Hop-On Hop-Off Tours in London

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Taking a Hop-On Hop-Off tour in London makes the impossible possible: getting to all the top attractions without the stress of using the city’s public transport system! Glide through the city on a bus or boat and, with commentary from an expert guide or an audio guide, you’ll arrive at your destination full of fun new facts about London. You can also use your valid ticket to hop on and off whenever you see an attraction you’d like to visit.

Select a date to find available tickets, tours & activities:

Bus Tours

London is famous for its red double-decker buses, and you can enjoy riding on the top deck when you take a hop-on hop-off bus tour! With a wide range of routes that take you to the most important attractions in the city center, on both sides of the River Thames, you’ll be able to get to wherever you need to go in style.

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Boat Tours

Hop-On Hop-Off tours aren’t just found on land - in London you’ll also get the chance to take Hop-On Hop-Off riverboats on the Thames! Just like the buses, you can jump on and off at the various stops, and a live commentary or audio guide will help you to spot all of the major landmarks that are visible from the water.

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The Top 10 Cities for Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Tours

London’s Hop-On Hop-Off Tours Offer the Most Attractions

TicketLens compared 77 destinations worldwide and discovered that hop-on hop-off bus tours in London have the highest number of attractions on their routes. The 65 attractions cover everything from Buckingham Palace to the London Eye.

All Hop-On Hop-Off Buses in London

Golden Tours London | Wiki: Chris Sampson CC BY 2.0

Golden Tours/Gray Line

Tickets for Hop-On Hop-Off buses run by Golden Tours are available in 24-, 48-, and 72-hour packages. Each ticket includes access to all the routes, plus the Hop-On Hop-Off boat route. There are also free walking tours available for ticket-holders who’d like to see some of the sights that aren’t on the main bus route while learning more from expert guides. Here are summaries of the different routes offered by Golden Tours:

Blue Route

This route covers the essential sights in London, running in a loop that starts at Victoria, visits key sites on the North and South banks of the river, up to Tower Bridge and back, before returning over Westminster Bridge and past the Houses of Parliament. This route has a live guide giving the tour in English and multilingual audio commentary and departs every 30 minutes.

Red Route

This classic tour covers all the sites you will see on the Blue Route, plus an extra loop around the Royal Albert Hall and the major museums in Kensington. There’s both English and multilingual audio commentary available on-board, and buses depart every 15 to 30 minutes.

Orange Route

This route covers a larger area of north London, as well as many of the same stops as the blue and red routes. The major difference is that, rather than driving up Whitehall to Trafalgar Square, you’ll drive around the back of Buckingham Palace, across the front of Hyde Park, and along Marylebone Road and Euston Road, seeing Madame Tussauds, Regent’s Park, and Euston Station along the way. Audio commentary is available in several languages, and buses depart every 15 to 30 minutes.

Lilac Route

The Thames Route focuses on sights that can be seen from the river, so you will get the chance to take lots of picturesque photographs across the water. It crosses four bridges: Westminster, Waterloo, London Bridge, and Tower Bridge, and sticks to river-side streets wherever possible.

Yellow/Green Route

This route only operates in the morning and is designed to bring visitors into the center of the city from some of the most popular hotel districts. There’s no commentary, and it will take you to the stops where you can connect with the other colored routes and start your day. In the afternoon, the route operates in the opposite direction and is called the Green Route, dropping visitors back at their hotels.

Circular Boat Tour

In addition to the different bus routes, Golden Tours tickets include access to a hop-on hop-off boat tour which starts at Westminster Pier and heads east to St. Katherine’s Pier.

Big Bus London | Flickr: James Prince CC BY-ND 2.0

Big Bus

Tickets for Big Bus hop-on hop-off bus tours are available for 24 hours (Classic), 48 hours (Premium), or 72 hours (Deluxe). They offer four different routes, and include free walking tours of the city, a river cruise (one-way or return, depending on your ticket), and other benefits.

Red Tour

This tour focuses on the main sights in Central London, and is the longest Big Bus route! To sit tight and do the whole route takes about two hours and twenty minutes, during which time you’ll be entertained by a live guide giving a tour in English. Buses run every 15 to 20 minutes.

Blue Tour

This tour highlights the best sights of West London, featuring Kensington, Mayfair, and Notting Hill. Buses depart every 15 to 20 minutes and includes audio commentary in 12 languages. If you intend to take the whole tour without hopping on and off, expect it to take one hour and 15 minutes in total.

Orange Tour:

This route focuses on the top attractions, taking visitors between the SEA LIFE London Aquarium and London Dungeon on the South Bank to Madame Tussauds at Baker Street, via several of the city’s most important sights. If you’re planning on enjoying the whole route, it takes about one hour and 30 minutes in total. You’ll be entertained by a pre-recorded commentary available in 12 languages.

Green Link

The Green Link connects King’s Cross St Pancras with stops in the center of London, where you can hop off and join another route. Buses run every 20 to 30 minutes, and the whole route takes about one hour. On your journey you can enjoy a pre-recorded audio commentary in 12 languages.

The Original Tour | Flickr: EDDIE CC BY-ND 2.0

The Original Tour London

Tickets for the Original Tour London are valid for 24, 48, or 72 hours, and include three free walking tours and a riverboat tour on the Thames. Tickets are also valid on buses which are owned by City Tour London and the routes from both of these providers are the same!

Yellow/Original Route:

This route covers the most important attractions and sights in London and is the most popular route. You will pass by the London Eye, St Paul’s Cathedral, the Tower of London, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, London Bridge, Westminster Bridge, Waterloo Bridge, and Tower Bridge. There’s usually a tour guide on board giving a live commentary in English, but if not then there’ll definitely be an audio commentary in 11 languages, with a special English version for children. This route also has stops at Tower Pier and Westminster Pier, where you can join the riverboat tour that’s included in your ticket. Buses leave every 5 to 20 minutes, so you’ll never be waiting for long!

Blue/Royal Borough Route

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is where you will find all the most exclusive addresses in London for both shopping and hotels, and it’s also the home of the Royal Albert Hall, plus popular museums like the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Science Museum, and the Natural History Museum. On your way there you’ll also pass Downing Street, the Houses of Parliament, and Westminster Abbey, so you’ll also get your fill of classic London sights! The tour includes audio commentary in 11 languages, and the buses depart every 15 to 20 minutes.

Orange/British Museum Route

This route connects the incredible British Museum with the stations at Euston and King’s Cross St Pancras and hotels in the city center. You will also drive past Chinatown and Trafalgar Square. The buses on this route leave every 20 to 30 minutes and include audio commentary in 11 languages.

Red Shuttle Route

This shuttle route connects the stop on the yellow and blue routes at Marble Arch with hotels in the area around Regent’s Park and Marylebone Road. It leaves every 30 to 60 minutes.

Purple Shuttle Route

This shuttle route connects hotels around Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park with the bus stop at Marble Arch, where you can transfer to the yellow and blue lines. The shuttle departs every 30 to 60 minutes.

Gray Shuttle Route

This shuttle bus runs every 20 minutes between 8 am and 9 am from Holland Park Avenue, past Kensington Gardens, through the area around Paddington Station, to Marble Arch. At Marble Arch, passengers can change to the yellow and blue lines to continue their day!

City Tour London | Flickr: North West Transport Photos CC BY-SA 2.0

City Tour London

The red Hop-On Hop-Off buses run by City Tour London sell their own tickets, but you can also use these tickets on the buses run by The Original Tour. Their routes are exactly the same, so whether the bus that arrives is red or covered in the Union flag like the buses that belong to The Original Tour, you can board and enjoy the tour without having to worry about buying another ticket.

Hop-On Hop-Off Boat Tours in London

City Cruises

City Cruises Red River Rover

The Red River Rover has stops at Westminster Pier, the London Eye, the Tower of London, and Greenwich. Tickets are valid for 24 hours and during that time you can hop on and off at each stop as often as you like. Boats depart from each stop roughly every 40 minutes.

MBNA Thames Clippers River Roamers

Daily tickets for the Thames Clippers Hop-On Hop-Off boats are valid from 9 am until the last boat of that day and cover the central and eastern zones of the riverboat network, which has 17 stops in total. You can also use your Oyster card to travel on these boats, but if you’re going to use the service for a whole day then a day pass will be cheaper than paying for each individual journey. The Thames Clippers are also equipped with an on-board bar, restrooms, and free newspapers, so you’ll definitely have a comfortable journey. Within the central and eastern zones of the river you can use the following routes:

RB1

This route covers stops between the London Eye and Woolwich Arsenal Pier, traveling via the O2 Arena in Greenwich.

RB2

This line runs outside of the commuter rush hour and at weekends. It stops at stations between Battersea Power Station and the Tower of London.

RB6

On weekdays you can take this line from Battersea Power Station, via Embankment and London Bridge, all the way to Canary Wharf.