Real travel decisions. Pick like a local, save money and skip the hassle.
Fares correct for 2026. TfL usually revises them each March.
The London Dilemma is a free London travel quiz from Last Trip. Each round drops you into five real decisions that people face on the Tube and buses every day, from airport transfers to night buses home, and asks you to pick what a savvy local would. The aim is simple: show you the choices that save money and hassle at the same time, because in London the cheaper option is usually also the easier one, with fewer queues and less waiting around. Every answer shows the real fares side by side and unlocks the trick behind it, so a few minutes of play teaches the cheapest ways to get around London.
For most people it is tapping a contactless card or phone and letting TfL's caps do the work. Buses are the cheapest ride at £1.75 with free changes for an hour, a Zone 1-2 day on the Tube never costs more than £8.90, and walking beats the Tube on many short Zone 1 hops. The quiz turns each of these rules into a real decision so they stick.
Usually not. The Elizabeth line runs from the same station, Paddington, to Heathrow for £15.50 in about 30 minutes, against £25 for the Express's 15-minute run. Unless you book an advance Express ticket up to 90 days ahead (from £10), the Elizabeth line wins. For very early flights the N9 night bus does the trip for £1.75.
They charge identical pay as you go fares and caps. Visitors do not need to buy a £7 Oyster card at all: any contactless bank card or phone, including foreign cards, gets the same prices. Oyster only wins if you need a discount loaded onto it, like a Railcard for a third off off-peak fares or the Young Visitor discount for children aged 11 to 15.
Pay £1.75 for a bus and every extra bus or tram you board in the next 60 minutes is free, automatically, as long as you tap the same card. On summer 2026 weekends, until 31 August, the whole day of buses caps at £1.75.
Under-11s travel free on the Tube, buses, DLR, Overground and Elizabeth line with a fare-paying adult, no ticket needed. Ages 11 to 15 pay half fares with a Zip Oyster card, or visiting families can ask station staff for the Young Visitor discount, which halves fares for up to 14 days.
Weekdays 6:30 to 9:30am in every direction, and 4pm to 7pm only for journeys heading out of Zone 1. What counts is the moment you touch in, so tapping in at 9:31 instead of 9:29 makes a Zone 2 to Zone 1 journey 50p cheaper. Weekends and bank holidays are always off-peak.
Yes. Every price in the game uses TfL's 2026 fares: £3.10 off-peak and £3.60 peak for a Zone 1-2 Tube journey, £1.75 for any bus, the £8.90 Zone 1-2 daily cap and so on. TfL normally revises fares each March, so the exact numbers can change, but the tricks behind them stay the same.
The quiz is the fun version. The tools behind it are practical: check your last train home before a night out, see which lines are closed this weekend, and look up first trains for early flights.