--- site: London Drum url: https://londondrum.com/events/?p=16695 canonical: https://londondrum.com/events/?p=16695 title: "Big Bus Tours London - Red Route Open-Top Sightseeing Bus" description: "My review of the Big Bus Tour London, riding around on their Red Route's open-top sightseeing bus to see the city's most famous landmarks and attractions" author: Craig Cross published: 2020-05-02 clipped: 2026-11-15 --- # Big Bus Tours - London Open-Top Sightseeing Bus ![Big Bus Tours](https://londondrum.com/i/eve/big-bus-tour.webp)
## Useful things to know before your visit Address: Big Bus Tours, Information Centre, 48 Buckingham Palace Road, Victoria SW1W 0RN. Telephone: 0207 808 6753 ### What are the dates and times? Red route (covers Marble Arch to Tower Bridge) - Departures every 15-20 mins from 8.30 AM to 5.45 PM · Blue route (covers Kensington Palace to Tower Bridge) - Departures 20 mins from 8.26 AM to 6 PM ### How much do the tickets cost? Prices start from £35 ### Which is the closest train station? The nearest station is [Victoria](https://londondrum.com/transport/trains.php?station=victoria), which connects with the Circle, District and Victoria lines. It also serves National Rail trains. It only takes three minutes to walk to Big Bus Tours ## My review of the Big Bus Tour **Worth a visit?** ★★☆ **Good value?** ☆☆☆ **Good for kids?** ★★☆ Reviewed by [Craig Cross](https://londondrum.com/about.php) on Whenever I buy a ticket for one of these open-top buses it always starts pelting down with rain. It's nearly driven me off the top-deck and into the dry section downstairs this morning, but the guide handed out some plastic ponchos for us to sit on otherwise our backsides would be getting wet from the pool of water on the seat. [Video](https://www.youtube.com/embed/0KyMWiCC8gw) I don't usually recommend sightseeing buses because of the high prices but they're okay for a certain type of tourist - the ones who only have a couple of days in town and want to tick off as many landmarks as possible so they can tell everybody that they've seen them. _Big Ben?_ Yeah, we roared past that on the bus. _Buckingham Palace?_ Yeah, we snapped that whilst we were waiting for the traffic lights to change. _St. Paul's?_ Yeah, we got a quick glimpse of the dome out of the back window. Yeah, but did you actually _do_ any of it? _Er... no_. ## Red Route from Marble Arch ![Marble Arch](https://londondrum.com/i/eve/big-bus-marble-arch.webp) _Marble Arch_ There are several routes to choose from and they all allow you to hop-on and off whenever you like, so lots of tourists have the bright idea of using it like a travelcard, but trust me when I say that's a daft idea. The buses only run in one direction so if you want to travel from Marble Arch to Parliament, for example, and then decide that you want to return to your hotel in Marble Arch again, you'd have to ride the bus all the way round the loop for another two hours. ## Buckingham Palace & Westminster Abbey You can start the tour wherever you like so I've decided to begin by Marble Arch. We're trundling down Park Lane now - you never travel quicker than a trundle in London - and our guide is reeling off the names of all the great hotels as we head towards Wellington Arch. Then we go round the back of Buckingham Palace's garden (you can't see anything over the tall wall) and get a quick glimpse of the Royal Mews before skirting round the western side of the palace. ![Wellington Arch](https://londondrum.com/i/att/wellington-arch.webp) _Wellington Arch_ If you crane your neck to the left then you can just about see a thin sliver of the courtyard but you can't see the balcony, so the view is quite disappointing. None of the buses are allowed down the Mall so this is the best view you can get from a sightseeing bus, whichever company you choose. We do get a wonderful view of Westminster Abbey though, and I'm actually happy for the traffic now because it gives me a chance to take a few photos whilst the bus is standing still. Then we head past Big Ben and over Westminster Bridge towards Waterloo. ![Passing Westminster Abbey](https://londondrum.com/i/eve/tootbus-westminster-abbey.webp) _Passing Westminster Abbey_ ## London Eye & St Paul's Cathedral As soon as we cross over the river it starts chucking it down with rain again. The top deck is full of people wearing see-through plastic ponchos and we look like a crowd of plastic bags with cameras poking out the front. After passing the London Eye we head back over Waterloo Bridge to catch the tail end of the Strand. Highlights here include the Royal Courts of Justice, a few Tudor-looking buildings on the right, and the dragon-topped monument called Temple Bar. Then we see the distant dome of St Paul's Cathedral as we head up Ludgate Hill. ![Front of St. Paul's Cathedral from Ludgate Hill](https://londondrum.com/i/eve/big-bus-st-pauls-cathedral.webp) _Front of St. Paul's Cathedral from Ludgate Hill_ Once we're past the front steps of St. Paul's we get our first good look at the skyscrapers in the Square Mile. Then we pass the Corinthian columns of the Royal Exchange and have to twist our heads 360 degrees to see the front of Mansion House where the Lord Mayor lives. ![Mansion House](https://londondrum.com/i/eve/26-bus-mansion-house.webp) _Lord Mayor of London's residence, Mansion House_ ## Tower Bridge & Tower of London Then we head over London Bridge for a look at The Shard, before trundling (more trundling) down Tooley Street and across the top of Tower Bridge where we get a good look at the 1,000-year-old Tower of London on the left. You'll be an hour into the tour by now, so this might be a good place to get off and stretch your legs. ![Tower of London](https://londondrum.com/i/eve/big-bus-tower-of-london.webp) _The White Tower at the Tower of London_ When he reaches Victoria Embankment we get some nice views of the Royal Festival Hall and the London Eye across the river before he bullies his way back into the traffic on the Strand. If I was driving the bus then I'd carry on to Trafalgar Square but he decides to re-cross the river towards Waterloo (again) and go over Westminster Bridge (again). ![The London Eye](https://londondrum.com/i/eve/big-bus-london-eye.webp) _The London Eye_ ## Downing Street, Horse Guards & Nelson's Column They should hand out an extra pair of eyeballs when he turns right into Whitehall because there's loads to see and not enough time to see it. Downing Street is on the left (look for a large crowd of tourists standing outside a big black iron gate). ![The mounted sentry boxes at Horse Guards](https://londondrum.com/i/eve/tootbus-horse-guards.webp) _The mounted sentry boxes at Horse Guards_ The mounted soldiers at Horse Guards will come up straight after. Have a look at the Cenotaph and Banqueting House before switching you attention to Nelson's Column up ahead. ![National Gallery in Trafalgar Square](https://londondrum.com/i/eve/26-bus-trafalgar-square.webp) _National Gallery in Trafalgar Square_ As we loop around Trafalgar Square we get a great view of the National Gallery before heading up Pall Mall towards Piccadilly Circus, where you can take a quick photo of the neon lights before jumping off outside The Ritz. And that's it. It probably only took you five minutes to read this review but that was over two hours of sitting on a bus.

I've ranked riding an open-top sightseeing bus as ★22 in [the 25 things to do in London at least once](https://londondrum.com/planner/top-25-ultimate-bucket-list.php) The other sightseeing bus that I recommend is the [Tootbus Tour (The Original Bus Tour)](https://londondrum.com/events/?p=16693). If you don't want to pay their high ticket prices then give the [26 bus](https://londondrum.com/events/?p=17339) a try, which is just a normal everyday bus that happens to drive past lots of landmarks on its route