Ride the Woolwich Ferry
One of the finest ways to travel for free is aboard the Woolwich Ferry. TfL have a legal obligation to operate it thanks to the Metropolitan Board of Works Act 1885 (whose powers were transferred to the GLA in 2000) and are also prohibited by law from imposing tolls. There are thus no tappy pads on either bank, you simply head down the walkway and enjoy a free ride between Woolwich and North Woolwich, either lurking in the cabin or standing out the back amid the elements. Some might argue the views aren't great but I say look down at the swirling waters of the Thames and tell me that's not evocative... and all for nothing!
Ride the cablecar with a bike before 10.30am
If you've always wanted to ride the Dangleway for nothing, just bring a bike first thing and they'll waive the usual £7. The free offer only applies before 10.30am (which is good because the cut-off used to be 9.30am) and also only on weekdays, bank holidays excepted.
Ride a rail replacement bus
These can be a great way to travel long distances for nothing so long as you don't mind the journey taking ages. Next weekend for example you can take the free bus from Harrow-on-the-Hill to Chesham saving £2.40 or the non-stop replacement coach from Hammersmith to Heathrow saving £2.60.
Ride the Silvertown Shuttle Cycle Bus
This Mayoral freebie kicked off a year ago when the Silvertown Tunnel opened, TfL having decided it was a lot cheaper to run a bus shuttle than to build a bespoke bike lane beneath the water. The shuttle bus links City Hall with the grim end of the Greenwich Peninsula and runs every 12 minutes between 6.30am and 9.30pm. Latest figures suggest about 100 journeys are made daily. Anyone can use it so long as they have a bike of an appropriate size (2.14m long, 0.76m wide, 1.4m high max), while the bikeless can only watch as yet another empty vehicle departs.
Ride the DLR under the Thames(until 26th May 2026)
Another Silvertown sweetener is the Mayor's offer to refund minimal cross-river journeys made by DLR. Specifically that's journeys between Woolwich Arsenal and King George V or between Island Gardens and either Cutty Sark or Greenwich. Note that you do actually have to pay to travel, you can't just rock up, but fares on these very specific journeys are then refunded.
Ride any of the three Tunnel-going buses(until 26th May 2026)
The three buses which use the Blackwall and Silvertown Tunnels are the 108, 129 and SL4, and all three are free to ride. That's any journey on the route even if doesn't go under the river, which seems extremely generous, indeed every cash-strapped punter travelling from Bow to Stratford takes the 108 rather than one of the three full fare routes. Back to normal in a month's time though.
Take the train within the Heathrow free zone
Free bus travel around Heathrow ended in June 2021. But it's still free to travel by train between any of the Heathrow Terminals, be that by tube, Elizabeth line or Heathrow Express. Hatton Cross is also included in the free travel zone so if travelling to the airport it can be a lot cheaper to break your journey here and do the last leg for nothing. You need Oyster or contactless to open the gates, these methods charging you nothing once you tap out. Alternatively you can use the special machines at airport terminals to collect a free blue ticket, indeed you can print as many as you like.
Use a Hopper fare on buses and trams
Introduced in September 2016, the Hopper fare offers unlimited additional journeys within one hour of touching in. Technically they're not free because the first journey cost the normal rate, but everything after that genuinely costs nothing. It applies to bus journeys and tram journeys, also a mixture of the two, that is unless you try switching from tram to bus at Wimbledon in which case the software can't cope. In a particularly generous move, the Hopper fare also applies to two bus journeys in the space of an hour even if you make a tube or train journey inbetween.
Make 'one more journey' on buses
So as not to strand passengers whose Oyster cards run out of money, the 'one more journey' protocol was introduced in June 2014.
It applies to any card with insufficient funds but not a negative balance, allowing such passengers to travel once. They also receive an emergency fare advice slip which reminds them that their card needs to be topped up before another journey can be made. Technically you're still being charged because you end up with a negative balance BUT if you present an Oyster card with precisely £0.00 in credit then your bus ride is indeed free.
Hit the daily or weekly cap
Again technically this isn't free travel because you've had to pay a lot of fares up front. But once you hit the daily cap every subsequent journey within these zones is free and this could be a considerable amount. Ditto if you hit your weekly cap on Friday then anything you do on Saturday or Sunday will cost nothing. Caps are also available for those who travel only by bus or tram, currently £5.25 daily and £24.70 weekly.
Get a refund for a delayed journey
You may be able to claim a refund if your journey on the Tube or DLR is delayed for 15 minutes or more. On the Overground and Elizabeth line it's 30 minutes or more instead. TfL may refuse if the delay was out of their control but it's always worth a try. You apply here and must claim within 28 days of the delay. Contactless refunds are only provided if your card is registered. Last year TfL paid out £487,460 in refunds so you might be missing out.
Be young
Children under 5 travel free, except on the cablecar or river services. Children under 11 travel free with a fare-paying adult (up to 4 of them). Children aged 5-15 get free travel with a Zip Oyster photocard. 16 and 17 year-olds resident in London get free travel on buses and trams.
Be old
On reaching your 60th birthday, Londoners can apply for a 60+ Oyster card which allows free travel on tubes, trains and buses. Free travel applies after 9am on weekdays and all day at weekends. Terms and conditions apply. On reaching state pension age (currently 66) you're sent an Older Person's Freedom Pass instead. A bonus for Freedom Pass holders is that the Elizabeth line beyond West Drayton to Reading is included. I love my 60+ Oyster card and bash it regularly.
Be disabled
A Disabled Person's Freedom Pass applies whatever age you are. Free travel is also offered to any blind or partially sighted person with a guide dog, to puppy walkers training guide dogs or to anyone boarding a bus in a wheelchair. Dial-A-Ride (for those unable to use public transport) is also a free service.
Have a different kind of freebie benefit card
TfL staff travel for free, as do their nominees, as do retired employees, also the engineers who maintain the ticketing equipment across the network, also some contractors, also Police Officers, Special Constables and Police Community Support Officers, also Armed Forces personnel (but only when in full uniform), also anyone with a Veterans Oyster photocard.
Use the DLR without touching in
DLR stations don't have ticket gates so you can always walk in and walk out at the other end, keeping your fingers crossed that nobody notices midway. DLR staff make regular ticket checks so you're taking quite a risk, also DLR stations are occasionally blockaded by huge teams of enforcement officers who will totally catch you out, but it's not going to happen this time... is it?
Only use ungated stations
A lot of tube stations have no ticket gates, or alternatively the gates are sometimes left open. These provide an excellent opportunity for free travel because you never ever get your ticket checked on the Underground, so why not just walk in? At least one ticket gate at Bromley-by-Bow is always open, for example, without a single member of staff ever keeping an eye on things. Of an evening the same is true at Plaistow too, so there's a journey anyone can make for nothing... and I bet they do.
Push brazenly through the ticket gates
If you have an inflated sense of self-entitlement you may choose to force open the ticket gates or dodge in behind a paying customer while grinning inwardly to yourself. Staff won't stop you because they're told not to, then all you have to do is get out at the other end and you've made yet another journey for free. This is of course illegal and there are whopping penalties if you're caught but you won't be, indeed I've not seen a ticket inspector on the Underground in years. For many Londoners, particularly younger feral types, the network is free all day every day.
Board a bus with zero intention of paying
Why pay for your bus ride like everyone else when you can ride for nothing? Concoct some cock and bull story about losing your card or struggle ineffectively with a beeping smartphone and the driver may just wave you on. Alternatively just stroll in and head to the back of the bus with a defiant sneer, as a tiny minority do, and save yourself the £1.75 that only losers pay. Some drivers do get impressively stroppy if you try that, refusing to move off until the miscreant alights, and well done to them. But on the whole if you have no intention of paying your way on a TfL journey then it doesn't cost a thing.
