Category: London

If you are using public transport in London, you can use an Oyster card or a contactless credit or debit card. Yes, you can also use mobile devices with eg Apple Pay.

You often see people putting their wallets directly onto the readers. If these contain more than one card that could be used to pay for travel, it is possible that the wrong card is chosen by the machine, or no card or all cards are used. This is the so-called card clash.

Do avoid it by carefully taking your card out before using it.

https://tfl.gov.uk/fares-and-payments/oyster/using-oyster/card-clash

The end of August brings us a bank holiday. It is the last public holday until Christmas.

I don’t believe it celebrates anything in particular, just the end of summer.

It used to be that banks and other shops closed on these days. Travel was disrupted. The world came to a halt.

Now it’s less so. You may find that some train lines are closed for engineering work. Museums or shops will probably be open, but do check. Transport sometimes operates a different, reduced service.

If you are visiting during the last weekend in August, and have plans, do double check your plans are not affected.