In message , at 16:25:47 on Tue,
31 Mar 2015, Theo Markettos
remarked:
TfL ticketing is just complicated, that's the fact of the matter. Whether
it's 'too' complicated, I don't know. However it isn't designed to be
friendly to visitors, at least visitors who want to understand what's going
on rather than just throwing money at TfL and hoping for the best.

Often the best thing to do in a strange city is buy the equivalent of an
all-zone[1] travelcard, and go off and enjoy your holiday knowing you'll
be able to travel around without any hassle (or further payment).

[1] fsvo "all"; best if it's the subset you can live with.
--
Roland Perry