As part of my on-going London Favourites series, I thought I’d focus on an activity rather than a place. My family and I recently went on an open-top bus tour around London, and we loved it. When we go on city-breaks, we often take bus tours as it is a great way to see a city in a short time. London is the perfect place for a bus tour, as it is just so darn big and there is so much to see. I have lived in London for 13 years and I still haven’t seen it all.
But the bus tours aren’t just about seeing London. You get a tour guide who knows everything there is to know about London. Our guide was funny and interesting and made the ride even more enjoyable. Husband, a history geek, especially loved it. If you’re worried about the kids being bored, then don’t. London is a city full of breath-taking landmarks. And if it is a bit chilly, the front of the top of the bus has a clear covering so you don’t get too cold or wind-swept.
If you are planning to visit London, whether you have been before or not, I strongly suggest a bus tour. The Original Tour is currently offering a winter special where you pay for 24 hours of hop-on-hop-off and automatically get 48 hours (until the 29 February 2016). This covers six routes and over 80 bus stops. A family ticket costs £75 (children get a special commentary and an activity pack). You also get a free river cruise and there are free walking tours included. This means that you get to see a whole lot of London.
We were given a complimentary bus ride as part of our day sightseeing in London from Garfunkel’s. I was not obliged to blog about this experience. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.
I can’t believe we’ve not thought to do this before on our trips to London, I know the kids would really enjoy the tour and it’s not bad value when you add in the boat and walking tour too. Looks like you chose a lovely day for your tour. Thank you for sharing with me on Country Kids.
I had no idea a river cruise is included and the hop-on-and-off would actually make it fun.
Love the views from the top of the bus. The prices have always put me off doing one of the bus tours but with the ticket on offer and lasting 48 hours plus the river cruise and walking tours included, that sounds like much better value for money. I love the fact that there is so much to see in London and the bus tour is a great way to see some of the main attractions.
What a great way to most of London. Looks like you had so much fun. Love your photos too. I’ll take this idea on board. 🙂
Have a lovely weekend.
#countrykids
We are off to London in a couple and weeks and thought about doing an open top bus so will look into this. It is such a great way to see the city and I like the information from the guides. So many sights that I want to see and get some good photos of.
You do get a great view from the top of the bus. And it is handy being able to hop off when you want to properly look at a landmark. You should definitely do it.
We are in London for the weekend just before Christmas and were looking for something like this to do – thanks for the tip! Looks like you saw so much x
Because we actually lived in London and my daughter was a bit small to get much out of it, I could never quite justify this. Still, both those things are changing, and it is a great treat for sighteeing in any city I reckon.
I did one of these tours a few years ago with a friend and loved it so I would love to take my little man up to London one day as I’m sure he’d enjoy it..what little boy doesn’t enjoy buses! #countrykids