London Sightseeing Bus Tours

Taking a sightseeing bus tour is a great way for tourists and travellers, especially those new to London, to get a feel for the city, get themselves orientated, and take in some of the fantastic attractions and places that London is famous for. When someone else is doing the navigating and driving you have the chance to take in much more of what’s passing you by, and an open top bus is the ideal platform to view a city famous for its landmarks such as London.

Here’s a look at some of the main companies offering bus and sightseeing tours of London, what they consist of and how they compare on price.

The Original London Sightseeing Tour
Started by London Transport in the early 1950s, this company has four different tours with over 90 stops in the central London area. Tickets are valid for a 24 hour period and you can hop on and off their buses as much as you like during that time.

The four routes are coloured coded and a coloured triangle on the front of each bus denotes which route it is on. These routes are The Original Tour (Yellow), The City Sightseeing Tour (Red), The Loop Line (Green) and The Museum Tour (Blue). Live English guided commentary is given on the yellow route while audio commentary in six languages is available on the other routes.

Tickets cost £22 adult (£20 online), £12 children (£11 online) and include a free Thames river cruise and a free walking tour of London. The Original Tour has a fleet of modern buses that are all equiped to take disabled passengers and they have a London Visitor Centre on Cockspur Street just to the west of Trafalgar Square (Map), which is open daily from 8.30am-7pm and from where you can pick up tickets if needed.

The Big Bus Company
Another major tour bus operator in the capital, like the Original Tour they offer a 24 hour hop on, hop off ticket, this one on any of their 80 buses on the three coloured coded (red, blue and green) tour routes they have. The buses have live English speaking guides or audio commentary in 8 different languages.

Tickets cost £22 adult and £10 children, there’s a £2 saving if booked online and each ticket comes with a free guided walking tour of London along with a free one day river boat pass so you can hop on and off any City Cruise boat that’s cruising between Westminster, Tower Hill and Greenwich. Good value when combined with the bus tour if you plan to have a very busy day.

You also get The Big Bus Bonus Card which gives discounts in restaurants, shops and attractions and can be used for a week after your bus tour.

London Duck Tours
A unique combination of a bus and boat tour in one. London Duck Tours use amphibious DUKW vehicles which were orginally designed to ferry supplies from ship to shore during World War Two. The company has a fleet of five that have been completely rebuilt and painted bright yellow.

The vehicles which meet strict safety regulations seat 30 and take visitors on a 75 minute tour starting by the London Eye, passing landmarks such as the Houses of Parliament and Trafalgar Square on the road before entering the River Thames from a slipway at Vauxhall and cruising down the river.

Tickets cost £19 adult, £13 children and you are advised to book in advance during the busy times of the year.

British Tours
This is a company that offers a more personalized tour service, from taking as few as two people through to minibuses or full coaches of visitors on London tours that can last between 2-10 hours depending on your needs.

Their expert guides can take you to all the major London landmarks and attractions as well as suggesting many off the beaten track. They can also provide private London tours in languages including French, German, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Japanese, Cantonese and Mandarin.

This individual tailored service does not come cheap and the price will depend on the number of people in your group and the length of the tour you will be needing.