Touring London - any good bus tours?

[Torontogal]

Hello everyone,

I am interested in doing a bus tour of London with the family on our trip in July. I looked into the Original Hop On Hop Off tour but while they say it is good for 24 hours - it does not appear to really operate after 6pm which is a little disappointing. Do you guys recommend any good bus tours which allow you to hop on hop off and get a good tour of London? Thanks!!

 

[TotallyAngelic]

When we last visited London we used the Big Bus Company

www.bigbustours.com

It visited all the main sights and included free river cruise which was wonderful.

I am not sure of the operating hours though.

 

[ely3857]

When they say 24hrs the bus doesn't run anywhere near that, it means if you activate your ticket as midday it is good until midday the following day. We've used Big bus aswell and found them fine. In summer the operating hours are longer.

 

[Dollyrar]

I used to work for the Big Bus company!

Take the Red Tour (don't bother with the Blue, you don't see much extra) and get off at the Tower of London to do the river cruise down to Westminster. If there's a few of you, ask the ticket seller if they can do you a group discount. They can normally knock a few quid off.

 

[j9000]

always remember,
london is a 24 hour city, as long as you dont need anything between 10pm and 9am

 

[Dollyrar]

I forgot to say, you also get free walking tours included with your ticket. The ghost walk is a great little pub crawl in the evening, or it certainly was when I used to be the guide! Definitely try and do this one anyway.
The Royal Walk is also the best way to see the changing of the guard, if you are interested in this

 

[Torontogal]

Thanks everyone. Looking forward to seeing London - hopefully it does not rain. I have another dumb question - what tea do you guys drink? What is rated to be the best tea in London?
THANKS!!!

 

[Danauk]

If you want to do a nice English afternoon tea Harrods do a really nice one at quite a reasonable price (it is in their Georgian restaurant on the 4th floor - I have done this more times than I can count!) Claridges also do a nice afternoon tea but this is more expensive and would need to be booked quite far in advance.

 

[Dimplenose]

Most people drink quite a strong tea with milk - similar to English Breakfast tea. Popular brands are PG-tips, Typhoo and Tetley but there are many more including supermarket brands.

Twinings is a very old established company that have a specialist tea shop on The Strand. Twinings Website (They sell tea and tea bags not cups of tea.)

 

[doombuggy]

I used to work for the Big Bus company!

Take the Red Tour (don't bother with the Blue, you don't see much extra) and get off at the Tower of London to do the river cruise down to Westminster.

How long would you alot for this - the whole day? I am going to London in late october for a week and staying in knightsbridge (in a B&B near Harrod's) and was thinking of doing one of these tours on Sunday, the day after my arrival.

 

[Torontogal]

If you want to do a nice English afternoon tea Harrods do a really nice one at quite a reasonable price (it is in their Georgian restaurant on the 4th floor - I have done this more times than I can count!) Claridges also do a nice afternoon tea but this is more expensive and would need to be booked quite far in advance.

We plan to do the tea at Kensington. If anyone has done this - can you please confirm your thoughts....

 

[Dollyrar]

How long would you alot for this - the whole day? I am going to London in late october for a week and staying in knightsbridge (in a B&B near Harrod's) and was thinking of doing one of these tours on Sunday, the day after my arrival.

The tour takes roughly 2 and a half hours if you just sit on the bus. It's really up to you how many times you jump off, but my advice would be to get up early and make a day of it
Oh, and entry to St Pauls is free on a Sunday if you want to see inside it, for obvious reasons!

 

[Torontogal]

The tour takes roughly 2 and a half hours if you just sit on the bus. It's really up to you how many times you jump off, but my advice would be to get up early and make a day of it
Oh, and entry to St Pauls is free on a Sunday if you want to see inside it, for obvious reasons!

London must be a huge city if it takes 2 and 1/2 hours to go around! Cannot wait!!!