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Big Bus London Hop-On Hop-Off Tour & River Cruise
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Big Bus London Hop-On Hop-Off Tour & River Cruise

By Big Bus Tours
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Create your own personalized sightseeing itinerary with a hop-on hop-off sightseeing pass, the perfect choice for independent travelers. No matter how long you have in London, 24- or 48-hour ticket options allow you to explore at your own pace. Tick off all of London’s top landmarks—then, if you've chosen this option, see the city from a different perspective on an included Thames River cruise.
Lowest price guaranteeReserve now & pay laterFree cancellation

Ages 4-99
Duration: 3h 30m
Start time: Check availability
Mobile ticket
Audio guide: German, English, Italian, French, Spanish
More

Highlights
  • Tick off London landmarks at a relaxed pace on hop-on hop-off tour
  • This is a flexible and family-friendly sightseeing option 
  • A Thames River cruise or night tour is included as a bonus
  • Choose from a 24- or 48-hour ticket

  • Hop-on hop-off open-top bus tour for 24/48 hours
  • One-way Thames river cruise
  • Four themed live-guided walking tours
  • 2-Hour Non-Stop Panoramic Evening Tour with selected option only
  • Recorded commentary in 5 Languages
  • Free WIFI on-board
What's not included
  • Food and drinks

Redeem your bus voucher at any of the stops along one of the comprehensive routes. Opt for seating on the open-air upper deck or covered lower deck, depending on the weather, and listen to the audio commentary as you go. Either stay on the bus for the entire loop of each route or disembark whenever an attraction captures your attention. You can also plan ahead if you’d like and have a day’s itinerary laid out and ready. Your hop-on hop-off pass includes a single or return cruise along the River Thames, or a night tour. Some popular stops include the London Eye, St. Paul’s Cathedral, the Tower of London, and Kensington Gardens.

  • Wheelchair accessible
  • Stroller accessible
  • Service animals allowed
  • Near public transportation
  • Transportation is wheelchair accessible
If you have questions about accessibility, we’d be happy to help. Just call the number below and reference the product code: 6506LONHOHO

  • Confirmation will be received at time of booking
  • Most travelers can participate
  • Tickets are valid from the first date of redemption
  • Buses are all equipped with ramps for wheelchairs or strollers
  • Redeem your voucher at any of the designated Big Bus stops
  • Infants (age 0-3) can go on the tour free of charge

  • For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours in advance of the start date of the experience.

If you have questions about this tour or need help making your booking, we’d be happy to help. Just call the number below and reference the product code: 6506LONHOHO

From
$48.96
per adult
Select date and travelers

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About the operator
Don’t take it from us – here’s what people have to say about this operator:
  • Big Bus Tours
    12,815
    London, England
  • Roam63555942869
    0 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    We recommend the trip
    It was a good guide, Funny and charming. We enjoyed seeing the light. And now We have saw london Christmas lights. And now We know that We are not going to visit Winther Wonderland.
    Written November 30, 2024
  • Experience208326
    0 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Festive lights
    The only thing I would have changed about the tour would have been the weather....while it was bitter cold - the lights were brilliant and the warmth and enthusiasm from our tour guide Ella was super. Great way to spend an evening in London.
    Written November 24, 2024
  • familyharding
    0 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    A cheerful Christmas experience!
    The cheerfully decorated, open top bus playing festive tunes arrived on time and got us in the Christmas mood. Great welcome and entertaining commentary from Ella and skilful driving and navigation round London traffic by driver Paul. I was impressed that the Big Bus Tours rep called 2 ladies to the front of the queue, saying they had arrived first, very very early and could therefore board first. It was a very cold, clear and dry evening but we were wrapped up warm and my cold nose soon recovered. The route took in the main shopping streets with lights as well as some unexpected quieter squares with beautiful displays. I would recommend Big Bus Tours.
    Written November 21, 2024
  • Juliiekaren123
    0 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Superb light experience *****
    What a fantastic experience we had yesterday, we chose the tour as it ticked the box . Phill was so informative and Paul the driver exceeded expectations. The tour covered all the lights and the bonus of Phil’s chat made it an enjoyable evening .recommend to everyone who wants to see London at it’s best decoration.Thankyou
    Written November 20, 2024
  • jgarz25
    0 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    10/10 would recommend!
    What a fun night! Our tour guide, Steve, was really engaging, funny, and full of factoids that you might not get from anyone else. He showed us where to get the best shots and had a fantastic knowledge of the city and its sights. Our driver, Ted, made it through the traffic filled streets with ease, and gave us a really enjoyable ride. It was pretty chilly, but if you’re dressed accordingly, you should be comfortable enough, even in the open top portion of the bus. Would absolutely recommend to anyone. Very family friendly night out.
    Written November 18, 2024
  • 687camillae
    0 contributions
    1.0 of 5 bubbles
    Uncomfortable trip
    We booked the tour for my boyfriend's birthday. It started raining really Bad and we proceeded to sit downstairs to get away from the rain. While sitting down we got yelled at multiple times by an employee that we had to pay extra to sit in the seats downstairs, we tried to tell him that it was raining and all the seats under the roof were taken. He continued to yell in a threatening way that we had to pay extra for the downstairs seats. It made me really uncomfortable and upset me. After yelling more about paying extra he said it was a joke. It was really not funny! We paid 60 pounds to have our whole tour ruined. And multiple spots didn't have the Christmas lights on.
    Written November 17, 2024
  • Sue S
    0 contributions
    1.0 of 5 bubbles
    Useless
    Yesterday waited 45 minutes for a bus, today are still waiting after an hour and no bus. Poor employee at stop 15 has done his best to help but the company won’t help him. Absolutely pathetic
    Written November 6, 2024
  • GoPlaces42429889473
    0 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Amazing
    Friendly atmosphere,Staffs are very polite and friendly.Me and my family are very thankful to TripAdvisor.I highly recommend the app
    Written November 1, 2024
  • 233lesa
    0 contributions
    1.0 of 5 bubbles
    Total waste of time and money - product is not what it says on the tin
    Total waste of time and money…virtually no commentary provided…sore on ears classical music being played…travelled along embankment, passing New Scotland Yard, London Eye, Parliament, Big Ben and not one word about any of these landmarks…got a little on Buckingham Palace then we stopped and changed driver…lots of passengers complaining about lack of commentary…very nice Big Bus employee said he would make sure new driver sorted this out…and while the new driver did fix it the damage had been done…my 14 year old son was completely bored and so we disembarked at Harrods and never got back on…bus tour in any big city is something I always do to get my bearings and hear about the history…have done it in London before…but this was totally rubbish and simply not acceptable as it’s not cheap. I will never go on a Big Bus tour again and could not recommend to anyone.
    Written October 18, 2024
  • kimnZ3412YS
    0 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    A good overview of London
    The evening bus tour allowed you to see all famous areas in London in 2 hours. The tour was recorded despite the previous reviews stating it was live. I would have preferred a live tour guide because there were some buildings and landmarks that were not mentioned during the recording. Although it was nice to the the buildings lit up, I probably would've enjoyed this tour during the day. The staff were nice.
    Written October 17, 2024
  • rslade11
    0 contributions
    3.0 of 5 bubbles
    London Bus Tour
    This was a great tour to book to get around the city relatively quickly and to give us a break from walking. We enjoyed listening to the audio on the history of the sites we passed by. My only complaint is we had to wait an hour for the blue westbound bus at the eye which caused us to miss seeing Kensington Palace (the only place we didn't get to see but wanted to). I would suggest sticking with the eastbound routes and take those all around instead of trying to catch a westbound to cut back on time.
    Written October 13, 2024
  • Paradise15228123423
    0 contributions
    2.0 of 5 bubbles
    Is the London Big bus for you?
    Is the Big Bus Right for You? If you value a bus driver who briskly greets you with a "get on the bus; chop, chop" in the morning, then this tour bus may be the perfect fit for you. Perhaps you're also keen on the idea of being abruptly told by a blunt "supervisor" at around 6:00 p.m. that you've arrived at the last stop of the night and that all passengers must disembark now. If you ask how to get from the current stop #27 to your hotel stop #39 and the answer you get is a nonchalant "I suppose you'll have to walk," then this might be the customer experience you're after! If a 40-minute walk back to your stop after dark appeals to you, especially while observing other bus lines like the Toot Bus still bustling with passengers well into the evening, then don't hesitate to book your tickets on the Big Bus now. This is the adventure you've been searching for!
    Written October 11, 2024
  • cselmer
    0 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Excellent guide!
    The VIP guide was his weight worth in gold! What a fantastic knowledge about London and it's rich history. Will highly recommend to anyone visiting.
    Written October 9, 2024
  • L6138IGmariac
    0 contributions
    2.0 of 5 bubbles
    Mala información
    ¡Mala información de los horarios! Nos dijeron que era de 10:00 p.m. a 9:00 p.m pero realmente en London Bridge solo pasó hasta las 6:00 p.m. para ser Hop On and Hop Off no tiene buena duración. Es el tour que menos duración tiene y el bus se ve más viejito.// Poor schedule information! We were told it ran from 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., but at London Bridge, it actually only ran until 6:00 p.m. For a Hop On and Hop Off tour, it doesn’t offer good operating hours. It’s the shortest tour I’ve seen, and the bus looks older.
    Written October 6, 2024
  • SWCortez
    0 contributions
    1.0 of 5 bubbles
    Don't do the night tour
    Our tour was interrupted by the closing of several streets in London. None of it made any sense, but our tour guide basically told us someone must have dies in order for them to close the streets like they did. We ended up seeing hardly anything and were on the bus for an hour longer than planned because we couldn't get back to where we needed to be. It was a disaster. I reached out to the company for a refund and they wanted me to send them my bank account information. NO WAY! They should be able to refund the card I used to purchase the tickets. Total SCAM!
    Written October 4, 2024
See all 12,815 reviews
These reviews are the subjective opinions of Tripadvisor members and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

4.0
4.0 of 5 bubbles7,585 reviews
Excellent
3,579
Very good
1,490
Average
766
Poor
685
Terrible
1,065

Gmebrie3
Nashville, IN108 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Unfortunately this hop on/off bus tour was not up to par with others we have taken in other cities. We were on for over half an hour and had only gone three stops, most of that time was spent sitting at the bus stop. Tickets were being sold as people were getting on the bus from the driver which held everything up. We ended up getting off and not using it again because it was so inconvenient and slow. We ended up not being able to make it to one of our other tours so we lost those tickets (over $100!) because of the slow bus schedule. Additionally the person giving the audio portion of the tour was terrible, completely uninformative and unprofessional! Instead of providing facts and information he spent the time making crass jokes about ex girlfriends and his second life or telling stories that were clearly made up.
Very disappointed in this tour and in losing the opportunity to take the other tour we had paid for as a consequence.
Written January 22, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hello, Thank you for taking the time to provide us with a review although we are disappointed to hear that it did not live up to your expectations. We pride ourselves on offering customers an excellent sightseeing experience around London and our live guides are a huge part of this. We are proud to have guides from around the world who all love London and enjoy sharing it with visitors but are concerned to hear about the guiding you experienced. We'd appreciate the opportunity to review your feedback in more detail if you can share some more details with us by email to info@bigbustours.com. With best wishes, Big Bus London Team
Written January 24, 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Heleni
4 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020
Bought the one day pass on Feb 26th...bus went out of service before getting to King Kross, bus in front was scheduled to leave in 20 min. When we left KK, had to wait 30 min for the next bus (Big Bus decided to change the wait time from 20 to 30 min on the green line because of the poor weather).When we were ready to take the bus close to our hotel, bus driver and his boss got into an argument over a older couple. Bus driver pulled a 3 point turn in the middle of traffic because he was ordered to turn around and pick them up. Not worth it, take the tube.
Written March 3, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hello, Thank you for taking the time to review our service. We are very sorry to hear about your recent experience with us and the level of customer service you receive. Customer service and overall customer experience is extremely important to us and we'd like to investigate the specific issues you mentioned. This will help us to take action to correct these and improve our service going forward. Please do email us on info@bigbustours.com with further details incl. your date of travel. With best wishes, Big Bus London Team
Written March 5, 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

ktpolley
garden city20 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2020 • Family
We bought tickets at our hotel and the bus driver said they were invalid and needed to be redone. At the tower stop the driver and his associate had a fight about using the tickets scanning machine. We then went to another stop and waited for the crews to switch. No one can explain how long it will take, when you will leave, when another bus will come
Skip it. Use the city bus and pay a fraction and you will get the same views at
Fraction of the price.
Written January 3, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hello, Thank you for taking the time to review our service. We are very sorry to hear about your recent experience with us and the level of customer service you receive. Customer service and overall customer experience is extremely important to us and we'd like to investigate the specific issues you mentioned. This will help us to take action to correct these and improve our service going forward. Please do email us on info@bigbustours.com with further details incl. your date of travel. With best wishes, Big Bus London Team
Written January 3, 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

CKobsessive
York, UK80 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Saw a “rep” for the the bus tours at Westminster, he was holding the “red tour bus” map so figured he was the guy to ask about tickets. He was very insistent that we buy tickets for the next day as they sell out quickly and a seat on the bus cannot be guaranteed if we don’t purchase them beforehand. So I agreed….£39 EACH!!! He then gave us the tickets and different maps, maps for the big bus company tours. This guy scammed us, we thought we were getting the red city site seeing bus, but we weren’t it was a completely different company. Now I paid £39 because the city bus is £34 online….turns out that this company we went with tickets are £29 on the street and cheaper online. I know this because I asked another “rep” at a different location. The buses were not every 15-20mins more like every 40 mins. And were very very full people were turned away from them as there wasn’t space, so even though we bought our tickets a seat wasn’t guaranteed anyway. Pressurised into buying an overpriced ticket, lied to about which company it was for and then not getting a seat on a bus……

Such a shame this one guy at Westminster spoils it as the drivers are lovely. Please avoid him.
Written August 5, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Jules
2 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2019
We purchased a 3 day tour for the two of us that cost £100. They didn’t tell us that they had a reduced schedule on New Year’s Eve day and a re-direct routes on New Year’s Day. We waited for over an hour the bus never came to the bus stop. They advertised that the bus will come every 15 minutes which was a lie. We had planned the day to do some sightseeing and do New Years Eve stuff that day, but our day quickly ruined because of the big bus hop on hop off never came to the bus stop.
I chatted online with the big bus tour associate, and they told me they will open a ticket to resolve this issue. I have been back from London fro a couple of days now, and still haven’t heard anything from big bus hop on hop of bus.Do not use this hop on hop off big bus they will take your money and will not deliver their service!
Written January 5, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hello, Thank you for taking the time to provide us with a review. We provide as much information as possible in advance of changes to the service on both our website and customer app and through our customer representative team, we are sorry that you were unable to access this information. We'll look into ways to make this information clearer. While we are disappointed to read that you felt let down by your experience with Big Bus London, we are glad to hear that you have raised a complaint through our customer services team who will come back to you directly in relation to the situation. With best wishes, Big Bus London Team
Written January 7, 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Atiq Massan
Birmingham, UK1 contribution
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2020 • Couples
The trip was perfect as was a clearn sunny day, driver Scott was almost the best i've had as he never once gave hard brakes and was driving with the recording synchronised. Things got exceptionally good when the live tour guide Chloe came and she explained many small details that we could never had known as were hidden and real time updates about the city. She even was giving nice comments about things as well as had a beautiful warm smile all the way. Soft as could be and answered everyone's questions and gave us a lot to chuckle about. She even had the history of many monuments that are not easily found on the net. Plus she remembered every bit of the trip to smallest bit. The tour bus were absolutely clean and everyone was given covid guideline spaced seating on bus. Chloe can easily grab the tourist imagination absolutely if she wanted to and she did. I couldn't want anything better than her as a guide. Absolutely recommend this to everyone as one of the top attaractions... i mean the hop on hop off tour itself.. it is an attaraction in itself because of the team they manage. 24 hours then take it all you can by dropping off in middle for the free cruise included in it. The joining it again. Planning the time is best, imho get on middle of day on bus the get on cruise and then again next day morning take the tour on bus full on again. See things differently different times. Makes it worth the amount i paid 10 times over. When ever i am in london would surely take this tour again and again.
Written July 27, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Jemma L
Halifax22 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2021 • Friends
As much as I hate to leave a bad review for any company in the current climate, I also hate wasting £62 (the cost of 2 tickets) on a 15 minute ride on the lower deck of a hot, sweaty and overcrowded bus.
We boarded the bus at Trafalgar Square and just finding the bus stop was an achievement in itself! Admittedly this was due in part to my poor sense of direction, but also due to a complete lack of signage.
When we (finally) found the bus stop after a lot of wasted time the bus was overcrowded and we were forced to stand up on the lower deck.
There was no limiting of numbers on the bus and no social distancing whatsoever. Ordinarily this wouldn’t be a problem for us but as things stand at the moment we decided it was safer (and quicker) to get off at the next stop and explore London on foot instead.
Such a shame as I’ve used Big Bus in many different cities and have never had this problem before. What an absolute waste of money!
Written June 4, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Rachel
Matlock Bath, UK1 contribution
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2020
I took my 5 year old daughter on the hop on hop off tour as she’s recently done ‘London’ as a topic at school and was keen to see the sights for real.
Our guide Phil was absolutely fantastic and really made an effort to involve my daughter, making sure to point out Pudding Lane as she is obsessed by the Great fire of London. We had the top deck almost to ourselves.
We loved the river cruise from Tower Bridge to Westminster.
Later on we hopped on a different bus which had no live guide - the audio commentary via the headphones seemed to be mainly patriotic music rather than much history, so I’d definitely recommend picking a bus with a live guide if you can! Phil really made my little girl’s day on our first bus. The drivers were really helpful and let us hop off near Hamleys even though that stop is currently suspended. The staff are really keen to make sure their customers enjoy the experience, and I wouldn’t hesitate to go again. Fantastic value as kids go free at the moment.
It’s a great time to see London when everything is less busy, and feels good to support these tourism companies trying to get going again. Distancing on the buses is easy as they are operating at much lower visitor numbers than usual.
Written August 28, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Camper794278
2 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2021
I don't normally leave reviews and am writing this several days after the tour, so this isn't just another disappointed customer with unrealistic expectations sounding off. My family and I make a habit of using open top buses to help orientate ourselves in a new city, and have done so in several European capitals.
This offering from Big Bus London is easily the worst we have experienced by a long way and is an embarrassment to London's tourist industry.
The commentary in particular is a mixture of simplistic half sentences referring to a point of interest either coming up or just past but only rarely at a point when you can actually see it; poorly scripted pathetic attempts at humour delivered by third rate comedians, and mainly old music hits with a vague London connection.
The shame of it is this would be such an easy element of the attraction to improve - I am very aware that different customers will have different tastes in commentary - why not have more than one (eg one for adults, one for teenagers, one for younger kids); may be run it via an app with better geolocation than the bus seems to have. If anyone out there has a small team of developers to write an app like this (maybe they already exist?) you'd have a market.
My strong suggestion to any family of more than about three is to organise a private tour with a private guide - it will cost more, but should be more tailored to the ages and interests of everyone and you'd get so much more out of your precious time. Got kids under about 14? I beg you, don't bother.
Written August 9, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

KBellas
4 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2020 • Family
We had the pleasure of riding the big bus tour with Wikipedia Will as our guide. He did an amazing job describing all the landmarks and history behind it. My son (7) was paying close attention to Will and learned a lot from him! We were only in town for 2 days and the big bus definitely let us enjoy the city (by hopping on and off) and we also were able to ride the boat tours down the river. Definitely recommended for family. Great experience that we will never forget. Thank you Will & bus driver!!
Written January 20, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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*Likely to sell out: Based on Viator’s booking data and information from the provider from the past 30 days, it seems likely this experience will sell out through Viator, a Tripadvisor company.

Big Bus London Hop-On Hop-Off Tour & River Cruise provided by Big Bus Tours

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