Visitor Oyster Card Fares 2025 - London Bus, Tube & Daily Caps

Visitor Oyster Card charges for children

What is a Visitor Oyster card?

A Visitor Oyster Card is a London travel pass that comes pre-loaded with some pay-as-you-go credit. All you have to do is touch them down on the big yellow readers that you’ll find on the buses and at the train stations, and the correct fare will automatically be deducted by the computer.

Visitor Oyster cards are aimed primarily at tourists, but you don’t have to be a tourist to use one. Just think of it as a normal blue Oyster Card with a picture on the front. And don’t worry if your card looks different to the one shown here, because the picture changes all the time.

What’s the difference between an Oyster card and Visitor Oyster card?

Oyster cards and Visitor Oyster cards work in exactly the same way, and if it wasn’t for the picture on the front then you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.

The main difference is that Visitor Oyster cards come pre-loaded with some credit already on them, to save tourists the hassle of having to load it on themselves when they arrive in London.

You can choose how much credit you get when you buy it, either £10, £15, £20, £25, £30, £35, £40 or £50. You’ll also have to pay an extra £7 activation fee on top, which can’t be used for fares. So if you want £20-worth of credit then you’ll have to spend a total of £27.

Visitor Oyster cards come bundled with a leaflet of discount vouchers.

The other differences are unlikely to bother a tourist. You can’t load travelcards on to them, for example, but you usually get better value for money with pay-as-you-go credit anyway. And you can’t register them on the TFL website either, which means you can’t top them up online – but seeing as it comes pre-loaded with credit you might not need to (we’ll explain where you can top it up later).

What are the benefits of a Visitor Oyster card?

• You can order a Visitor Oyster card online and have it delivered to your home address – even if you live overseas. This is handy if you prefer to have it all sorted out prior to arrival
• Visitor Oyster cards are ready to be used as soon as you arrive in London – there’s no need to register them or top them up with credit
• Oyster cards are accepted all over London on the bus, London Underground, London Overground, DLR, TFL Rail, National Rail, Thames Clipper riverbus, and even the IFS Cloud Cable Car
• Oyster card prices are the cheapest way to pay for single journeys (along with contactless), and the Oyster daily cap is always cheaper than buying a one day travelcard
• The pay-as-you-go credit on a Visitor Oyster card can be used in zones 1 to 9, whereas travelcards are only valid in the zones you buy them for
• Your pay-as-you-go credit never expires, so if you have any left over at the end of your holiday then you can carry on using it during your next visit
• Visitor Oyster card discounts give you money off at shops, restaurants and entertainment venues

What are the downsides of a Visitor Oyster card?

• You can’t buy a Visitor Oyster card once you arrive in central London, only the normal Oyster cards
• You can’t register your Visitor Oyster card on the TFL website, unlike a normal Oyster card. This means that you can’t top it up online, or get your remaining credit transferred onto a new card if it’s lost or stolen
• Travelcards can’t be loaded onto a Visitor Oyster card, unlike normal Oyster cards
• You can’t get a refund for the £7 activation fee

Do Visitor Oyster cards come with discount vouchers?

Visitor Oyster cards come bundled with a leaflet full of discount vouchers. These offers are constantly changing, so we can’t tell you what they are right now, but typically include things like 10% off a boat ride, 10% off souvenirs in a particular gift shop, or 20% off a meal in a particular restaurant.

In the past they have offered 20% off a guided tour at the Royal Albert Hall, £2 off exhibition tickets at the National Gallery, and 2-for-1 entry at the London Bridge Experience.

What is the Oyster daily cap?

The Oyster daily cap is the maximum charge that will be taken from your card each day (it actually runs from 4.30 AM to 4.29 AM the next day). It doesn’t matter how many buses or trains you ride in one day, the maximum amount the computer will take will never exceed this daily limit – and the limit will always be lower than the cost of one day travelcard.

If you stick to the buses then the Oyster card cap rate will be lower. If you ride the trains instead, or a mixture of buses plus trains, then you’ll have to pay the higher cap rate for the trains.

Note: Journeys to Gatwick airport and on the Heathrow Express don’t count towards the Visitor Oyster card cap. They are always charged separately to your card. Journeys on a Thames Clipper boat and the IFS Cloud Cable Car don’t count towards the cap either. The computer will just deduct the relevant charge from your credit.

What time is peak and off-peak?

Peak – Peak time fares are in effect when your tube journey starts between 6:30 AM and 9.30 AM, and 4 PM to 7 PM (Monday to Friday). It doesn’t matter what time your journey finishes.

Off-Peak – Off-peak fares apply at any other time, including all day Saturday, Sunday and public holidays.

Where can you buy Visitor Oyster cards?

From the TFL website – You can order a Visitor Oyster card online from the TFL website. UK delivery typically takes between 2-4 days, whilst overseas delivery can be as long as 1-2 weeks.

From an airport – You can also buy them from the Gatwick Express desk in Gatwick airport, the Stansted Express desk in Stansted airport, plus the National Express desk inside Gatwick, Stansted and Luton airport.

From Eurostar – You can purchase Visitor Oyster cards onboard a Eurostar train.

From an overseas travel agent: Visitor Oyster cards can be purchased from lots of overseas agents. Here is list of them: https://​tfl.gov.uk/​fares/​how-to-pay-and-where-to-buy-tickets-and-oyster

But NOT in London! – For some bizarre reason it is not possible to buy a Visitor Oyster card once you arrive in central London. And, yes, we know that sounds totally ridiculous – but it’s true. You have to purchase one before you arrive in the city. If you forget to buy a Visitor Oyster card before you get here then you’ll have to buy a normal London Oyster card instead (which is basically the same thing anyway, so it hardly makes a difference).

Important: you have to pay a £7 activation fee the first time you buy a Visitor Oyster card, and you can’t use that money for fares. So if you decide that you want £20 credit then you will have pay a total of £20 + £7.

How do you top up Visitor Oyster cards?

Visitor Oyster cards already come with some credit pre-loaded on them, but the maximum amount you can buy at the beginning is £50. You can then top them up afterwards to a maximum of £90.

At a train station – The simplest way to top them up is at a self-service ticket machine at a train station. Just wave your card in front of the big round yellow reader and select top up on the touch-screen.

You can then add on some more credit with a debit card, credit card or cash (bear in mind that some ticket machines don’t accept cash – if you look at the top of the machine then it will tell you what it accepts).

At a Visitor Centre – You can also top them up at a Visitor Centre inside Euston station, King’s Cross station, Liverpool Street station, Paddington station, Piccadilly Circus station, Victoria station and Heathrow airport (there are actually two at Heathrow: one inside Terminals 2-3, and another one inside the Underground station).

At an Oyster Ticket Stop – You can also use one of the 4,000 Oyster Ticket Stops all over London. These are basically just high-street shops (usually newsagents) which have the blue Oyster card symbol showing in their window. Just hand your card over at the counter and tell them how much money you want to add on.

But NOT online! – Unlike a regular Oyster card, it’s not possible to register a Visitor Oyster card on the TFL website, so it’s not possible to top it up online.

Note: The minimum amount that you can add at an Oyster Ticket Stop is £1.50. The minimum amount you can add at a ticket machine is £5.

How much credit do you need on a Visitor Oyster card?

To work out how much credit you need on your Visitor Oyster card you need to see which zones you’ll be travelling through each day. Most tourists will spend their entire holiday inside zone 1 (which covers most of the touristy stuff), but you might enter zone 2 for places like Camden, Canary Wharf and Greenwich. If you’re flying into Heathrow airport then you might enter zone 6 as well.

Once you’ve got a list of which zones you’ll be travelling through each day, all you have to do is look up the relevant ‘daily caps’ in the price table. The daily cap is the maximum daily charge that the computer will take from your Visitor Oyster card that day, regardless of how many journeys you make. For example, if you’re travelling in zone 1 then the current daily cap is £8.90.

If you total up the daily caps for the whole of your holiday, then that’s how much your credit you’ll need to put on your card. Easy!

How long do Visitor Oyster cards last?

Visitor Oyster cards last forever. You can top them up with extra credit as many times as you like, and the credit never expires. If you still have some left over at the end of your holiday then you can carry on using it during your next visit.

How can I refund my unused credit?

At a train station – If you still have some credit leftover at the end of your holiday then you can get it back at a self-service ticket machine at a London Underground station. Just touch your card against the big round yellow reader and select Oyster Refund on the touch-screen. Unfortunately this only works up to a maximum of £10, and at least 48 hours must have passed since you first used it.

It’s not possible to claim back the £7 activation fee. That money has gone forever.

Note: Once your card has been refunded it will be voided by the machine, and you won’t be able to add any more credit to it.

By sending TFL a letter – If you need a refund of more than £10 then it’s a bit of a hassle because you’ll need to send the card to TFL with a letter asking for the money back. The address is: TFL Customer Services, 14 Pier Walk, 4th Floor, London SE10 0ES.

If you provide a phone number or email address then they’ll contact you to arrange a bank transfer, otherwise all they can do is send a check through the post in sterling, which isn’t much use if you live outside the UK.

From a Visitor Centre – Luckily there’s an easier way… you can take it to one of the Visitor Centres at Euston station, King’s Cross station, Liverpool Street station, Paddington station, Piccadilly Circus station, Victoria station or Heathrow airport (there are actually two at Heathrow: one inside Terminals 2-3, and another one inside the Underground station). Note: There’s also a Visitor Centre at Gatwick airport but it’s not possible to get a refund from there.

What is the Young Visitor Discount?

The Young Visitor Discount gives children aged between 11-15 half-price fares for fourteen consecutive days, as compared to regular adult fares (under 11s travel for free).

Children who live in London will usually have a Zip Oyster photocard instead, but this isn’t recommended for tourists because the admin fee will wipe out any savings made, so that’s where the Young Visitor Discount comes in.

All you have to do is buy your child a Visitor Oyster card (exactly the same version that you’d buy for an adult), and then get the discount applied to it once you arrive in London. Unfortunately there’s no way of doing this before you arrive – it has to be done at a London train station or Visitor Centre.

Just walk up to a member of staff at an underground station or National Rail station (within London), or one of the Visitor Centres at Euston, King’s Cross, Liverpool Street, Paddington, Piccadilly Circus and Victoria, and say “please can you apply the Young Visitor Discount to this card”. Note: Your child must be present when you do it (up to a maximum of four children per adult), and they might ask for proof of age if your child looks close to 15.

Your child can then carry on using the card like normal, tapping it down on the big yellow Oyster readers on the buses and trains, and the computer will automatically deduct the correct child fare.

Once the fourteen days are over any credit left on the child’s Visitor Oyster card will still be there, but the computer will revert back to charging adult fares again.

Can Visitor Oyster cards be shared by two people?

No. If two people are travelling together then they’re not allowed to pass the card between them because it’s not possible to pay two fares on it.

Lots of people assume that if they tap down twice then two fares will be deducted, but it doesn’t work like that – the first time you tap down the computer will think that you are entering the station, and the second time you tap down it will think that you are leaving the station.

At this point it all starts to get a bit confusing… if you tap down twice within 2 mins at the same station then you will be charged 1x maximum fare (from your station to the end of the line), which will automatically be refunded if you start a new tube journey within the next 45 mins.

If you tap down twice within 2-30 mins then you will be charged 1x minimum fare (from your station to the next one in the same fare zone). And if you tap down twice after 30 mins then you will be charged 2x maximum fares.

Are Oyster cards the cheapest way to travel?

Oyster cards are the cheapest way to travel on the buses and trains (alongside contactless). But bear in mind that you also have to pay a £7 activation fee the first time you buy a brand-new Visitor Oyster Card – and you can’t get that money back at the end of your stay – so contactless actually works out a bit cheaper.

The Visitor Oyster card cap is always cheaper than buying a one day travelcard (but not when you include the £7 activation fee on top).

A Visitor Oyster card will also work out cheaper than buying a weekly travelcard, unless you’re planning on making three or more journeys on six days, or two or more journeys on seven days.

Where can you use Visitor Oyster cards?

Buses – You can use Visitor Oyster cards on buses all over London (but not on tourist sightseeing buses).

London Underground, London Overground, DLR, TFL Rail, National Rail – You can use Visitor Oyster cards on trains within Oyster zones 1-9, plus Watford Junction (for Warner Bros Studios) and Gatwick Airport. Note: If you use it on the Gatwick and Heathrow Express then the fare won’t count towards the daily cap maximum charge. The computer will just deduct the fare from your credit.

You can see which stations are within the Oyster zones on TFL’s Oyster zones map.

IFS Cloud Cable Car & Thames Clipper – You can travel on the IFS Cloud Cable Car and Thames Clipper riverbus by touching your card down on the gates (they have exactly the same yellow Oyster readers that you find on the buses and at train stations). But all you’re doing is paying the fare – neither journey will count towards the travel cap.

How do you use a Visitor Oyster card on the bus?

Using a Visitor Oyster card on the bus is easy. All you have to do is wave it in front of the big round yellow reader in front of the bus driver. Some designs of bus also have an Oyster card reader by the middle door and the back door (but not all buses do – so you might want to stick with the front door to be safe).

If the card registers correctly then you should see a little green light appear next to the reader. If the light turns red then it didn’t work properly, so try holding your card flat against the reader again. If that doesn’t work then you’re probably out of credit – check what it says on the little LCD screen next to the reader.

Assuming that it worked okay, the correct fare will be automatically deducted from your card.

There’s no need to do anything when you leave the bus. You don’t have to touch it down again to get out – you only have to do that for the trains.

How do you use a Visitor Oyster card on the train?

To use your Visitor Oyster card on the train all you have to do is wave your card in front of the big round yellow reader that you’ll see at the front of the gate. If it registered okay then the gate will open automatically.

Some of the stations outside the central zones might not have gates, and you’ll find the Oyster readers on the wall by the platform instead, or by the platform stairs.

If it didn’t register then don’t worry, just get your card out of your wallet and hold it flat against the reader.

At the end of your journey you have to touch it down again when leaving the station because the computer needs to work out which zones you travelled through. If you forget to touch down then it won’t know where you went, and you’ll be charged a penalty fare which is whatever the maximum journey was on that line (ouch!).