First, let’s talk zones. London is divided into nine travel zones, but you’ll mostly care about Zones 1 and 2 (central London) and maybe Zone 3 if you’re a bit cheeky. A single journey in Zone 1 during peak hours? That’ll set you back £2.80 on contactless or Oyster. Off-peak? A slightly less painful £2.70. Feels like they’re charging you for the privilege of smelling someone’s leftovers, right?
Now, if you ride from Zone 1 to Zone 3 (like I sometimes do to visit a friend in Canning Town), peak is £3.70 and off-peak is £3.20. Multiply that by five days, and you’re looking at a weekly bill that could buy you a nice dinner—or a month’s supply of anxiety about the next fare hike. Pro tip: always use contactless or Oyster, because paper single tickets cost £6.80 for Zone 1-2. Yeah, you read that right. Don’t be that person.
