Visitor Oyster cards are electronic smart cards that come fully charged with credit. Whether you're making a one-off trip to London or you're a regular visitor, using an Oyster travel smart card is the easiest way to travel around the city's public transport network. Simply touch the card on the yellow card reader at the doors when you start and end your journey.

Advantages of a Visitor Oyster Card

    A Visitor Oyster card is one of the cheapest ways to pay for single journeys on the bus, Tube, DLR, tram, London Overground and most National Rail services in London:

● Save time—your card is ready to use as soon as you arrive in London.

● It's more than 50% cheaper than buying a paper travel card or single tickets with cash.

● There is a daily price cap—once you have reached this limit, you won't pay any more.

● Enjoy special offers and promotions at leading London restaurants, shops and entertainment venues—plus discounts on the Emirates Air Line cable car and Thames Clippers river buses.

Buy a Visitor Oyster card

    Buy a Visitor Oyster card before you visit London and get it delivered to your home address. A card costs￡3 (non-refundable) plus postage. Order online and arrive with your Oyster in hand! You can also buy a Visitor Oyster card from Gatwick Express ticket offices at Gatwick Airport Station and on board Eurostar trains travelling to London.

Add Credit to Your Visitor Oyster Card

    You can choose how much credit to add to your card. If you are visiting London for two days, you can start with ￡20 credit. If you run out of credit, add credit at the following locations:

● Touch screen ticket machines in Tube, DLR, London Overground and some National Rail stations .

● Around 4,000 Oyster Ticket Stops found in newsagents and small shops across London.

● TFL Visitor and Travel Information Centers .

● Tube and London Overground station ticket offices .

● Emirates Air Line terminals .

Choose Your One-Day-Tours!

    Tour A—Bath &Stonehenge including entrance fees to the ancient Roman bathrooms and Stonehenge —￡37 until 26 March and ￡39 thereafter.

    Visit the city with over 2,000 years of history and Bath Abbey, the Royal Crescent and the Costume Museum, Stonehenge is one of the world's most famous prehistoric monuments dating back over 5,000 years.

    Tour B—Oxford & Stratford including entrance fees to the University St Mary's Church Tower and Anne Hathaway's —￡32 until 12 March and ￡36 thereafter.

    Oxford: Includes a guided tour of England's oldest university city and colleges. Look over the “city of dreaming spires(尖顶）”from St Mary's Church Tower. Stratford: Includes a guided tour exploring much of the Shakespeare wonder.

    Tour C—Windsor Castle &Hampton Court including entrance fees to Hampton Court Palace —￡34 until 11 March and ￡37 thereafter.

    Includes a guided tour of Windsor and Hampton Court, Henry VIII's favorite palace. Free time to visit Windsor Castle(entrance fees not included).With 500 years of history, Hampton Court was once the home of four Kings and one Queen. Now this former royal palace is open to the public as a major tourist attraction. Visit the palace and its various historic gardens, which include the famous maze(迷宫)where it is easy to get lost!

    Tour D—Cambridge including entrance fees to the Tower of Saint Mary the Great—￡33 until 18 March and ￡37 thereafter.

    Includes a guided tour of Cambridge, the famous university town, and the gardens of the 18th century.

    Pat O'Burke was a poor Irishman with a large family, and one morning, waking up very early from cold and hunger, he decided to go shooting in a wood near his cottage. The wood belonged to Lord Northwood, a rich gentleman. Pat had no right to go there, but in it there were swarms of rabbits and flocks of birds that were good to eat, and Pat determined to take the risk. Suddenly he saw the owner, with a group of friends, coming towards him in the wood. There was a look of anger on Lord Northwood's face as he caught sight of the gun in Pat's hands.

    Pat's heart sank with fear, but he saw there was no hope of escape, so he walked boldly(大胆) up to the group and said to Lord Northwood, “Good morning, sir, and what has brought you out so early this morning?”

    Lord Northwood, rather surprised, said he and his friends were taking a little exercise to get an appetite(食欲) for their breakfast. Then, looking at Pat with suspicion(怀疑), he said, “but why are you out so early in the morning?”

    “Well, sir” said Pat, “I just came out to see if I could get a breakfast for my appetite.”

    The whole crowd burst into laughter at Pat's ready wit, and with a smile Lord Northwood walked on, leaving Pat to try his luck with the rabbits.

Whenever the sun dropped and the blue sky came up, my father and I used to climb the mountain near my house. Walking together, my father and I used to have a lot of conversations through which I learned lessons from his experiences. He always told me, "You should have goals like climbing the mountain. " without the mountain-climbing that we both enjoyed, we couldn't have enough time to spend together because my father was very busy. I really got a lot from mountain-climbing. It gave me time to talk with my father and to be in deep thought as well as develop my patience.

Once we climbed a very high mountain. It was so challenging for me because I was only ten years old. During the first few hours of climbing, I enjoyed the flowers and trees, and the birds'singing, but as time passed, I got a pain in both of my legs. I wanted to quit climbing. In fact, I hated it at that mountain, but my father said to me, "You can always see a beautiful sky at the top of the mountain, but you can't see it before you reach the top. Only there at the top can you see all of the nice things, just like in life. "

    At that time, I was too young to understand his words. But later after that, I got new hope and confidence. I found myself standing at the top of the sky, which was as clear as crystal.

    Growing ups I always envied my friends who lived in one town in their whole lives. Coming from a military family makes this impossible. My brothers and I soon found that if we didn't like a place we lived in, we'd soon be moving to a new place. Through all the ups and downs, I now realize that' everything I've done, seen, and learned has made me into the person I am today.

    The field day was the best day ever created. Being good at sports which I had done together with parents seemed to help me find my position at a new school. Despite the hot weather in San Antonio, Texas, I had to take outdoor activities. Sometimes we •took the family mountain biking after school. My brothers and I were arranged to join in the swim team and practice yoga. These are the things I remember about my childhood. Now I thank my parents for teaching me these vital principles, which I will have with me the rest of my life.

I was always the shy girl and afraid to be myself. This didn't bother me until I reached junior high school, when some girls judged me by what I wore, who I talked to and how skinny I was. I felt like I'd never done anything wrong to deserve such criticism. It was not until last year that I realized that I had to stay different from them and live my life according to my principles. I decided to be my own person. I never thought that being nice could cause me to be disliked. Anyway, I began hanging out with girls who had a lot in common with me like preferring outdoor sports. They were accepting and non-judgmental. I am now content in u knowing that I am my own person and don't let others control my life.

Volunteer Day

    What better way is there to enjoy your own hobbies while helping others at the same time? Come to Volunteer Day and choose which activity you'd like to join for the day. See below for a schedule of events on Volunteer Day.

    Volunteer Day schedule:

    7:30a.m.: Meet at the Community (社区) Center for juice and bagels.

    8:00—8:30 a.m.: Choose which activity you'd like to help with for the day.

    8:30 a.m.: Board the bus to your activity site.

    9:00 a.m.—3:30 p.m.: Work as a volunteer.

    3:30 p.m.: Board the bus that will take you back to the Community Center.

    See below for a list of volunteer opportunities for Volunteer Day so you can begin thinking about which activity you might want to join.

    A list of volunteer activities:

    Paint houses: Do you enjoy making art? If so, this volunteer opportunity might be just right for you! Happy Homes is a local organization that provides home repairs for needy people in the form of painting. For elderly or physically disabled people who cannot do repairs to their homes, Happy Homes provides volunteer painters to repaint old homes; outside or in. Happy Homes also provides painters to create beautiful wall paintings inside schools or community centers.

    Plant flowers: Do you enjoy being outside in nature? City Parks Association has many great opportunities for people who love to be outdoors. Help plant flowers and bushes in city parks; help lay paths at Cave Springs Park, or help pick up rubbish around the river banks. These activities are very active, so remember to be prepared with plenty of drinking water!

    Read to children: Do you enjoy working with young children? Do you like books? Love and Learning is an organization that provides volunteers to help children with learning disabilities. Read books out loud to groups of children four to six years old, or read one-on-one with struggling readers seven to eight years old.

    Play with animals: Do you love animals? Lovely Friends is an organization that visits local animal shelters and provides volunteers to spend time with the animals while their cages are being cleaned. Play with puppies, snuggle with cats, or hand-feed rabbits.