London is a huge, bustling city with an incredible range of sights, activities, and transport options. But let’s be real: the last thing you want to spending your money on as a student is getting to and from lectures—at least, not when you’d rather be spending your student loan on the city’s amazing restaurants, cafés, theatres, shops… you get the idea.
It’s okay though. From its iconic red buses to the famous London Underground and rentable bikes, the capital has a variety of budget-friendly travel options on-hand for you to choose from.
Here are just a few of the tips and travel methods that we’ve found are the cheapest ways to travel in London as a student:
Our London Travel Tips
1. 18+ Student Oyster Photocard
The cheapest way to travel in and around London is by making use of a student Oyster card. Students over 18 can use this student travel card to get a student discount on the London Underground, red London buses, DLR trams, and a variety of other transport options.
How does this work? Well, an Osyter card is a smartcard you top up on a pay-as-you-go credit basis at any Tube or Overground station, as well as any shop with a blue Oyster card sign. Owning an Oyster card gets you 30% off weekly, monthly, and annual adult-rate travel cards (not off general fares), as well as bus and tram season tickets.
Find out more information about student Oyster cards here.
2. 16-25 Rail Card
If you’re using National Rail services to travel between home and London, or even to get around London, a 16-25 Rail Card is for you.
Owning a Rail Card allows you to get 1/3 off the prices of tickets and can result in a huge amount of money saved for regular travellers.
3. Travel Hours
When travelling round London, the difference between peak and off-peak hours can vastly affect your journey. Travelling in the peak hours of 6:30-9:30am and 4:00-7:00pm will usually result in your journey taking much longer than usual.
Not only is it less busy in off-peak hours, but services such as the London Underground have cheaper rates for those travelling on the tube in off-peak hours
4. Walk
Hear us out—while walking may sound like an obvious travel option, it can be a sensible idea depending on where you’re going and what time. In peak times when Tube stations are busiest and the lines for the bus are long, we recommend loading up Google Maps and checking the walking time estimate.
Not only will walking also save you money, but it’ll give you a chance to take in London’s many sights!
5. Santander Cycles
From just £1.65* you can cycle round the city on a Santander bike! Getting started is easy, all you have to do is use the Santander Cycles app or take a bank card to any docking station and you can get going.
To make things even more convenient, students can save 25% on Santander bike rides when they purchase an annual subscription via Student Beans. This is a great option if you know that you’ll be cycling a lot whilst living in London.
*£1.65 gets you a single ride on a manual bicycle for up to 30 minutes.
5. Bus
When it comes to travelling around London as a student, we recommend making use of London’s big red buses.
While the Tube can be more direct and can save time depending on your destination, London’s buses can make a relaxing change to the cramped environment of the underground.
There may not be any specific student bus passes in London, but you can make use of the 18+ Student Oyster Photocards previously mentioned to get 30% off all weekly, monthly, and annual bus passes.
6. Hopper Fare
The Hopper fare is a super convenient and low-cost way of getting around London that allows students and the public to ‘hop on’ any London bus or tram for £1.75 and then swap to any other bus or tram for free within an hour of starting their journey.
To get the most out of discounted travel using the Hopper fare, we recommend planning your route in advance.
Apps to help you with London travel
Stuck for choice? Luckily, there are apps you can download to your smartphone that can help you out with your travel.
1. Citymapper
A free to download app, Citymapper can be a lifesaver when it comes to finding your way round the busy capital. Just type in your location and your destination, and the app will work out the best routes for you to travel whether it’s by the Tube, bus, rail, walking or something else!
2. Tube Map
London’s network of Underground lines can be confusing, so you’ll likely find this app on many people’s smartphones around the city.
The Tube Map app helps you plan the route of your tube journey as well as helping you make sense of the various stations and lines.
3. TFL Go
TFL’s official map can be a big help when moving about the city, with live bus and train times for every station as well as live updates on all TFL network transport such as buses, the Tube, the London Overground, TFL trams and more.
Not only this, but the TFL Go app allows you to check accessibility at London stations such as information on toilets, lift statuses and platform access.
Electricity. Gas. Broadband. Water. TV Licence.
Want to find out more?
Interested in splitting your student household bills rather than splitting up friendships? Check out Split the Bills now and make life easier for everyone in your shared student house.
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