LONDON WEEKEND BREAKS - Guided London bus tours

One of the best, easiest, and cheapest ways to get a good look around London on a short weekend break is by taking one of the tourist bus tours. There are several companies providing different sightseeing tours of London and each one offers different routes and tours of different parts of the city.

Most bus tours give you a ticket that lasts for a whole day. This gives you the freedom to get on and off the buses as many times as you wish to look at any sights or attractions that are of interest you. This also allows you the freedom to structure your own London weekend tour within the framework of the tour buses scheduled stops. As a result, you can spend as long, or as little, at each scheduled drop off point as you wish. (You do not have to alight from the bus at all if you simply wish to have a bus tour and walk around on foot at a later time.)

To keep things interesting and informative, most bus tours offer a live commentary from a tour guide. The guide keeps you abreast of the various sights on offer, plus information that will help you to decide if a particular attraction is worthy of closer inspection. Most tour bus companies also offer recorded commentaries in languages other than English and some provide you with small guide booklets.

Different London bus tours

The great thing about London bus tours is that you can choose a complete tour of the city (this could include as many as seventy different stops), or select a more manageable tour covering a smaller area, or certain sightseeing attractions that are of particular interest you.

Bus tour tickets are generally sold in colour coded options that correspond with a particular route or collection of city districts, and this makes it easy to spot the buses that you can hop on and off.

Most tour buses run at fifteen to thirty minute intervals, so you never have to wait long if you choose to hop off and take a look at a specific building, museum, monument or gallery.

Most tour buses are open topped and this makes them perfect when it comes to taking photos and getting a superior view of the city. Many London weekend breaks are made more memorable by taking an open topped bus on a bright sunny day and experiencing all of the sights and sounds of the city without any obstructions to the view.

Buying tour bus tickets

It is a good idea to buy tickets for bus tours in advance and over the internet. If you do this you will see that some tour bus companies include extras like Thames river cruises, a walking tour, or a children's play-pack free of charge, or at a minimal additional cost.

Most tour bus companies also give you the chance to buy tickets to some of the city’s major attractions whilst on the tour and travelling to see them. You will also find that some of these tour bus companies offer fast-entry admission tickets. These tickets allow you to bi-pass some of the longer queues at busy times of the day (important at weekends). The alternative to this is of course to buy a London Tourist Pass (known as the London Pass) in advance and over the internet.

Buying your tour bus tickets online and in advance usually saves you at least a couple of pounds per ticket along with the time required to queue up for them. As tickets for adults tend to cost around twenty pounds per head, this is a worthwhile saving for a couple or a family. (Family tickets can also be purchased.)

If you have not visited London before, or if you simply want to see as many of the city’s main sightseeing attractions as possible during your London weekend break, a bus tour is a great and entertaining option.