These are the best apps and tools to plan a journey by public transport in London. We recommend using the options listed below instead of Google to plan a journey.
Citymapper
Citymapper is the most comprehensive public transport planning app for London.
It’s available online or as a free app for ios or android. The online version is now rather limited. The app is much better.
The route planner shows all transport options including cycling, walking and local trains.
The adult Pay as you go Oyster card/contactless fares for each journey are also shown. This make it easy to find the cheapest route.
TfL Go app
Transport for London’s TfL Go app is a sleek design and easy to use. It’s the easiest app to find and live departures for underground trains and buses.
It also has a route planner showing options for
- fastest route
- an alternative route (usually bus)
- walking
- cycling
Select ‘Status’ for delay information. You are then able to see if there are any problems on a particular train or underground line.
It defaults to an excellent live tube map, which finds your closest tube station. Click on the underground station, then the name of the station to get the times of the next tube trains.
Click on ‘bus stops’ to see times of the next buses from bus stops near you.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t give fare information. But it’s recommended if you don’t need to know the fare.
Transport for London’s online journey planner
Transport for London’s online Journey Planner shows the quickest way from A to B.
It’s possible to choose bus/tube/train only routes. It also gives you the Pay as you go Oyster peak/contactless and off-peak fares.
Do bear in mind that the default is the quickest route, which is not always the cheapest. For example, to Heathrow Airport:
- under ‘Edit preferences’ deselect ‘National Rail’ to exclude the expensive Heathrow Express train.
- Deselect ‘Elizabeth line’ if you want to exclude that as well.
Early morning or late-night journeys
To be somewhere at a specific time, especially if it’s in the morning or late at night, use the TfL Journey Planner
Mobility issues
If you have mobility issues, you can narrow down your search options to find the best route with:
- Escalators but not stairs
- Stairs but not escalators
- Step-free access to platforms
- Full step-free access
Tube Map
If you just need a tube map and don’t want to use an app, download a pdf tube map to your device.