London Stations GuideUnofficial Tube guide
Unofficial. An independent guide, not run by, affiliated with or endorsed by Transport for London (TfL). For official information and journey planning, use tfl.gov.uk.

Your first day on the Tube

Five things worth knowing, and an easy first walk.

Visitors taking photos on the riverside with Tower Bridge behind
Taking photos by Tower Bridge. Photo: still from a video by George Morina, on Pexels.
  1. Pay with a contactless card or phone. Tap on the yellow reader going in and coming out, with the same card or device each time. A Zone 1 journey costs £3.10 at peak times or £3.00 off-peak, and the daily cap for Zones 1–2 is £8.90. More on paying.
  2. Check the status before you set off. Weekend closures are common. Live line status.
  3. Need help? Ask the staff. There are staff at every Tube station while trains are running, and TfL's turn up and go assistance needs no booking. Step-free travel.
  4. Plan for toilets. Only 138 of the 272 Tube stations have any toilets in TfL's station data, and some of those are in the National Rail part of the station. Each station guide says what's there.
  5. Children under 11 travel free with a paying adult (up to four per adult). More for families.

An easy first walk

From Westminster, walk to Charing Cross (12 minutes, past Trafalgar Square), then on to Leicester Square (6 minutes) and Covent Garden (4 minutes). That's about 22 minutes of walking in total, using TfL's walking-map times:

Sources: TfL fares data and pages linked from How to pay, TfL station data dated 20 October 2026, and TfL's West End walking map. Last checked 24 October 2026.