London Big Bus Hop-On Hop-Off Tour with Optional River Cruise
Description
Discover London your way with a hop-on hop-off bus tour, plus a Thames River cruise included with selected tickets. Pass iconic sights including the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey and Big Ben while enjoying entertaining commentary on London’s history and culture. Your ticket gives access to three routes. The Red Route covers major landmarks such as Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye and St Paul’s Cathedral. The Blue Route travels from Kensington Palace to the Tower of London, stopping near Harrods, the Natural History Museum and Notting Hill. The Green Route connects King’s Cross and St Pancras with Covent Garden via the British Museum. Choose a 24-hour or 48-hour ticket to enjoy the Thames River cruise. 48-hour tickets also include live guided walking tours in English: the Royal Walk, Jack the Ripper Walk and Harry Potter Walking Tour. Upgrade to include the Panoramic Evening Tour for stunning night-time views of London.
Tour Options
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Wheelchair accessible
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Your ticket’s validity period begins from the date and time it is activated.
- Buses are all equipped with ramps for wheelchairs or strollers
- Activate your mobile voucher or QR at any of the designated Big Bus stops
- Infants aged 3 and under travel free of charge and do not require a ticket
- 1-Day Ticket does NOT include a River Cruise.
- Please note that Stop 1 – Green Park is currently affected by a long-term closure of the main bus stand. While the Blue and Red Tours will continue to pass through this stop, boarding is impacted. As a result, the Red Tour now starts and ends at Stop 2 – Hard Rock. Customers are advised to board from this location.
- If you purchased a 48-hour ticket, 3 walking tours are included. Meet your guide at the Big Bus Stop listed below and have your printed or digital ticket ready. Please arrive 15 minutes before departure. All tours are live guided and conducted in English only. Tours last approximately 1.5–2 hours. Royal Walk – 10:00 | Stop #8 Trafalgar Square Jack the Ripper Walk – 13:00 | Stop #19 Tower of London Harry Potter Walking Tour – 16:00 | Stop #21 Westminster Pier
- Download the Big Bus Tours app to access and activate your ticket, track buses in real time, and board easily using your mobile ticket.
Reviews(11,189)
The tour itself is great… get to see many sights from the Blue, Green or Red Routes. It’s nice as you can hop on or off to explore as well. Only issue we encountered was, and this is our WORD OF WARNING… make sure you have your driver scan your ticket/QR code when you start your first “get-on” to the bus. We purchased our tickets a little later in the day and started our tour a few hours before the buses stopped for the evening. When we went to hop on, they forgot to scan our tickets and when the tour was over for the evening, they said we could come back the next day to finish up the remaining time since it was a 24 hour pass. The next day comes and when we tried to get back on they scanned our tickets, they said they were invalid as they were for the day before and never scanned originally. So just be aware. The cruise portion of the ticket was fun. Got to take a one-way ride down the Thames River to see London from the water. All in all, worth the money, just a little hiccup along the way.
Map could be improved. More buses would be faster pickups. Great river cruise. Nighttime trip was good. Drivers and guides all very pleasant and helpful.
We had really fan, it was an impeccable everyone!
We booked ahead of our trip to make sure we could take best advantage of our time. Having tried both, I think the blue line covers the most area and has most of the red line stops on the blue line route with others in addition. Ride the whole route and make now of experienced you want to explore further. Staff is helpful and the narration is interesting and informative. We really enjoyed the Thames cruise, we could have spent more time on it. Perhaps next time! The Jack the Ripper walking tour guided by Kevin was excellent! We weren't able to do the Harry Potter tour or Westminster tour. Again... next time. The only negative thing was on our last trip the driver didn't stop at our stop so we could get off... my husband had to navigate the stairs on the moving bus to get him to let us off and we had to back track to our hotel. (We were staying right next to the stop he missed (stop 25).
Hi Grace! Thank you for your detailed review! We're delighted to hear you enjoyed the tour, found the commentary informative, and made the most of the Thames Cruise and Jack the Ripper tour with Kevin. We're also pleased that our team helped make your experience a positive one. We do, however, apologize that your driver missed Stop 25 on your final journey and understand the inconvenience this caused. Thank you for the recommendation, and we hope to welcome you back for the Harry Potter and Westminster tours next time! Alexandra I. @ Big Bus Tours
If you purchase tickets through viator they will not give you an option to extend the ticket. Also poor customer service from some of the reps at the stops who basically said “too bad”. The app told us could extend but payment could not go through. The customer service agent on app through messages stated use could not extend because used viator for purchase. However one agent said he could extend for us but was getting a higher price than what app showed. They serve thousands of people. Don’t seem to care if a customer is unhappy. They will just get money from someone else.
Hi Lisa! Thank you for sharing your feedback. We're sorry to hear about the difficulties you experienced with extending your ticket and that the service you received did not meet your expectations. We understand how frustrating inconsistent information and pricing can be, especially when trying to make the most of your visit. Your comments regarding both the app experience and interactions with our team will be shared with the relevant departments for review. Alexandra I. @ Big Bus Tours
Firstly the bus tour was a good experience but the Jack the Ripper walking tour was a complete letdown. Our guide (Emma) was knowledgeable about the subject but put over her own opinions and not enough facts about the subject in question. I have done this walking tour with other family members in the past and to be honest they were more interesting by far. The tour was listed as taking 1 and a half hours….ours took over three hours 😡 and she was boring and was more interested in telling the group more about her life. Guys don’t be put off with this guided tour…..just don’t go on it with Emma.
To make sure you know what hop on hop off bus you purchased. They work independently of each other. To also make sure you have the correct map for that bus line.
Hi Kris, Thank you for leaving a review and sharing your advice! You make a great point—since different hop-on hop-off operators run independently in London, it is always helpful for travelers to double-check their booking provider and download the corresponding route map before heading out. We appreciate you taking the time to share this tip with fellow travelers, and we hope you enjoyed your sightseeing tour in London! Madalina@BigBusTours
We have bought Big Bus tickets in other major cities and loved it. So was excited for this one. Unfortunately, London was a big disappointment. Bought 24 hour tickers which is misleading in itself as the busses only run until 6:30pm. Advertised as running every 15-20 mins.. not always the case and half the time busses weee full and we had to wait for the next. On one occasion, two busses in a row were full, the third driver let us stand up downstairs, which was appreciated but we also could have done on a public bus. Given the point of these busses is also to maximise time and make getting around the city easy, we wasted a good portion of the day just waiting on the busses. Disappointed there was no air con, not even downstairs. It was a 30 degree day. Also disappointed there are no charging ports. All in all, a regretful experience and which I had taken heed of advice just to use the public bus network.
It was ok. Busses fill up fast, seem to be behind schedule all the time, and the app doesn’t have great gps that will leave you guessing. The blue bus just seemed to never show up and when it did it was 100% full.
Thank you for your review! We're sorry to hear that your experience didn't fully meet your expectations. We understand how frustrating it can be when buses are full, wait times are longer than expected, and the app doesn't always provide the level of accuracy needed to plan your day smoothly. We're particularly sorry to hear about your experience with the Blue Route and the difficulty boarding due to capacity. Your comments are valuable and will be shared with the local team as we continue to improve our service and customer experience. BigBusTours@VladL
If you're visiting for the first time, like us, it's definitely worth the investment. It's an easy trip.
Thank you for sharing your feedback! We're delighted to hear that you found the tour worthwhile and an easy way to explore the city, especially as first-time visitors. It's great to know that the experience helped make your trip more enjoyable and convenient. BigBusTours@VladL
