do you know if they can be used on the Tube and National Rail?

Tube, yes. National Rail, no.

Well, National Rail within London.

and how do I use it? Swipe, tap? Is the fare deducted each time it's used? or does it calculate by distance?

ah, so to connect from the Tube to National Rail en route to Cardiff, I need to pay for a National Rail ticket

You hold it against a yellow scanner when you enter a station, and the fare is deducted when you leave the station at the end of your journey. There's also a limit on how much you spend per day,

EverydayPeople: You could use the Oyster on the tube part but then you'd have to buy a train ticket to Cardiff, yes.

^ what June said - it charges for how far you traveled rather than guessing at the beginning

so tap on, tap off, and fare deducted based on how far you travel?

okay, I think I get it thany you!

Pretty much, but you tap in/out - the tap pads are in gates into/out of the station rather than on the trains themselves

oh and fares may vary during peak times...I will have to try to keep track of this XD

it's fairly likely... should I be wary of weekends?

Yeah, they like to close bits just to confuse you, resulting in awkwardly trying to go round the shut bit, which for some reason always means changing at Bank...

wow, that is definitely good to know, I'll watch out for that

thepaddlingloli: Bank was designed by someone very grumpy and tired who had lost his/her ruler.

this is why nobody likes england it's complicated

the nearest Tube station to my accommodations is Russel Square

thepaddlingloli: We did, but we were on and off the Tube A LOT, because I am shit at working our directions, oops.

And Jenny, it's a good idea to get a tube map app because faffing around with the paper maps is a recipe for disaster and once ended up in me missing the train XD

thepaddlingloli: we were back and forth between East Finchley and then central london XD and it's on the piccadilly nearish to holborn

also a good idea I just looked at the website for travel cards and I think a 7-day one might be useful. My profs told us the cards they ordered are preloaded, so I don't know how much I have to start with

EverydayPeople: I think it's usually £15, but topping them up is fairly easy (we went through £20 over four days if that helps)

yes an app is one of the first things I went looking for XD I found a great one on my ipod that has an offline map of London itself, and a tube map

It's also handy to save any changes you need to make to a note - like if you have to change at a certain stop, note it down because the amount of times my parents hop off early is ridiculous and there's me like

"where are you going- wait no- ah shit the train left oky see you there byeeee"

that's cool, if they start us off with at least £15 it should last a few days XD and I'll be covered to get from the airport to our rooms

haha, okay good tip, remember the stop names. I'm used to the Toronto subway, but London had like 30x more station stops, and more lines to keep track of holy geez

The good thing is that the majority of stations only serve one line though, so it's easy to find the right platform. AND THEN THERE'S BANK...

I made a 20 minute detour to avoid the Station That Shall Not Be Named (nod nod)

yes from Heathrow XD if the Piccadilly line gets me to Russel Squ, then yes

hahaha, I'll be sure to post my Tube adventures and see how much of a Londoner I can pretend to be for 3 weeks XD

thepaddlingloli: Yes yes yes do this, especially if you have bags/cases with you or the actual Londoners stare at you and judge

ah, the elusive end carriages that is a tip they don't tell you on yhe tube visitor website

well if rail maintenance intetrupts me getting to one of the shows or concerns I have booked then I might have a fit xD

that sounds amazing, which app is that?

EverydayPeople: if you're going to the theatre, get off a stop early and walk. The stops right by the actual West End are always insanely busy.

thepaddlingloli: which app? XD it sounds like 2000% better than the one I have

awesome, mine was a terrible one that only had the map

thepaddlingloli: that is amazing, thank you! Here's the one I've been using: Ulmon | Apps for Smart Travelers

I use an app called MetrO that has a fuckton of cities, includes all kinds of transportation and it works offline, you only have to load the city once 8D ALSO! When traveling by bus, they sometimes like to stop

at random times and tell you it's the end of the service, so you have to hop off and wait for the next one. Remember to always ask for the continuation ticket thingy so you can ride on the next one for free or

you'll have to pay again :3

thepaddlingloli: No? O.o Maybe I'm unlucky but it happened to me like three times in two days (although I barely used the tube, I went everywhere by bus XD)

Maybe it was the buses I used? It mainly happened in the one we caught to go from Oxford St. to Fulham XD