Camden Town to Oxford Circus takes 9 minutes and costs £3.10 at peak. Zones, fares, caps and journey times for every station in the borough.
Most guides to getting into London from a home postcode are written for commuter towns, with season tickets and a fastest train to a terminus. Camden does not work like that, because Camden is already in London. Nowhere in the borough is more than about fifteen minutes from the West End on the Underground, and most of it is in Zone 2. What people actually need to know here is which zone their station is in, what a single costs, and when the daily cap makes the fare stop mounting up. Visitors want the same thing in reverse: Oxford Circus to Camden is 8 to 9 minutes and £3.10 at peak, and the section below spells that journey out.
Every figure on this page comes from Transport for London’s own systems, checked on 14 August 2026.
Which zone is your Camden station in
Camden straddles the Zone 1 boundary. The southern half of the borough, everything around Euston Road and below it, is Zone 1. The northern half is Zone 2, with one exception.
| Station | Zone | Lines |
|---|---|---|
| King's Cross St Pancras | 1 | Six Underground lines, National Rail, Eurostar |
| Euston | 1 | Northern, Victoria, Overground, National Rail |
| Holborn | 1 | Central, Piccadilly |
| Russell Square | 1 | Piccadilly |
| Camden Town | 2 | Northern |
| Chalk Farm | 2 | Northern |
| Mornington Crescent | 2 | Northern |
| Kentish Town | 2 | Northern, Thameslink |
| Tufnell Park | 2 | Northern |
| Belsize Park | 2 | Northern |
| Swiss Cottage | 2 | Jubilee |
| Finchley Road | 2 | Jubilee, Metropolitan |
| West Hampstead | 2 | Jubilee, Overground, Thameslink |
| Gospel Oak | 2 | Overground |
| Hampstead Heath | 2 | Overground |
| Hampstead | 2 and 3 | Northern |
Hampstead is the exception worth knowing about. TfL lists it as “2+3”, a boundary station, which means it can be charged at either zone depending on the journey. If you live there, it is worth checking whether a Zones 1 to 2 or a Zones 1 to 3 Travelcard covers what you actually do, rather than assuming.
How long it actually takes
These are TfL journey planner times for an 08:00 weekday departure, taking the fastest route including any change.
A few of these are worth spelling out because the change matters:
- Camden Town to Oxford Circus, 9 minutes. Northern line to Euston, then one stop on the Victoria.
- Camden Town to Bank, 14 minutes. No change at all, if you board a Bank branch train. Camden Town is where the Northern line’s two branches split in both directions, which is why the platform indicators matter more here than at most stations.
- Holborn to Bank, 5 minutes on the Central line, and King’s Cross to Bank, 9 minutes on the Northern.
- West Hampstead to Oxford Circus, 14 minutes. Jubilee to Baker Street, then the Bakerloo.
- Hampstead Heath to Oxford Circus, 29 minutes. The Overground is the slow way into the West End from the north of the borough. If you are near both, walking to a Northern line station will usually beat it.
Camden Town to Oxford Circus: the two routes, and which to take
Oxford Circus is not on the Northern line, so this journey always involves a change. There are two sensible ways to make it, and knowing the second one is worth about ten minutes on the days the Victoria line is in trouble.
The standard route: change at Euston. Northern line to Euston, three minutes, then one stop south on the Victoria line. TfL’s planner returns this route at every time of day, and the whole journey is consistently 8 to 11 minutes: 9 minutes at 08:00, 9 at midday, 9 in the evening peak, 10 late in the evening. Unusually for a London journey, the peak is no slower than the off-peak, because both lines run frequently enough that waiting time barely moves.
The fallback: change at Tottenham Court Road. Take a Charing Cross branch train from Camden Town to Tottenham Court Road, seven to eight minutes, then one stop west on the Central line, one to two minutes. Call it ten to twelve minutes door to door. It is slightly slower on paper, but it avoids the Victoria line entirely, and it uses the branch of the Northern line that most Camden Town southbound passengers are watching for anyway. If the board at Camden Town shows a Charing Cross train first and a long wait for a Bank one, take it and change at Tottenham Court Road rather than waiting for Euston.
The branch trap, southbound. Camden Town is where the Northern line splits. A Bank branch train from Camden Town does not call at Tottenham Court Road, so if you board one intending the Central line change you will end up at Euston anyway, or further east than you wanted. Southbound is the direction where the platform indicator matters; northbound it does not, because both branches converge at Camden Town.
First and last. The first journey of the day leaves Camden Town at 05:46 and reaches Oxford Circus at 05:57. The last practical one leaves at 23:59, arriving 00:11. On Friday and Saturday nights the Northern and Victoria lines both run the Night Tube, so the whole route stays open through the night at off-peak fares.
Journey times and departures sampled from the TfL journey API for a standard Wednesday, checked 27 August 2026.
Oxford Circus to Camden, the journey in reverse
Plenty of people making this trip are going out to the market rather than in to work. The route is the same in both directions. The platform advice is not.
Oxford Circus to Camden Town takes 8 to 9 minutes: one stop north on the Victoria line to Euston, then any northbound Northern line train. Checked on TfL’s journey planner for an 08:00 weekday departure.
The branch does not matter in this direction. Camden Town is where the Charing Cross and Bank branches merge, so every northbound Northern line train calling at Euston also calls at Camden Town. Southbound is the fussy direction, which is why the platform indicators at Camden Town get so much attention.
The fare is the same as the journey in: £3.10 at peak and £3.00 off-peak on contactless or Oyster, and £7.00 for a paper cash single.
For the markets, the station you want depends which end you are heading for. Camden Lock Market is about a five minute walk north of Camden Town station, up Camden High Street. The Stables Market at the far end sits roughly 300 metres from Chalk Farm, one stop further north. Chalk Farm is on the Edgware branch only, so from Euston that train choice does matter. Oxford Circus to Chalk Farm is 11 to 12 minutes, and £3.60 at peak or £3.10 off-peak.
Getting back, TfL’s own station page lists the last trains from Camden Town as 00:19 towards Battersea Power Station, 00:25 towards Morden, 00:03 towards Mill Hill East and 00:51 towards High Barnet. On Friday and Saturday nights the Northern line runs through Camden Town on the Night Tube at off-peak fares, so the last train is not the last train those two nights.
What it costs
Adult pay as you go fares, from TfL’s fare data, valid from 4 July 2026 to 4 July 2027.
| From | Peak | Off-peak |
|---|---|---|
| Holborn (Zone 1) | £3.10 | £3.00 |
| Camden Town (Zone 2) | £3.10 | £3.00 |
| West Hampstead (Zone 2) | £3.60 | £3.10 |
| Hampstead (Zone 2 and 3) | £3.60 | £3.10 |
Peak means Monday to Friday 06:30 to 09:30, and for journeys within Zone 1 also 16:00 to 19:00. Everything else, including public holidays, is off-peak. The cash single, if you use a paper ticket instead of contactless or Oyster, is £7.00 for any of these journeys, which is roughly double the contactless fare and the reason nobody should buy one.
Note what the table shows: from Camden Town, the peak fare into the West End is the same £3.10 as from a Zone 1 station. Zone 2 to Zone 1 and Zone 1 to Zone 1 are priced identically at peak. The extra 50p only appears once you are far enough out that the journey crosses from Zone 3.
Caps and Travelcards
You never pay more in a day than the cap for the zones you travel in, so for most people in Camden there is no reason to buy a ticket in advance.
| Zones | Daily cap | 7 day | Monthly | Annual |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zones 1 to 2 | £8.90 | £44.70 | £171.70 | £1,788 |
| Zones 1 to 3 | £10.50 | £52.50 | £201.60 | £2,100 |
| Zone 2 only | £8.90 | £33.50 | £128.70 | £1,340 |
The arithmetic for a Camden commuter is simple. Two peak singles from Camden Town cost £6.20 a day, so five days is £31, comfortably under the £44.70 weekly cap. Contactless pay as you go with the weekly Monday to Sunday cap beats a 7 day Travelcard for anyone doing a straightforward return, and it costs nothing if you are away. A Travelcard only wins if you need it loaded onto a Railcard-discounted Oyster or you travel far beyond your zone regularly.
Anyone in the Zone 1 part of the borough, around Bloomsbury, Holborn, Euston and King’s Cross, should check the walk first. Holborn to Tottenham Court Road is about twelve minutes on foot and £3.10 on the Central line.
Driving instead: what it costs to leave Camden by car
The Congestion Charge is £18 a day, and it rose to that from £15 on 2 January 2026. It applies 07:00 to 18:00 Monday to Friday and 12:00 to 18:00 at weekends and on bank holidays. Pay after the day of travel and it is £21.
This matters more in Camden than in most boroughs, because the zone’s northern boundary is Euston Road. Bloomsbury, Holborn, Fitzrovia and the streets south of Euston Road are inside the Congestion Charge zone. Camden Town, Kentish Town, Hampstead and everything north of Euston Road are outside it. The whole borough is inside the ULEZ, which covers all of Greater London.
Frequently asked questions
What zone is Camden Town in?
Zone 2. So are Chalk Farm, Kentish Town, Belsize Park, Swiss Cottage and West Hampstead. King’s Cross St Pancras, Euston, Holborn and Russell Square are Zone 1, and Hampstead is a boundary station listed as Zone 2 and 3.
How long does it take to get from Camden Town to central London?
Nine minutes to Oxford Circus, changing at Euston, and fourteen minutes to Bank with no change at all on a Bank branch Northern line train.
What is the fastest way from Camden Town to Oxford Circus?
Northern line to Euston, then one stop south on the Victoria line: 8 to 11 minutes at any time of day, and no slower in the peak than off-peak. If the Victoria line is disrupted, take a Charing Cross branch train to Tottenham Court Road and one stop west on the Central line instead, which is about 10 to 12 minutes. A Bank branch train will not get you to Tottenham Court Road.
How much is a tube from Camden Town to Oxford Circus?
£3.10 at peak and £3.00 off-peak on contactless or Oyster. A paper cash single is £7.00.
How do I get from Oxford Circus to Camden?
Victoria line one stop north to Euston, then any northbound Northern line train to Camden Town. It takes 8 to 9 minutes and costs £3.10 at peak or £3.00 off-peak. For the Stables Market end, stay on to Chalk Farm on an Edgware branch train, 11 to 12 minutes in total.
Is there a Night Tube in Camden?
Yes, on some lines. TfL runs the Night Tube on Friday and Saturday nights on the Central, Jubilee, Northern, Piccadilly, Victoria and Windrush lines, which between them serve most of the borough. Night Tube fares are charged at the off-peak rate. Not every branch of every line runs, so check TfL’s night map before you rely on a particular station.
Do I need a Travelcard to live in Camden?
Usually not. Contactless pay as you go caps at £8.90 a day and £44.70 a week for Zones 1 to 2, and a normal five-day commute from a Zone 2 Camden station comes in under that cap anyway.
Sources
- TfL Single Fare Finder API for peak, off-peak and cash single fares and their validity dates.
- TfL Journey Planner API for journey times and interchange stations.
- TfL StopPoint search for the zone of each station.
- TfL adult fares table (PDF) for daily and weekly caps and Travelcard prices.
- TfL station page for Camden Town for last train times.
- TfL Congestion Charge for the daily charge, hours and payment deadlines.
Fares and times change. TfL’s own pages are the final word, and this page is dated so you can see how old the figures are.
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