London Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Tours, Compared

Honestly, it depends on who's traveling. Central London's big sights are close together, the Tube is quick, and the hop-on hop-off buses sit in the same traffic as everyone else. As transport, they're slow and expensive. As a seated, narrated overview, they do a job nothing else does as easily.

A bus ticket makes sense if:

• It's your first time in London. One full loop on the top deck shows you how the city fits together, from Parliament to St Paul's to the Tower, before you decide where to spend your time.
• Someone in your group has limited mobility. Tube stations involve a lot of stairs and long corridors. Big Bus and City Sightseeing say their buses take wheelchairs and strollers, and Big Bus says every bus has a ramp. The ride itself is seated, and you skip the station stairs.
• You have a day or two. On a short stopover, a 24-hour ticket with a river cruise is a reasonable way to see a lot without planning routes.
• You're traveling with kids who will enjoy the top deck more than the Tube. Golden Tours includes kids' commentary.

Skip it if you're comfortable on public transport, you're staying more than three or four days, or you mostly want to go inside museums and attractions. In those cases, you'll spend more time waiting at stops than riding, and a contactless card covers the same ground for less (see the Tube and bus section below).

A good middle path: ride one full loop on your first morning with the audio commentary, then switch to the Tube for the rest of your trip.

Three operators run most of London's open-top sightseeing buses. They cover much the same core sights (Westminster, the London Eye, Trafalgar Square, St Paul's and the Tower), so the differences are in extra routes, ticket lengths and what comes bundled.

Big Bus London

Big Bus runs three routes. The Red route covers the big landmarks such as Parliament, the London Eye and St Paul's. The Blue route runs from Kensington Palace to the Tower, stopping near Harrods, the Natural History Museum and Notting Hill. The Green route links King's Cross and St Pancras with Covent Garden via the British Museum. Tickets come as one day, 24 hours or 48 hours. The 24- and 48-hour tickets include a one-way Thames cruise; the 1-day ticket doesn't. The 48-hour ticket also adds three guided walks in English: a Royal walk, a Jack the Ripper walk and a Harry Potter walk. An upgrade adds a two-hour evening panoramic tour. One current snag from the listing: Stop 1 at Green Park is affected by a long-term bus stand closure, so the Red route starts at Stop 2.

City Sightseeing

City Sightseeing also has a Red Route through the West End, the South Bank and the City, and a Blue Route out to Knightsbridge and Kensington. The Red Route runs every 15 to 20 minutes and takes about 2.5 hours for a full loop; the Blue Route takes about 80 minutes and runs every 30 minutes. A third, Green Route runs only Friday to Sunday. Tickets run from one day to 72 hours. The 24-hour ticket includes a one-way cruise between Westminster and Tower piers; the 48- and 72-hour tickets swap that for a same-day return to Greenwich, and the 72-hour ticket adds a night tour. There's also a 2.5-hour express loop with no hopping off, if you only want the overview.

Golden Tours (Gray Line on Viator)

Golden Tours sells its buses on Viator under the Gray Line name. Its Classic (Blue) route covers the central landmarks and its Essential (Red) route takes in the center and north of London, and buses leave from the London Eye area on Belvedere Road. On Viator you can choose a 4-hour, 1-day or 24-hour ticket; the 24-hour option adds a one-way river cruise between Westminster and Tower Millennium Pier. The audio guide comes in 12 languages, plus kids' commentary, and some Blue Route buses carry a live guide. There's no restroom on board.

How they compare: Big Bus has the most extras for a two-day stay, City Sightseeing goes longest (72 hours, with Greenwich by boat), and Golden Tours is the simplest and best-reviewed of the three on Viator.

None of these buses is a must-do, and none of them reviews as well as a good walking tour. But if a bus fits your trip, here's how we'd choose.

• For one day: Golden Tours Gray Line London. The 24-hour ticket with the river cruise is the one to buy, and the 4-hour ticket is a cheap way to do a single loop. It's the highest-rated of the three big bus tickets on Viator, though not by much.
• For two days: Big Bus London. The 48-hour ticket bundles the cruise and three guided walks, which adds real value if you'll actually join them. The Royal walk starts at 10am from Trafalgar Square (Stop 8), the Jack the Ripper walk at 1pm from the Tower of London (Stop 19) and the Harry Potter walk at 4pm from Westminster Pier (Stop 21). Its Viator rating is the lowest of the four products here, across the largest number of reviews, so keep expectations modest.
• For three days: City Sightseeing. The 72-hour ticket is the longest on offer and includes a same-day boat return to Greenwich and the night tour.

All three bus tickets on Viator offer free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.

The river is the hop-on hop-off route with no traffic. City Cruises's 24-hour pass lets you board at Westminster Pier, the London Eye, Tower Pier or Greenwich, from 10am until the last cruise of the day. There's recorded commentary, plus a bar, a cafe and toilets on board, which none of the buses offer. It's the best-reviewed product on this page.

The boat suits a day built along the river: Parliament and the London Eye in the morning, the Tower and Tower Bridge at midday, and Greenwich in the afternoon. It doesn't reach Buckingham Palace, Kensington or the British Museum, so it's a complement to the Tube rather than a replacement for it.

If you'd rather use the river as transport, Uber Boat by Thames Clippers runs a commuter-style river bus you can pay for by touching in and out with contactless or Oyster. TfL Travelcard holders get a third off Standard fares, according to the Thames Clippers FAQ. River bus trips don't count toward your daily Tube and bus cap. For every kind of boat, from one-hour sightseeing cruises to dinner cruises, see our Thames cruises guide.

London's public transport has a built-in daily price cap. Touch in and out with the same contactless card, phone or Oyster card, and once your fares for the day reach the cap, the rest of that day's travel in those zones is free. According to TfL's 2026 adult fares, the pay as you go daily cap for Zones 1 and 2, where almost all the sights are, is £8.90, and the Monday-to-Sunday cap is £44.70. The cap covers the Tube, DLR, Elizabeth line, London Overground and most National Rail services. TfL's day runs from 4:30am to 4:29am the next morning.

Buses are cheaper still and have their own, lower daily cap. With the Hopper fare, you can take unlimited bus and tram journeys within one hour of touching in for a single fare. Check TfL's bus fares page for the current single fare and cap before you travel.

A regular double-decker won't give you commentary, but the top deck has a similar view, and you get to choose your own stops. Pair a contactless day with a free self-guided walk from Westminster to Tower Bridge along the South Bank and you'll see most of what the tour buses show.

The honest math: if you'd ride a hop-on hop-off bus for one loop and then walk, the bus is a sightseeing experience you're paying for, and that's fine. If you're buying a 48- or 72-hour ticket mainly to get around, the Tube cap almost always works out cheaper and faster.

• Where to start. You can board at any stop on the route. City Sightseeing's Red Route Stop 1 is on Belvedere Road by the London Eye, Golden Tours leaves from the same area, and Big Bus's Red route currently starts at Stop 2. Starting near the beginning of a loop lets you hear the commentary in order.
• Your ticket starts on first use. Big Bus and Golden Tours time their tickets from when you first activate or board, so a 24-hour ticket started at 2pm also covers the next morning. City Sightseeing's Viator vouchers can be used any day within 12 months of the date you pick.
• Check closures on the day. City Sightseeing's Buckingham Palace stop closes from 11am to noon on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for Changing the Guard, and a couple of its stops are suspended or temporarily closed. See our Westminster tours guide if you want to watch the ceremony properly.
• Winter means fewer buses. Golden Tours says its Blue route runs every 30 minutes in winter and its Red route hourly. City Sightseeing's night tour (72-hour ticket only) runs at 7:30pm and 9:20pm from October to March, from outside Green Park station.
• Dress for the top deck. The open upper deck is windy and wet in November and December, and it's dark by late afternoon. Ride in the morning for photos.
• Christmas lights season. The day buses aren't built for the lights. For a dedicated evening loop of Regent Street, Oxford Street and Covent Garden, see our Christmas lights tours.
• Combine smartly. Big Bus and City Sightseeing both stop near the Tower of London and the London Eye. The bus doesn't include entry, so book those separately and use the bus to get between them.