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Big Bus Company

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EriksA1
First Reviewer
4 out of 5
Avg. Member Rating
13
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Big Bus Tour

  • March 23, 2005
  • Rated 4 of 5 by Milja from Waterloo, Ontario
On our first day in London, we took the Big Bus tour. This is a fantastic way to see everything as an overview of what you want to see during an extended trip or as a full day if you have limited time in the city. You can't go wrong by seeing absolutely everything this amazing city has to offer. Feel free to hop on and off at the dozens of stops. There are red lines, blue lines, and a short green line. We arranged to see almost all of the stops on the red and green lines. The only drawback was that it starting to just pour rain - and our bus leaked. We got off and switched buses, which is easy when they come roughly every 5-10 minutes. A great tour. If you speak other languages, this one offers multiple languages via headsets and a pre-recorded message. Live commentary on the red line.

From journal Three Weeks in London

Editor Pick

The Big Bus Company Tour

  • June 12, 2004
  • Rated 5 of 5 by Grasshopper from Keystone, Colorado
The Big Bus Company Tour

I absolutely LOVE the Big Bus Tours for getting a great overview of the city without much work. These Hop on Hop off buses have open tops and take three different routes through the city. Most come with a live guide who gives a running commentary and imparts interesting tidbits of information about the area you are in. (For example, did you know that the writer of the screenplay "Notting Hill" was attempting to raise house prices in the area when he couldn't sell his flat? The Hugh Grant / Julia Roberts movie did exactly that, causing the area to skyrocket.)

The 16 GBP tickets are good for 24 hours (although the buses stop running at about 7 pm) and also give you one Thames River cruise and one guided walk.

Be sure to pick a dry day for this trip and ride on top. Wear a coat and hat as it gets cold and windy up there. But the views on the inside are frankly not worth the trip.

Buy your ticket on the bus and you'll find stops throughout London and certainly where the big sights are.

From journal London on the quick

Big Bus Tour

  • January 27, 2004
  • Rated 5 of 5 by lisalund from Dallas, Texas
OK, I thought riding around in a double-decker bus with a guide yapping on about London might be a cheesy thing to do, but I was wrong. I'll admit it! The Big Bus is big fun on a nice day. We rode along with London natives who were taking the day off to explore their own city. Can't argue with the locals!

You can buy your ticket online or at one of the designated bus stops (see their website). Once you buy your ticket, you can ride along all day and hop on and off where ever you like. The upper deck fills up quickly but offers the best view on a clear day. The tour gives you an excellent overview of the city and its history.

There are three different routes you can take. You really need a full day to take advantage of all three and the various sites you can take in. The bus runs by Westminster Abbey, Tower of London, Marble Arch, Picadilly Circus, Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace and others.

If you had only one day, or a limited time in London, I would say the Big Bus is a must if you want to take in the major sights of the city.

From journal Fun in London

The Big Bus Company Tour

  • July 18, 2002
  • Rated 4 of 5 by Constance from New York, New York
I usually don't take tours but London is a big city and the attractions are spread out so this seemed like a smart option for sightseeing. The bus made it convenient to see all the major sites quickly and provided some great photo ops. Then we were able to choose which sites I wanted to spend time going back to see more throughly.

The driver was great at giving detailed information and had a great personality which made the tour all the more fun.

The tour operaters sell tickets to all the main sites so you don't have to wait in ticket purchase lines when you visit the attractions. This will save you quite a bit of time over the course of the day.

Note: Don't lose your ticket or you don't get back on the bus!

From journal Long Weekend in London

Big Bus Tour

  • October 6, 2001
  • Rated 4 of 5 by Sergey from Boston, Massachusetts
This is basically your standard hop on/hop off double-decker tour with a live tour guide on every bus. The top of the bus is open, so watch out for bad weather. Big Bus operates 4 routes in London, one of which is a Language Tour, offering recorded commentary in something like 10 different languages (including English) via a personal headset. The buses take you to all the important sights, including the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace, Madame Tussaud's and the National Gallery.

Your ticket is valid for 24 hours, so if you start at noon, you can come back the next day and ride in the morning.

This tour also includes a free boat cruise with live commentary (not the Catamaran Cruises tour I described in another section, but very similar) from either Embankment Pier to the Tower Pier, or the other direction.

From journal London and Vicinity

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