For People visiting london, it can be costly to travel around london, so we advise that you buy a oyster card which is £3 but it is refundable so where you would pay £4 for a normal ticket with a Oyster card it will only be £1.50.

read on for more info.

The Oyster card is a form of electronic ticketing used on Transport for London and National Rail services within the Greater London area of the United Kingdom. The card was first issued to the public in 2003 with a limited range of features and there continues to be a phased introduction of further functions. By March 2007 over 10 million Oyster cards had been issued and more than 80% of all journeys on services run by Transport for London used the Oyster card.

The Oyster brand name was conceived and agreed after a lengthy period of research managed by TranSys, the company contracted to deliver the ticketing system in London, and agreed by Transport for London. A number of alternative names were considered however Oyster was chosen as a fresh approach that was not directly linked to transport, ticketing or London. Associations to an Oyster i.e. 'it is secure on the outside, precious on the inside' were largely derivitive and ultimately, the choice was made because of its meanings of and relations to security and value.

Pricing

Pricing is fairly complex, and changes from time to time. The most up to date fares can be found on Transport for London's FareFinder website (see External Links).

To encourage passengers to switch to Oyster, non-Oyster fares were substantially increased after the introduction of Oyster, and Oyster fares are generally much cheaper than non-Oyster.

As of 1 January 2007 a cash bus and tram fare costs £2, while the single Oyster fare is £1, but capped at £3 for any number of trips in a day. When using Oyster on the Underground, a single trip within Zone 1 costs £1.50 (£4 cash), or £1 (£3 cash) within any other single zone. When travelling on the Underground and DLR in addition to buses and tram the price of journeys is capped at 50p below the price of the relevant one-day Travelcard. London is the only city in the world that offers this kind of capping.

Single Oyster fares on the Tube and DLR start at £1.

Oyster cards can be purchased at London Underground ticket windows, from cash-only vending machines at some stations, from about 2,300 Oyster Ticket Stop agents, from a select number of National Rail stations also served by London Underground, over the web at oystercard.com or by calling the Oyster helpline at 0845 330 9876. A refundable deposit of £3 is paid unless a weekly or longer period ticket is loaded to the card in the first instance. A registration form is provided at the time of purchase. If the form is not completed the Oyster card is restricted to Pay as you go and weekly tickets.