London Sightseeing Bus Tour

[jollyjester]

We're heading to London and just wondering if anyone had any experience recently with any of the bus tours?

It's been years since I've been and the kids are excited but just would like to know if anyone has had any good / bad experiences recently

They really expensive but you could use the ordinary London buses who use the same routes as the bus routes. It depends on whether you want the commentary or not.

londonist.com/london/free-and-cheap/london-s-best-bus-routes

We probably would enjoy the commentary just to feel a bit touristy!

Get normal buses

Or the BB' afternoon tea bus which does all the sights and you get afternoon tea on board

b-bakery.com

We’ve just done and the commentary was rubbish. We paid a lot but kept struggling to find the stops so ended up going our own way. There are also roads closed so they can’t do the full route atm. Just decide where you want to go and use another transport to get you there. It would’ve been cheaper for us to use taxis.

geotourist.com/news/

Try this site for audio commentaries.

It depends what you want to see as they all have different colours for different routes and are expensive. We paid £35 for the full city tour but only saw about half as the traffic and demonstrations caused massive delays. If you list what you want to see we can help with normal buses. Wowcher do bus tour offers and you might enjoy a river boat cruise instead.

Thanks everyone.

We're staying beside Waterloo station, want to see the tower of London, st Paul's, Harrods, Buckingham palace (I think that's their list).

I know tubes I can use contactless on my card to tap in and out, do buses work the same?

Do you want to go inside or just see them from the outside. How ling will you have. Which hotel are you in, there are 2 main roads at Waterloo either side of the station. What about the London Eye, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament which are all near Waterloo.

We're staying in park plaza Westminster so London eye big Ben etc all walkable.

Kids aren't fussed on going into places really, just excited to see the city. (We live in the countryside) we have a full day to fill, we've a matinee show booked the day after

We're staying beside Waterloo station

Walk across the river (Hungerford Bridge, alongside the railway) to Charing Cross/Trafalgar Square. Walk through Admiralty Arch, along the Mall/through St James's Park to Buckingham Palace. Continue towards Victoria Station and pick up a No, 11 bus, going east. At some point after Trafalgar Square, switch to a No. 15 to the Tower.

You can then, if you want to, walk along the riverside in front of the Tower, across Tower Bridge, then back along the South Bank to Waterloo. Or get a riverbus.

Brilliant thank you!

We bought a 24hr pass for the open top bus tours (via Clubcard points I think?) and it was great from a seeing all the main sights point of view, the kids got to tick off all the headliners! If you don’t know London, it’s a great way to get an overview of everything,

get a river boat. wonderful views.
yes contactless cards on buses, but i dont know how it works for visiting children.
check tfl website,
good luck

We did the See London by night bus tour which was fabulous. Got on at Green Park. We did it in late November though so were mesmerised by the Christmas lights too. The bus takes you past the side of Buckingham palace and you can't drive in front of it.

See London by Night is a different way to see the city and Brigits Afternoon Tea bus is also great - a tour and afternoon tea combined. Not sure how old the kids are but they do a Peppa Pig version in case your interested. City Sightseeing also a great option. Although not cheap, I do think the bus tours are worth it, especially if limited for time and they help to tick off the sites.