Tickets from £39 Book tickets➜
✓ Official tickets from Tootbus Tour
Can of Coke... check. Gloves, coat and scarf... check. Been down the bank to take out a loan so I can afford to buy a ticket... check. Okay, I'm ready to go.
The three biggest bus tour companies in London are the Tootbus, Big Bus Tours and Golden Tours, and the Tootbus is by far the most popular. They offer a few different routes but none of them cover all the landmarks, so whichever one you pick you're going to have to miss some places out.
Photo: tootbus.comPersonally I think these sightseeing buses are ridiculously expensive and in order to trick you into thinking they're a bargain they always chuck in a load of freebie extras. You get a few different bus routes, three walking tours and a river trip, which sounds like great value for money until you realise that you have to do them all on the same day.
Just the bus routes alone can take 2-3 hours each, so I reckon the most you'll want to do is maybe one full bus route and perhaps a walking tour or boat trip on top, so the rest of the freebies are basically a waste of time.
Yellow route from Trafalgar Square
Photo: londondrum.comBut I know you're going to want to do it anyway, because every tourist does, so if you take my advice then you'll do the yellow route from Trafalgar Square because that's the most comprehensive one.
If you're doing the same route as me then you'll get a good look at Trafalgar Square and Nelson's Column before heading down Whitehall.
Photo: londondrum.comThe traffic is terrible around here (it's like driving through glue) so you'll have plenty of time to pick out Banqueting House, Horse Guards and Downing Street while your headphones tell you tales about who built what, who said what and who went where, whilst blasting out bombastic classical anthems like Rule Britannia and Land Of Hope And Glory.
Photo: londondrum.comLondon Eye & St. Paul's Cathedral
Then you'll cross over Westminster Bridge and go round the back of the London Eye before re-crossing the river at Waterloo Bridge to head up Fleet Street, which cheers me up no end -- I love this road.
Photo: londondrum.comRemember to look at all the buildings on the right as well as the left because I think they're better than the Royal Courts of Justice. And wait until you see the dome of St. Paul's towering over Ludgate Hill. I must have seen this cathedral a bazillion times but I'm still craning my neck to see it from all angles.
Photo: londondrum.comTower Bridge & Tower of London
Then it gets even better as you head into the City past the Royal Exchange, Bank of England and Mansion House. This is when everybody falls in love with London... when they see these three buildings for the very first time. After that you're into a world of glass and steel as you cross over London Bridge towards the Shard, before re-crossing the river at Tower Bridge and passing by the 1,000-year-old Tower of London.
Things will slow down for a while now as he starts the long drive down Victoria Embankment towards Big Ben again, and they actually recommend getting off at the Tower of London to catch the river boat back to Westminster Pier. Then you can re-board the bus at Big Ben again. That's actually not a bad idea.
Big Ben, Buckingham Palace & Piccadilly Circus
Photo: londondrum.comAfter that you scoot around Parliament Square past Westminster Abbey and have a fleeting look at the side of Buckingham Palace before making a totally unnecessary stop at Victoria Coach Station. The driver seems to jump out for fifteen minutes at this point to have himself a tea break, and we're just left shivering on the top-deck.
The final stretch takes you up the east-side of Hyde Park past Apsley House, Wellington Arch and Marble Arch. I've been on the bus for over 1¼ hours now and even the sun has had enough. It's only 3 PM but she's clocked off early and left us to it. The Christmas lights are just beginning to come on in Oxford Street as we turn down Park Lane again -- the end is in sight. How much longer? Not long now, thank God.
Photo: londondrum.comGet ready for the big finish. The home straight takes you down Piccadilly past the neon lights of Piccadilly Circus, and back to the beginning at Trafalgar Square.
The entire route took two hours from start to finish and I stumbled off half-dead at the end. But do you know what? I'm actually quite glad I did it because I enjoyed it. I still don't think it's worth thirty quid though -- I still think that's completely ridiculous. And I don't really recommend it for kids either. Plenty of guidebooks do, but how many kids enjoy sitting on a bus all day? None that I know.
If you enjoy Tootbus then you might like to visit Big Bus Tours (walk it in 20 mins or catch a tube from Charing Cross to Victoria). If you like sightseeing buses but you want an ultra-cheap version then try the No.26 bus. It's just a normal everyday bus which happens to go past loads of landmarks on its route
