The Best London Bus Tours

London’s landmarks are known the world over, from the Tower of London to Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. Walking between them all could be quite exhausting, but if you want to get up close and spend as much time as you’d like at each one, London’s best bus tour option is the hop-on hop-off experience. Your ticket will last an entire day and can be used on buses using any of three routes, which cover 70 bus stops around the city located near important landmarks. Included in the price is also an audio guide, walking tour and boat tour, to give you insight and fresh perspectives on the city.

For those wishing to get to know London well without having to do all that walking, the open-top vintage bus is a great alternative. The ride aboard a vintage London bus from the 1960s takes in the likes of the Shard, the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, Tower Bridge, the Tower of London and St. Paul’s Cathedral. Not only that, but comedic tour guides provide an entertaining overview of the significance held at each place, along with interactive multimedia music, sound effects and video clips to further enhance the experience. The tour lasts approximately 75 minutes.

Step into the glamorous but highly secretive world of 007 on this action-packed 3-hour James Bond tour of London. After being picked up by minibus in Central London, you’ll follow in the footsteps of everyone’s favourite international spy as you visit filming locations from Bond classics like ‘GoldenEye’, ‘The World is Not Enough’ and ‘Die Another Day’, as well as recent hits like ‘Spectre’ and ‘Skyfall’. Brush up on your Bond trivia as you learn more about Bond actors Sean Connery, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig, then get a glimpse of the real world of espionage as you pass the real MI6 Building at Vauxhall Cross. Along the way, your guide will regale you with stories of how Bond films were made as you gain a fascinating insight into the world of espionage. The tour will end by the London Eye where you’ll disembark.

So much to see, and not enough time to see it, is an often-heard grumble by visitors to London. But fear not, there’s a solution, thanks to this wonderful self-guided, hop-on-hop-off tour that takes you across the length and breadth of the city, all for the price of a public bus ticket. All you need is a London Transport Oyster card and the details provided by the excellent London For Free website, and you’ll be all set for a memorable whistle-stop tour of London’s finest attractions and landmarks. Following a circular route, you can travel out west past such iconic sites as Hyde Park and Harrods before heading back through the City to the fabled east end, where the notorious Kray Brothers once prowled the streets, before traversing both the north and south sides of the River Thames, taking in St Paul’s, the Tower of London, Big Ben and plenty more besides. For all the information you need, click on the link below.

For fans of wizard extraordinaire Harry Potter, there’s this 3-hour tour of the film locations used to bring the young protagonist onto the silver screen. Starting in Central London, you’ll be taken by luxury coach to cinematic landmarks such as Number 12, Grimmauld Place and Diagon Alley, while enjoying insider stories about the making of the films as told by your guide for the day. As you ride, listen to Potter-themed commentary, passing sites in muggle London that inspired her to create the world renowned fictional franchise. Your last stop will be King’s Cross Station to visit the perplexing Platform 9¾, where Harry launched himself through the portal to the Hogwarts Express. Be sure to bring a camera so you can recreate the moment!