The most important thing for getting around London is to get an Oyster card from Transport for London. Oyster is a smart travel card used for the underground (Tube), train, buses and other services.

Get an Oyster card

You can buy an Oyster card online and have it delivered by post.  It requires a refundable £5 deposit. Order an Oyster card here.

Get a travel app for your phone

The CityMapper app is highly recommended and I use it whenever I go out to check status updates, the best routes and travel times. The app is available on Android and iOS.

Sign up for TfL alerts

Sign up for Transport for London’s email alerts. I sign-up for the weekly weekend email that lets me know which lines are affected by the dreaded ‘planned engineering works’. Twitter is another good source of information, @TfLTravelAlerts.  If you just want specific information on a particular Tube line, you are in luck as each Tube line has it’s own Twitter handle.