The London Underground, or "the Tube", is the fastest way to cross central London for most visitors: 11 colour-coded lines, trains every few minutes on the busiest sections, and a simple way to pay by touching a contactless card or Oyster card on the gates. Learn to read the map, avoid the weekday rush hours and follow a few unwritten rules, and it quickly becomes easy.
Underground, Tube, subway or metro: what to call it
The Tube is London's metro system, and the two words most visitors arrive with are the two that cause trouble. Londoners say the Tube, or the Underground on signs and announcements; almost nobody says metro. Do not say subway: in British English a subway is a pedestrian tunnel under a road, so asking for one will send you down a staircase and back up the other side of the street.
Most of it runs in tunnels under the centre, while the outer ends of many lines run above ground through the suburbs. Each line has a name and a colour on the map, such as the red Central line or the light blue Victoria line, and trains on each line run in two directions, labelled by where they are heading.
You do not need a paper ticket. You touch your card or phone on the yellow reader when you go through the gates, and touch the same card again on the way out. The system charges the right fare and stops charging once you reach the daily limit, called the cap. The rest of this guide explains how to plan a journey, when to travel, what it costs and how to fit in with the people around you.
The Tube in numbers (September 2026)
- Lines
- 11 Underground lines, plus the separate Elizabeth line, DLR and London Overground on the same map
- Zone 1 single, pay as you go
- £3.10 peak, £3.00 off-peak
- Paper single ticket, Zones 1-6
- £7.00
- Daily cap, Zones 1-2
- £8.90
- Peak hours
- Monday to Friday, 06:30-09:30 and 16:00-19:00 (not public holidays)
- Step-free stations
- 95 Tube stations
- Night Tube
- Friday and Saturday nights on five Tube lines
The 11 lines and the colours on the map
The Underground has 11 lines: Bakerloo (brown), Central (red), Circle (yellow), District (green), Hammersmith & City (pink), Jubilee (grey), Metropolitan (purple), Northern (black), Piccadilly (dark blue), Victoria (light blue) and Waterloo & City (turquoise). The first section, now part of the Metropolitan line, opened in 1863, which makes it the oldest underground railway in the world.
The lines fall into two families. The "sub-surface" lines (Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan) were dug just below street level, and their trains are larger and air-conditioned. The deep "tube" lines, such as the Central, Northern, Piccadilly and Victoria, run in narrow round tunnels far below the city. Their trains are smaller, and in summer they can feel hot and stuffy.
The map also shows lines that are not strictly the Underground: the purple Elizabeth line, the teal Docklands Light Railway and the orange London Overground lines. You pay for them the same way and change between them freely. Our guides to the Elizabeth line across London and to the DLR and the Overground explain how they differ from the Tube.
Reading the Tube map without getting lost
The Tube map is a diagram, not a street map. Harry Beck's design from 1933 straightened the lines and spread out the stations so the network is easy to follow, but it distorts distance. Some stations that look far apart on the map are a short walk from each other above ground. Leicester Square and Covent Garden are the classic example: the walk between them is often quicker than the train.
Three things on the map matter most:
- Interchange circles. A white circle means you can change lines there. Some changes involve long walks through tunnels, so a route with one change is not always faster than a route with two.
- Branches. Several lines split into branches. The Northern line has two routes through the centre (via Charing Cross or via Bank) and several ends in the north. Always check the destination on the front of the train and on the platform display.
- Zones. The grey and white bands show fare zones. Most sights are in Zone 1, and many hotels are in Zones 1 and 2. Our explainer on how London's travel zones work shows where the boundaries fall.
TfL publishes the current map, including large-print and step-free versions, on its Tube maps page. For live planning, TfL's own Journey Planner and the TfL Go app show the route, the platforms and any disruptions.
How to make a journey, step by step
- Find your line and direction. Signs show the line colour and the direction, such as "Northbound" or "Eastbound", often with a list of the stations that platform serves.
- Touch in at the gates. Hold your contactless card, phone or Oyster card flat on the yellow reader until the gate opens. Use the same card or device for the whole day.
- Check the platform display. It shows the destination of the next trains and how many minutes away they are. On branched lines, this is where you confirm your train goes the right way.
- Mind the gap. At some curved platforms there is a wide gap between the train and the edge. You will hear the famous announcement, and it is meant seriously.
- Touch out at your destination. If you forget, you are charged a maximum fare, which does not count towards the daily cap.
At a few stations the exit gates are left open, or there are no gates at all. Look for a standalone yellow reader and touch out there. When changing to some rail lines outside Zone 1, you may also see pink readers: touching one tells the system you took a cheaper route that avoided Zone 1.
What the Tube costs
Fares depend on the zones you travel through and the time of day. A trip inside Zone 1 costs £3.10 at peak times and £3.00 off-peak with contactless or Oyster (fares from 5 July 2026). A paper single for the same journey costs £7.00, so buying paper tickets makes little sense.
| Example journey | Peak | Off-peak |
|---|---|---|
| Oxford Circus to Piccadilly Circus (Zone 1) | £3.10 | £3.00 |
| Oxford Circus to Camden Town (Zones 1-2) | £3.10 | £3.00 |
| Oxford Circus to Brixton (Zones 1-2) | £3.60 | £3.10 |
| Oxford Circus to Uxbridge (Zones 1-6) | £5.90 | £4.00 |
| Piccadilly Circus to Heathrow (Piccadilly line) | £5.90 | £5.90 |
The daily cap is what keeps a sightseeing day cheap. However many trips you make, you will not pay more than £8.90 in a day for travel in Zones 1-2, or £16.30 for Zones 1-6. A couple using separate cards would pay at most £17.80 between them for a busy day in the centre. Children aged 5 to 10 travel free with a fare-paying adult (up to four per adult), which our guide to children's fares explains in full.
Contactless and Oyster charge exactly the same fares. The Oyster card itself costs £10.50, which is not refunded, so a contactless card is usually the cheaper choice. The comparison in Oyster or contactless: which to use covers the details, including bank fees on foreign cards. Current fares for any journey are on TfL's Single Fare Finder.
Two devices mean two maximum fares. Touching in with your phone and out with your watch, or with a plastic card from the same account, looks like two unfinished journeys to the system. Choose one card or device for the whole trip, and keep your phone charged so it still works at the exit gate.
Peak hours and the quietest times to travel
Peak hours are 06:30 to 09:30 and 16:00 to 19:00, Monday to Friday, except on public holidays. Fares are a little higher then, but the bigger problem is space. Lines into the City and Canary Wharf, and big interchanges such as King's Cross, Bank, Oxford Circus and Waterloo, can be so full that you have to let a train or two pass.
If your plans are flexible, start sightseeing after 09:30 and return to your hotel before 16:00 or after 19:00. Weekends are off-peak all day, although the West End gets busy on Saturday afternoons. Travelling from outside Zone 1 into Zone 1 between 16:00 and 19:00 also counts as off-peak, which helps if you are heading into the centre for dinner or a show.
Most lines run from early morning until around midnight. On Friday and Saturday nights, five lines keep going through the night. Our guide to the Night Tube and its routes lists which sections run.
Tube etiquette: the rules nobody writes down
Londoners are patient with visitors, but a few habits make the Tube work for everyone. Following them also makes your own journey easier.
- Stand on the right on escalators. The left side is for people walking up or down. Standing on the left, especially with a suitcase, is the single most common visitor mistake.
- Move away from the gates. Have your card ready before you reach the barrier, and step to the side if you need to stop and check your phone or map.
- Let people off first. Stand to the side of the doors, not in front of them, until passengers have got off.
- Move down inside the carriage. Do not stay by the doors if there is space further in.
- Take off your backpack in a crowded train and hold it at your feet.
- Offer your seat to people who need it more. Some passengers wear a "Please offer me a seat" badge.
- Keep conversations quiet. Silence is normal on the Tube, and phone calls are not welcome in a packed carriage.
Eating a snack is fine, but hot, smelly food is frowned upon. Drinking alcohol and carrying open containers of alcohol are banned on TfL services. For more on the social side of the city, our notes on British etiquette for visitors are worth a few minutes.
Step-free stations and help from staff
Much of the Tube was built long before lifts were common, and many stations have long staircases and escalators. 95 Tube stations are step-free, which is more than a third of the network. All Elizabeth line and DLR stations are step-free, so those lines are often the easier choice with a wheelchair, a pushchair or heavy luggage.
The map marks step-free stations with a wheelchair symbol, and TfL publishes a separate step-free Tube guide. You can ask staff for help without booking: under the "turn up and go" service they will take you to the train, arrange a ramp where one is available and ask staff at your destination to meet you. If there is no step-free route, TfL will book an accessible taxi at its own cost. Our guide to accessible and step-free travel goes through the options.
Mobile signal, Wi-Fi and staying in touch underground
Mobile coverage in the tunnels is being rolled out line by line. TfL says about half of the below-ground Underground stations now have signal, and sections of the Central, Jubilee, Northern, Piccadilly and Victoria lines already have 4G and 5G between stations. Your own mobile provider supplies the signal, so roaming charges apply as normal. Our guide to SIM cards and mobile roaming in the UK helps you avoid surprise bills.
Every Tube station has Wi-Fi, but access comes through UK mobile networks, so do not count on it with a foreign SIM card. Download your map and tickets before you go underground.
Staying safe and handling problems
The Tube is generally safe, day and night. The main risk for visitors is pickpocketing and phone snatching in crowded places, such as busy platforms, escalators and packed carriages at big stations. Keep your phone in a front pocket or a zipped bag, especially near the doors just before they close. Our guide to staying safe in London covers the scams and areas to be aware of.
If something worries you on a train, you can text British Transport Police on 61016 or call 0800 40 50 40. In an emergency, call 999.
Lines are sometimes closed for engineering work, most often at weekends, and occasionally by strikes. Check TfL's live status page before you set off. When lines are down, our advice for strike days shows how to get around by other means.
Check weekend closures on Friday evening. Planned engineering work is published in advance, and a line that normally takes you straight to your hotel may be replaced by buses on Saturday and Sunday. A quick look at the weekend status on Friday saves a frustrating detour with luggage.
When the bus or your feet are the better choice
The Tube is not always the fastest option for short trips. Walking from the platform to the street can take five minutes at deep stations, so a journey of one or two stops in the centre often takes no longer on foot. Our guide to walking in London shows where that is true.
Buses are slower but cheaper, and you see the city as you go. A single bus journey costs £1.75 (rising to £1.85 on 1 November 2026), and you can change buses free within an hour. The guide to London's buses suggests routes that pass the main sights.
From Heathrow, the Piccadilly line is the cheapest rail option: £5.90 at all times from Zone 1, and about 50 minutes to the West End. Our comparison of every way from Heathrow into the city weighs it against the faster options.
The cap makes one more ride free. Once you reach the £8.90 cap for Zones 1-2, every further Tube and bus journey in those zones that day costs nothing. On a busy sightseeing day, stop worrying about short hops and take the train when your feet are tired.
Frequently asked questions
How much is a Tube ride in London?
A journey inside Zone 1 costs £3.10 at peak times and £3.00 off-peak with a contactless card or Oyster card (fares from 5 July 2026). A paper single costs £7.00. The daily cap for Zones 1-2 is £8.90, so you never pay more than that in one day in those zones.
What time does the Tube close?
Most lines run from early morning until around midnight, with the exact last train depending on the line and the station. On Friday and Saturday nights, the Central, Jubilee, Northern, Piccadilly and Victoria lines run through the night on their main sections. Check the last train for your station in TfL Go or Journey Planner.
Can I use my bank card on the London Underground?
Yes, any card with the contactless symbol, or a phone or watch with Apple Pay or Google Pay, works at the gates. Many cards issued outside the UK work, but your bank may charge overseas fees, so check before you travel. Use the same card or device to touch in and out.
Which side do you stand on the escalator in London?
Stand on the right and leave the left side free for people walking. This is the most noticed habit on the Underground, and blocking the left side, especially with luggage, will draw complaints during busy periods.
Is the Tube suitable for wheelchair users?
Partly. 95 Tube stations are step-free, and all Elizabeth line and DLR stations are step-free. Staff offer help without booking, and if no step-free route is available, TfL arranges an accessible taxi at its own cost. Plan with the step-free options in TfL Go or Journey Planner.
Sources
- Transport for London - Tube and rail fares (checked September 2026)
- Transport for London - Fare capping (checked September 2026)
- Transport for London - The Night Tube (checked September 2026)
- Transport for London - Step-free access (checked September 2026)
- Transport for London - Help from staff (checked September 2026)
- Transport for London - Wi-Fi and mobile coverage (checked September 2026)
- Transport for London - Single Fare Finder (checked September 2026)