A London Travelcard is a ticket that gives unlimited travel in chosen zones for a day or longer. For most visitors, contactless or Oyster pay as you go is cheaper, because the daily cap is lower than a Day Travelcard. A paper Travelcard still pays off in a few cases, above all when it lets two people claim National Rail's 2FOR1 entry offers at London attractions.
Before contactless payment and daily caps existed, the Travelcard was the standard way for tourists to get around: you bought one ticket in the morning and used the Tube, buses and trains all day. It still exists in two main forms. The Day Travelcard is a paper ticket. The 7 Day Travelcard (and longer versions) is loaded onto an Oyster card.
Today the maths has changed. A Zones 1-2 day on contactless costs at most £8.90, while the cheapest paper Day Travelcard costs £16.60. So the question for visitors is not "Should I buy a Travelcard?" but "Is there a specific reason a Travelcard helps me?". This guide goes through those reasons, and explains how UK railcards and the 2FOR1 offers fit in.
Travelcard prices, adult (2026)
- Anytime Day Travelcard, Zones 1-4
- £16.60
- Anytime Day Travelcard, Zones 1-6
- £23.60
- Off-Peak Day Travelcard, Zones 1-6
- £16.60
- 7 Day Travelcard, Zones 1-2
- £44.70 (on Oyster only)
- Pay as you go daily cap, Zones 1-2
- £8.90
- Pay as you go daily cap, Zones 1-6
- £16.30
What a Travelcard covers
A Travelcard gives unlimited travel on the Tube, DLR, London Overground, Elizabeth line and National Rail within the zones printed on it. It is valid on all London buses, whatever the zones. On trams, it is valid if it includes Zone 3, 4, 5 or 6. If you travel beyond your zones, you need an extension ticket or pay as you go credit for the extra part.
A Day Travelcard also covers journeys that start before 04:30 the next morning, which is handy after a late night. There are two versions. The Anytime Day Travelcard can be used all day. The Off-Peak Day Travelcard can be used from 09:30 on weekdays and all day at weekends and on bank holidays.
Some services are never included: Heathrow Express, Gatwick Express, Southeastern high-speed trains, the Uber Boat river bus and the IFS Cloud Cable Car are outside Travelcards and caps alike.
Day Travelcard or daily cap: the numbers
The pay as you go daily cap works like an automatic Day Travelcard: once your contactless or Oyster fares reach the cap, the rest of the day is free. And in almost every case the cap is cheaper.
| Zones | Daily cap (contactless or Oyster) | Anytime Day Travelcard | Off-Peak Day Travelcard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zones 1-2 | £8.90 | £16.60 | £16.60 |
| Zones 1-3 | £10.50 | £16.60 | £16.60 |
| Zones 1-4 | £12.80 | £16.60 | £16.60 |
| Zones 1-5 | £15.30 | £23.60 | £16.60 |
| Zones 1-6 | £16.30 | £23.60 | £16.60 |
| Zones 1-9 | £23.30 peak / £16.30 off-peak | £29.80 | £17.80 |
Even in Zones 1-6, where the off-peak paper ticket comes closest, the cap is 30p cheaper and needs no queue at a ticket machine. TfL's own Visitor Oyster page says pay as you go is cheaper than a Day Travelcard. These Tube and rail prices are frozen until March 2027. Our guide to Oyster, contactless and daily caps explains the rules, and our page on London's travel zones shows which zones you are likely to need.
When a paper Travelcard still makes sense
There are four situations where we would still buy a Day Travelcard:
- You want the 2FOR1 offers. A paper Travelcard bought at a National Rail station counts as a valid train ticket for National Rail's 2FOR1 attraction deals. Contactless and Oyster do not. This is the most common reason, and it is covered in detail below.
- You hold a railcard that cannot go on Oyster. Two Together, Network, and Family & Friends railcards only give a discount on paper Off-Peak Day Travelcards.
- You are arriving from outside London. From the home counties and further afield on some routes, National Rail sells a return ticket that includes a One Day Travelcard. Check the National Rail journey planner to see if your route offers this.
- You have no way to pay as you go. If your card does not work and you do not want an Oyster card, a paper ticket is a simple fallback.
Paper Day Travelcards are sold from ticket machines at Tube, DLR, Overground, Elizabeth line and National Rail stations, and from ticket offices at Overground, Elizabeth line and National Rail stations. Where you buy it matters for 2FOR1, as the next section explains.
2FOR1 offers: how a Travelcard can pay for itself
National Rail's Days Out Guide offers 2FOR1 entry and other discounts at attractions across Great Britain, including London, when you travel by train. The basic deal: one adult pays the full adult price and a second person gets in free. The offer is open to visitors as well as residents, and it can be used with railcard-discounted tickets.
The catch is the ticket. You must show a valid National Rail train ticket for each person. According to the Days Out Guide, valid tickets include Advance, Anytime and Off-Peak National Rail tickets, Gatwick Express and Stansted Express tickets, and Travelcards bought from a National Rail station. The following are not valid:
- Oyster cards
- Bank cards and phone payment apps used for contactless journeys
- Travelcards sold at London Underground or DLR stations
- Tube, DLR or bus-only tickets
- Heathrow Express tickets and Eurostar tickets
The simplest check is the National Rail double-arrow symbol on the ticket. For London attractions, tickets showing "London Terminals" are accepted, so a paper Day Travelcard from a main line station ticket office or machine is the usual way to qualify. Our guide to London's main railway stations shows where they are.
Your airport train ticket may already qualify for 2FOR1. A National Rail ticket from Gatwick or Stansted, including Gatwick Express and Stansted Express tickets, counts as a valid train ticket. If it is a return, the Days Out Guide says it qualifies on any day from your outward date to your return date. Keep the paper ticket, and ask staff to let you through the barrier by hand so the machine does not swallow it.
How to claim the offer
- Choose an attraction on daysoutguide.co.uk and read its own conditions.
- Either book the 2FOR1 tickets online in advance, or download and print a voucher. One printed voucher covers two people; vouchers shown on a phone are not accepted.
- Travel by train with a valid ticket for each person.
- Show the voucher or booking and both train tickets at the entrance.
Offers usually apply to the full adult "on the door" price, which can be higher than the attraction's online price. If a family buys an adult and a concession ticket together, the cheaper one is deducted. You can use one train ticket for several attractions on the same day.
A worked example for a couple
Two adults spend a day in Zones 1-2. On contactless they would pay at most £8.90 each, £17.80 in total. Two Off-Peak Day Travelcards from a National Rail station cost £33.20, so the paper tickets cost £15.40 more. That extra is recovered if the 2FOR1 saving is larger. National Rail has named the London Eye among its Days Out Guide partners, and its walk-up price is £39. If it is on the list when you visit, one free walk-up entry more than covers the difference. Check the current list, as partners change.
If you would otherwise travel to Zones 3 or 4 that day, the gap shrinks to £7.60, because the Zones 1-4 cap is £12.80 each. Compare this with a sightseeing pass: our review of whether the London Pass is worth it works through the same kind of sums.
Railcards: which ones help in London
A railcard is a UK discount card for train travel. Most cost £35 for one year or £80 for three, and give one third off most National Rail fares. For London transport, what matters is whether the railcard can be added to an Oyster card.
| Railcard | Can go on Oyster? | What you get in London |
|---|---|---|
| 16-25, 26-30, Senior, HM Forces, Veterans | Yes | 1/3 off off-peak pay as you go and lower off-peak caps; discounted Off-Peak Day Travelcards |
| Disabled Persons Railcard | Yes | 1/3 off peak and off-peak pay as you go |
| Two Together, Network, Family & Friends | No | Discount on paper Off-Peak Day Travelcards only |
Staff add a railcard to an Oyster card at Tube stations, some Overground and Elizabeth line stations, or Oyster Ticket Stops; you must show the railcard. Railcard discounts do not work with contactless bank cards. With a railcard on Oyster, the off-peak daily cap for Zones 1-2 falls to £5.90, and for Zones 1-6 to £10.85. Peak caps stay at the adult level.
Can overseas visitors buy a railcard?
Yes, for some railcards. The 16-25 Railcard and the Two Together Railcard can be bought online by overseas visitors as digital railcards. The Two Together card can also be bought at Gatwick, Stansted and Luton Airport Parkway stations, but not at Heathrow.
For a young traveller aged 16 to 25, a 16-25 Railcard on Oyster can make sense on a longer stay, especially if it is also used for day trips by train. For a couple, a Two Together Railcard brings an Off-Peak Day Travelcard for Zones 1-6 down to £11.00 each. That is £22.00 for two, compared with £17.80 on contactless in Zones 1-2 or £25.60 in Zones 1-4. The £35 railcard pays for itself mainly on longer train journeys, such as day trips out of London. Our guide to buying UK train tickets explains Advance and Off-Peak fares, and railcard minimum fares and time restrictions.
7 Day Travelcards and longer stays
A 7 Day Travelcard runs for seven days from the day you choose, and must be loaded onto an Oyster card (not a contactless card). The price equals the weekly cap: £44.70 for Zones 1-2.
Pay as you go already gives you a weekly cap on both contactless and Oyster, but only over a fixed Monday to Sunday week. If your stay runs from, say, Thursday to the following Wednesday, you may never reach the weekly cap in either calendar week. TfL suggests a 7 Day Travelcard in that case. For a full week of heavy use in Zones 1-2, seven days of daily caps would cost £62.30, so a 7 Day Travelcard at £44.70 saves £17.60, less the £10.50 cost of an Oyster card if you don't have one. The Visitor Oyster card is one way to get the card before you arrive.
Children, groups and families
Children aged 5 to 10 travel free on buses and trams, and free on the Tube, DLR, Overground and Elizabeth line with a fare-paying adult (up to four children per adult), so they do not need a Travelcard. Children aged 11 to 15 can get the Young Visitor discount on Oyster, which halves adult pay as you go fares and caps for up to 14 days. TfL also sells child Travelcards online for 11 to 15-year-olds. Our guide to children's fares has the details.
Groups of ten or more travelling together can buy a Group Day Travelcard, valid from 09:30 on weekdays and all day at weekends and on bank holidays. It costs £11.00 per adult and £5.50 per under-16 for Zones 1-6, or £11.60 and £5.80 for Zones 1-9. Free travel for 5-10-year-olds does not apply with Group Day Travelcards.
Travelcards on the river
TfL says a Travelcard gives one third off river boat fares on some services, and most sightseeing river tours offer a similar discount. On the Uber Boat river bus, the Travelcard rate is applied automatically if the Travelcard is on your Oyster card. The saving against pay as you go is smaller than "one third" suggests, though: an off-peak Central zone trip costs £9.90 on pay as you go and £9.60 with a Travelcard (fares valid until 31 October 2026). For the tourist boats, see our guide to Thames river cruises.
BritRail passes stop at the Tube barrier. Overseas visitors with a BritRail pass can use National Rail trains in London, including Gatwick Express and Heathrow Express on the Great Britain pass, but the pass does not cover the Underground or trams. The BritRail London Plus Pass also covers National Rail only. You will still need contactless, Oyster or a Travelcard for the Tube.
Our advice in short
Use contactless or Oyster by default. Buy a paper Off-Peak Day Travelcard at a National Rail station on the days you plan a 2FOR1 visit, and only if the saving is larger than the extra fare. Add a railcard to Oyster only if you already have one that qualifies, or if you are aged 16 to 25 and staying a while. For more ways to cut costs, see our guide to London on a budget.
Frequently asked questions
Is a Day Travelcard cheaper than contactless in London?
Almost never. The pay as you go daily cap for Zones 1-2 is £8.90, while the cheapest Day Travelcard costs £16.60. Even for Zones 1-6, the cap (£16.30) is lower than the Off-Peak Day Travelcard (£16.60). A paper Travelcard is worth it mainly for the 2FOR1 offers or a railcard discount.
Can I use contactless or Oyster for 2FOR1 offers?
No. The Days Out Guide says Oyster cards and bank cards or phones used for contactless journeys are not valid for its offers. You need a National Rail ticket for each person, such as a paper Travelcard bought at a National Rail station, an Off-Peak or Advance ticket, or a Gatwick Express or Stansted Express ticket.
Can a tourist buy a UK railcard?
Overseas visitors can buy the 16-25 Railcard and the Two Together Railcard online as digital railcards. The Two Together card is also sold at Gatwick, Stansted and Luton Airport Parkway stations, but not at Heathrow. Most railcards cost £35 for a year.
Can I put a 7 Day Travelcard on my contactless card?
No. 7 Day Travelcards can only be loaded onto an Oyster card. Contactless has its own Monday to Sunday weekly cap instead, which works well if your stay matches a calendar week but not if it runs, for example, from Thursday to Wednesday.
Does a Travelcard work on the Heathrow Express?
No. Heathrow Express and Gatwick Express are not included in Travelcards or pay as you go caps. The Piccadilly line and the Elizabeth line are the TfL routes to Heathrow, and our comparison of Heathrow transfer options sets out the prices.
Sources
- Transport for London - Travelcards and group tickets (checked September 2026)
- Transport for London - Adult caps and Travelcard prices 2026 (PDF) (checked September 2026)
- Transport for London - National Railcard discount (checked September 2026)
- National Rail - Tickets in London: Oyster, contactless and Travelcards (checked September 2026)
- National Rail Days Out Guide - Train fares, discounts and ticket validity (checked September 2026)
- National Rail Days Out Guide - Terms and conditions (checked September 2026)
- National Rail - Railcards (checked September 2026)
- BritRail - Eligibility and conditions of use (checked September 2026)