey (adult, pay as you go) | Zones | Peak | Off-peak |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oxford Circus to Piccadilly Circus | 1 | £3.10 | £3.00 |
| Oxford Circus to Camden Town | 1-2 | £3.10 | £3.00 |
| Oxford Circus to Brixton | 1-2 | £3.60 | £3.10 |
| Bank to London City Airport (DLR) | 1-3 | £3.90 | £3.30 |
| Oxford Circus to Uxbridge | 1-6 | £5.90 | £4.00 |
These fares apply from 5 July 2026. A paper single ticket costs £7.00 for any journey within Zones 1-6, which is why almost nobody should buy one.
The same zones do not always mean the same fare
Look at the table again. Camden Town and Brixton are both in Zone 2, yet the fare from Oxford Circus is different. TfL prices some Zone 2 stations as if they were in Zone 1, so a "Zones 1-2 fare" is not one fixed number. If you will make the same journey several times, check it on TfL's Single Fare Finder, which gives the exact price between any two stations.
Which zones the main sights are in
Most visitors spend nearly all their time in Zones 1 and 2. The table below lists the zone of the station you would use for popular places, taken from TfL's station data.
| Station | Zone | For |
|---|---|---|
| Westminster, Leicester Square, Tower Hill, London Bridge | 1 | Parliament, the West End, the Tower, Borough Market |
| Baker Street, King's Cross St. Pancras, Paddington | 1 | Madame Tussauds, Eurostar, Heathrow trains |
| Battersea Power Station, Shoreditch High Street | 1 | Battersea, Shoreditch |
| Notting Hill Gate, Earl's Court, Vauxhall | 1 and 2 (boundary) | Portobello Road, Kensington, Vauxhall |
| Camden Town, St. John's Wood, Canary Wharf, Brixton, Hammersmith | 2 | Camden Market, Abbey Road, Docklands, Brixton |
| Cutty Sark (DLR), Greenwich, North Greenwich, Stratford, Hampstead | 2 and 3 (boundary) | Greenwich, the O2, Olympic Park, Hampstead Heath |
| Southfields, Wimbledon, Royal Victoria, Tottenham Hale | 3 | Wimbledon tennis, the cable car, Stansted trains |
| Kew Gardens | 3 and 4 (boundary) | Kew Gardens |
| Richmond, Wembley Park | 4 | Richmond, Wembley Stadium |
| Heathrow stations, Hampton Court | 6 | Heathrow Airport, Hampton Court Palace |
A few stations sit on the boundary between two zones, such as Greenwich and Hampstead. Exact fares to and from them are easiest to check with the Single Fare Finder.
In practice, a stay in central London with day trips to Greenwich, Kew Gardens or Richmond means using Zones 1 to 4 on those days, and the cap for that day rises accordingly.
Daily and weekly caps by zone
Caps are what make the zone system easy for visitors. Once your fares in one day reach the cap for the zones you used, the rest of that day's Tube, rail and bus journeys in those zones are free. The travel day runs from 04:30 to 04:29 the next morning. The same card or device must be used all day.
| Zones | Daily cap | Weekly cap (Monday to Sunday) |
|---|---|---|
| Zone 1 only, or Zones 1-2 | £8.90 | £44.70 |
| Zones 1-3 | £10.50 | £52.50 |
| Zones 1-4 | £12.80 | £64.20 |
| Zones 1-5 | £15.30 | £76.40 |
| Zones 1-6 | £16.30 | £81.60 |
| Zones 1-9 | £23.30 peak / £16.30 off-peak | £116.40 |
| Bus and tram only | £5.25 | £24.70 |
The Tube and rail caps are frozen until March 2027. The bus-only daily cap rises to £5.55 on 1 November 2026. Notice that Zone 1 on its own and Zones 1-2 share the same £8.90 cap, so staying in Zone 2 costs nothing extra on a day when you hit the cap anyway. Our guide to Oyster, contactless and fare capping explains how the caps are calculated.
A hotel in Zone 2 can cost the same to travel from as one in Zone 1. Because the daily cap for Zones 1-2 is the same as for Zone 1 alone, a family staying near a Zone 2 station pays no more on a busy sightseeing day. Moving out to Zone 3 raises the cap to £10.50, which still may be worth it if the room is much cheaper. Compare areas in our guide to the best areas to stay in London.
What a family pays by zone
Zones affect adults far more than children. Children aged 5 to 10 travel free on the Tube, DLR, Overground and Elizabeth line with a fare-paying adult (up to four children per adult), and free on buses and trams. Children aged 11 to 15 can get the Young Visitor discount added to an Oyster card, which halves adult pay as you go fares and daily caps for up to 14 days.
Here is how a busy day might look for two adults with children aged 8 and 13, using contactless for the adults and an Oyster card with the Young Visitor discount for the teenager:
- A day in Zones 1-2: two adults at the £8.90 cap = £17.80, plus half the cap for the 13-year-old (£4.45), and nothing for the 8-year-old. Total £22.25.
- A day that includes Kew Gardens (Zones 1-4): two adults at £12.80 = £25.60, plus £6.40 for the teenager. Total £32.00.
The teenager's Oyster card costs £10.50 once, which is not refunded. Our guide to children's fares covers the rules for every age.
Airports and the zones
Two of London's airports are inside the zones. Heathrow's stations are in Zone 6, but there is a catch: every Tube and Elizabeth line journey to or from Heathrow that starts, ends or passes through Zone 1 is charged the peak fare at all times. The Piccadilly line from Zone 1 costs £5.90 at any hour, and the Elizabeth line costs £15.50 from Zone 1. Both count towards the daily cap. Heathrow Express (£26.00) does not. Our comparison of routes from Heathrow to central London sets them side by side.
London City Airport is in Zone 3, and the DLR from Bank costs £3.90 at peak times or £3.30 off-peak.
Gatwick, Stansted and Luton are outside the zones. You can still pay as you go on some of their train services: contactless and Oyster work between Gatwick and London, and contactless (but not Oyster) works on the Stansted Express and on trains to Luton Airport Parkway. These fares are set separately. Southern and Thameslink from central London to Gatwick cost £19.20 at peak times and £10.70 off-peak, while Gatwick Express costs £24.00 and is not included in caps or Travelcards. Our Gatwick guide explains which train to take.
Beyond Zone 9: where pay as you go still works
Pay as you go does not stop exactly at the Zone 9 boundary. TfL lists National Rail stations beyond Zone 9 where contactless or Oyster is accepted, including Watford Junction, Shenfield and the stations between Iver and Reading on the Elizabeth line. Oyster is not accepted between Iver and Reading, but contactless is.
Watford Junction matters to many visitors because it is the station for the Warner Bros. Studio Tour, about 20 minutes from Euston, and the studio says Oyster is valid there. Amersham, at the far end of the Metropolitan line, is in Zone 9.
Contactless does not reach Windsor. South Western Railway says Oyster and contactless are not valid on its trains to Windsor. If you are planning a day trip to Windsor Castle, buy a train ticket before you board, or check the ticket options for the route through Slough on the operator's website.
Saving money by thinking about zones
A few habits keep your fares down without any extra effort.
- Avoid Zone 1 when you don't need it. Journeys that go around the centre instead of through it can be cheaper. When you change trains on a route that avoids Zone 1, touch your card on the pink card reader at the interchange so the system knows your route.
- Travel after 09:30 on weekdays. Off-peak fares apply to most Tube journeys, and in Zones 1-6 the daily cap is the same at any time, so an early start costs more only until you hit the cap.
- Group your outer-zone trips. Visiting Kew and Richmond on the same day means you pay the Zones 1-4 cap once, instead of raising your cap on two separate days.
- Use the bus for short hops. A bus costs £1.75, and within an hour further buses are free with the Hopper fare.
If you are comparing pay as you go with a paper ticket, our guide to Travelcards and railcard discounts explains when a Day Travelcard still makes sense. For most visitors it does not: a Zones 1-6 Anytime Day Travelcard costs £23.60, against a pay as you go cap of £16.30.
Reading the zones on the Tube map
The standard Tube map shows the zones as numbered bands, and stations on a zone boundary are drawn on the line between two of them. The map is not to scale, so two stations that look far apart may be a short walk from each other, and zone boundaries are not a guide to walking distance. For the lines themselves, see our visitor's guide to the Underground, and for the newest cross-city line, our Elizabeth line guide.
Frequently asked questions
What zone is central London in?
Central London is in Zone 1. It includes Westminster, the West End, the City of London, the South Bank and main line stations such as King's Cross St. Pancras, Paddington and London Bridge. Areas just outside it, such as Camden Town and Canary Wharf, are in Zone 2.
What zone is Heathrow Airport in?
Heathrow's stations are in Zone 6. Tube and Elizabeth line journeys to or from Heathrow that start, end or pass through Zone 1 are always charged the peak fare, which is £5.90 on the Piccadilly line and £15.50 on the Elizabeth line from Zone 1.
Do I pay more if my hotel is in Zone 2?
Usually not. The daily cap for Zones 1-2 is £8.90, the same as for Zone 1 only, so on a day with several Tube journeys you pay the same. Single fares from some Zone 2 stations are slightly higher, which matters only if you make one or two journeys a day.
Do buses in London use zones?
No. Buses and trams charge a flat fare of £1.75 (rising to £1.85 on 1 November 2026), however far you travel, and the Hopper fare makes further bus and tram journeys within one hour free. The bus and tram daily cap is £5.25.
Which zones do I need for a normal sightseeing trip?
For most first-time visitors, Zones 1 and 2 cover almost everything. Add Zone 3 or 4 for days in Greenwich, Wimbledon, Kew or Richmond, and Zone 6 for Heathrow or Hampton Court. With contactless or Oyster you do not need to choose in advance: the cap adjusts to the zones you actually use.
Sources
- Transport for London - Tube and rail fares (checked September 2026)
- Transport for London - Fare capping (checked September 2026)
- Transport for London - Fares beyond Zone 9 (checked September 2026)
- Transport for London - Unified API, StopPoint data (station zones) (checked September 2026)
- National Rail - Tickets in London: Oyster, contactless and Travelcards (checked September 2026)
- South Western Railway - Trains to Windsor Castle (checked September 2026)
- Warner Bros. Studio Tour London - Getting here (checked September 2026)