When I moved to London from India some years back, the first thing that won my heart was the red buses. Back home, a bus journey was always a small adventure, you never knew when it would come or where exactly it would stop. Here, the bus comes every few minutes, you tap your card, you sit by the big window upstairs, and it quietly takes you anywhere. So when I learnt that you can go all the way around the edge of London on the Superloop buses, and pay only £5.25 for the entire day, I did not believe it at first. I checked it properly, and it is true. Let me show you how.
Can you really go around London on the Superloops?
Yes, you really can. Eight express Superloop buses plus the free Woolwich Ferry make a complete circle around outer London. The full loop takes about 10 hours with breaks, and because of the £5.25 daily bus cap, you will never pay more than three fares, no matter how many buses you take.
What is the Superloop?
The Superloop is TfL's family of express buses. They look like the normal red double deckers, just with a white swoosh painted on the side, but they stop only at the important places. So they are much faster than the regular buses. Most of them come every 12 minutes on weekdays and Saturdays, and every 15 minutes on Sundays. Honestly, you do not need to look at any timetable. You go to the stop, and one will come.
Seven of these routes were planned as a circle around outer London, and the circle became complete in March 2024. Then in January 2026, TfL added one more, the SL11 between North Greenwich and Abbey Wood, and that fixed the most awkward corner of the circle, the part near Woolwich.
Some Superloop buses are not part of the circle at all. The SL4, SL6, SL8 and BL1 go in and out of central London instead. Good buses, but not for today's trip.
The full circuit, leg by leg
Here is the loop going clockwise, starting from Bromley North. But it is a circle, so there is no rule. Start from whichever point is closest to your home, and go in whichever direction you like.
| Leg | From → To | Rough time |
|---|---|---|
| SL5 | Bromley North → Croydon town centre | 30 min |
| SL7 | West Croydon → Heathrow Central | 1 hr 35 |
| SL9 | Heathrow → Harrow | 40 to 50 min |
| SL10 | Harrow → North Finchley | 30 to 60 min |
| SL1 | North Finchley → Walthamstow | 40 min |
| SL2 | Walthamstow → North Woolwich | 45 to 80 min |
| Woolwich Ferry | North Woolwich → Woolwich (free) | 10 min |
| SL11 | Woolwich → Abbey Wood | short hop |
| SL3 | Abbey Wood → Bromley North | 50 min |
These times are typical only, not promises. Traffic on the SL7 near Kingston can be kind one day and cruel the next day.
And here is the whole circuit on a map, so you can see properly what you are signing up for. Tap any coloured line and it will show you the route, the usual time, and a link to its timetable.
The lines are the real roads the buses take, from TfL route data. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Now, one thing I want you to be fully sure about, because I sat and checked every change point against TfL's live data before writing this. Most of the changes happen at the same stop or inside the same bus station, so you simply get down and wait. At Harrow and North Finchley, the next bus leaves from the very same stop where you got down. At Heathrow, the SL7 leaves you inside the Central bus station and the SL9 goes from stand 19, hardly a few steps away. Only two changes need a proper walk, and I have drawn both of them as dashed lines on the map. In Croydon, the SL5 finishes at Park Street in the town centre, about 8 minutes by foot from West Croydon bus station where the SL7 starts. If your legs are tired, take any bus going towards West Croydon, it is free within your Hopper hour anyway. And in Woolwich, the ferry pier is about 10 minutes by foot from the SL11 stop next to Woolwich station.
The river crossing is my favourite part of the whole day. The SL2 leaves you at North Woolwich on the north bank, and the Woolwich Ferry takes you across for free. It runs every 15 minutes, seven days a week, from around 5am to 9pm. If you miss it, the Woolwich foot tunnel is just next to it and open 24 hours. Walking under the Thames is its own little experience, though I will warn you, the stairs are not fun with heavy bags.
One small thing to know here: the SL3 does not go through Woolwich town centre itself. That is exactly why the SL11 matters. Before it came in January 2026, this corner needed a slow local bus. Now it is Superloop nearly all the way around.
How is the whole loop only £5.25?
Two TfL rules quietly work together here, and once you understand them, you will use them everywhere, not just on this trip.
First is the Hopper fare. Every bus journey costs £1.75, but within one hour of your first tap, you can change to any number of buses for free. So if you change quickly, two legs go in one fare.
Second is the daily bus and tram cap. Once you have paid three fares in one day, which is £5.25, every bus after that is free till 4:29 the next morning. Your fourth, fifth, sixth bus, all free. I have explained both rules properly in my guide to the London bus fare cap.
So however you ride this circuit, TfL simply cannot charge you more than £5.25. Somewhere around Harrow you will quietly cross the cap, and the rest of the way you are riding free. The first time it happened to me, I kept checking my bank app, thinking something has gone wrong. Nothing is wrong. That is just how the cap works.
And right now there is a bonus. Till 31 August 2026, TfL's Weekend Hopper caps Saturdays, Sundays and the bank holiday Monday at just £1.75 for the whole day. Do the loop on a weekend before that date, and you will have circled the whole of London for less than what one coffee costs these days.
Use the same card the whole day
The cap works only if every tap is on the same card or device. If you tap with your phone in the morning and your purse card in the afternoon, TfL thinks you are two different people and charges you twice. I learned this the hard way. Pick one and stay loyal to it.
How to make the most of the day
Start early, and start near your home. It is a circle, so there is no official starting point. Most Superloop buses run from about 5am till a little after 1am, so there is plenty of day to use. Keep aside around 10 hours including breaks. That is what it took a rider whose trip report I read while writing this, and it sounds right to me.
Sit in the front seats on the top deck. This is the outer London that visitors never see, and honestly most Londoners also never see. Bexleyheath's shopping streets, the climb over Shooter's Hill, planes coming in low over the SL9 near Heathrow, the Thames from the ferry deck. The view is the whole point of this trip.
Plan your food halts. The loop kindly passes through big town centres. Bromley, Croydon, Kingston (on the SL7), Harrow and Walthamstow are all good for lunch or dinner. Harrow especially has some very good South Indian places near the bus station, I will just leave that here. And please use the toilets whenever you see them, do not be brave. Heathrow Central bus station has toilets and coffee.
Check for roadworks before leaving. Buses get diverted on weekends also. Every route link in the table above shows first and last buses, plus a live arrivals page, so you can see exactly when the next bus is coming.
You can split it over two days also. The cap is per day, so two halves cost up to £5.25 each. Woolwich or Heathrow make natural halfway points, and both are easy to reach home from.
Mind the ferry timings. The ferry stops around 9pm. Cross the river earlier in your day, or be ready for the foot tunnel stairs.
Frequently asked questions
How long does the full Superloop take?
About 10 hours, including changes, a proper lunch break and the ferry. Pure riding time is nearer to 7 hours. Some people have done it faster, but why rush? It is a day out, not a race.
How much does the Superloop cost to ride?
Each bus is £1.75 with Oyster or contactless, but the daily bus and tram cap means you will never pay more than £5.25 in one day. On weekends till 31 August 2026, the Weekend Hopper brings that down to £1.75 for the whole day. Fares are frozen till 1 November 2026, after which TfL expects a single to go up to £1.85 and the daily cap to £5.55.
Is the Woolwich Ferry really free?
Yes, for everyone. Pedestrians, cyclists, even cars. It has been free since 1889, and it runs every 15 minutes, seven days a week. There is no tapping anywhere, you simply walk on. The first time, I kept looking around for a ticket machine. There isn't one.
Do Superloop buses run on Sundays?
Yes, all the loop routes run seven days a week, usually every 15 minutes on Sundays instead of every 12. Only the SL6, which is not part of the loop, runs on weekday peak hours only.
Do I need to book or plan tickets in advance?
No booking, nothing. Just tap on each bus with the same contactless card, phone or Oyster. The Hopper fare and the daily cap apply on their own.
Is the Superloop getting any bigger?
Yes. The SL12 from Gants Hill to Rainham via Romford launches on 5 September 2026, and TfL has proposed a few more. The new routes extend the network outwards, so the circle itself stays as I have described here.
Out on the loop till late?
Superloop buses stop running a little after 1am, and the last one is different for every route. Do check your last bus home before you start the final leg.
Find My Last Trip →Route details, fares and ferry times are correct as of August 2026 and can change. Always check TfL for live information before you travel.