Yes, a 1-day travel pass in London (Day Travelcard) includes unlimited travel on all London buses, as well as the Tube, DLR, tram, London Overground, and Elizabeth line. A dedicated "One Day Bus & Tram Pass" is also available for exclusive use on those services. Both options allow for unlimited, flexible travel within 24 hours.
To apply for a free travel pass (concessionary bus/travel card), you typically apply through your local council or a national transport body (like Transport for Wales/Scotland) by proving your age (e.g., 60+) or disability, residency, and identity with documents (passport, council tax bill, photo) online or in person, but specific requirements vary by region (UK, Ireland, etc.). Check your local authority's website or a national portal like GOV.UK for eligibility and application links.
London's "1 hour rule" refers to the Hopper Fare, which allows unlimited bus and tram journeys for a single £1.75 fare within one hour of your first tap-in, using the same contactless or Oyster card. It means you can switch between buses and trams as much as you like, even linking with the Tube or DLR (though the main benefit is bus/tram hopping), without paying again, provided your subsequent taps are within 60 minutes of the initial touch.
How to pay for public transport in London (2025 UPDATE)
What is the cheapest way to use the bus in London?
Pay as you go
You don't have to work out the cost of your journey in advance. You can pay as you go using contactless (card or device), an Oyster card or a Visitor Oyster card. It also offers great value as pay as you go is cheaper than buying single tickets and you get daily and weekly capping.
Great value. Pay as you go fares are cheaper than buying a paper single ticket or Day Travelcard. Your Visitor Oyster card offers daily capping. This means you can travel as much as you like in a single day and the amount you pay for your travel is limited (or capped).
No, you only tap in (touch on) when boarding a London bus or tram; you do not need to tap off (touch out) when you get off, as it has a flat fare, and tapping off could actually cost you more money. For buses, you just tap your Oyster card or contactless card/device once on the yellow reader by the driver when you board.
Initial Cost—The card has an upfront cost of £5, which might not be worth it if you're not travelling much.
Limited Utility – If your month-long stay has you mostly walking to nearby destinations or your travel is limited to specific zones, an Oyster card might not offer much value.
The bus fare in London is £1.75, and a day of bus-only travel will cost a maximum of £5.25. You can make unlimited free transfers to other buses and trams within one hour of touching in for your first journey. Night buses operate after the Tube network closes and before daytime bus services begin.
To get 30% off an Oyster card, you need an 18+ Student Oyster photocard, which requires you to be 18+, live in a London borough during term, and be a full-time student on a qualifying course, giving you 30% off adult Travelcards and Bus & Tram Passes; alternatively, add a Railcard to any Oyster for 1/3 off off-peak pay-as-you-go fares.
If you don't tap off the bus, you'll typically be charged the single fare to the very end of the route, which is usually the highest possible fare for that bus, rather than the shorter distance you actually traveled, leading to overcharging. This often means you miss out on fare capping and pay more than intended, but you can usually contact the bus company's customer service to get a refund for the overcharge.
The UK's £2 bus fare cap, originally ending in 2023, was extended multiple times and eventually transitioned to a £3 cap in England (outside London) from January 2025 to December 2025, funded by the government to help with living costs. However, some regions, like Liverpool City Region and Telford, have stepped in with local funding to keep their specific £2 caps running longer, with Liverpool aiming for 2026, while the national scheme shifted focus to the £3 cap to support bus services long-term.
To pay the right fare, always touch in on a yellow card reader at the start of your journey and touch out at the end. On a bus or tram you only need to touch in. Because where you touch in and out tells us where you've travelled from and to, so we can charge you the right fare for your journey.
A Visitor Oyster Card costs £5. You can then pre-load the card with pay-as-you-go credit, in quantities of £10, £15, £25, £40 or £50. The Visitor Oyster card is the cheapest way of getting around London as the maximum daily charges mean you travel free after you reach the 'daily cap'.
You can buy Day Travelcards (paper tickets): From ticket machines at Tube, DLR, London Overground, Elizabeth line and National Rail stations. From ticket offices at London Overground, Elizabeth line and National Rail stations. At Visitor Centres.
A one-day Oyster card price isn't a fixed ticket; instead, you benefit from a daily price cap, which limits your spending based on zones, such as £8.90 for Zones 1-2 or £16.30 for Zones 1-6, after which travel is free until 4:30 AM the next day. This cap applies to Tube, DLR, Overground, and Elizabeth line, with different caps for more zones, and there's also a cheaper bus-only cap. You pay as you go, and the system automatically stops charging once the cap is reached.
