London's New Weekend Hopper Lets Bus and Tram Riders Travel All Day for £1.75
Londoners and visitors can now spend an entire Saturday or Sunday hopping between buses and trams across the capital for the price of a single fare, as the Mayor of London and Transport for London’s new “Weekend Hopper” scheme gets underway.
How it works
The offer runs every weekend from 25 July to 31 August, including the August bank holiday Monday, which coincides with Notting Hill Carnival’s 60th anniversary. Passengers simply tap in as normal with the same card, phone or contactless device throughout the day — the first tap costs £1.75, and every subsequent bus or tram journey that day is free. Unlike the standard Hopper fare, which only covers unlimited journeys within one hour of the first tap, the Weekend Hopper removes the time limit entirely for the whole day.
The scheme does not extend to the Tube, DLR, London Overground, Elizabeth line or River Bus services, which continue to charge standard fares.
Part of a wider affordability push
The launch follows TfL’s decision to extend its bus and tram fare freeze by a further four months, keeping the single fare at £1.75 until 1 November 2026 — a price unchanged since March 2023. TfL is also backing the government’s Great British Summer Savings Scheme, under which anyone under 16 can travel free on London buses throughout August, even without a Zip Oyster photocard.
Mayor Sadiq Khan said the new fare was designed to make it “cheaper and easier for Londoners and visitors to enjoy all that our great city has to offer” during the school summer holidays. TfL customer director Emma Strain added that the offer, alongside the wider range of deals for bus and tram customers, would help families make the most of the summer.
A decade of the Hopper fare
Khan introduced the original Hopper fare when he became Mayor in 2016. TfL says customers have since made more than a billion Hopper journeys, with anyone making just two trips a week over that period saving a combined £1,500. Buses remain London’s most widely used form of public transport, with TfL noting that 96% of households sit within 400 metres of a stop and more than 90% are served by high-frequency routes.
Charities have welcomed the move: Josephine McCartney, chief executive of The Childhood Trust, said the scheme would ease pressure on families on the lowest incomes during the cost-of-living squeeze.
