Hop-in, hop-off bus OR the tube?
 

Hello Everyone,

What would be the best way to see London? Do you think that we should take the Hop-in, Hop-off Double Decker bus tour OR should we take the tube to visit places in London? We have 2 days to spend in London during a weekend & were debating between purchasing a Weekend Travel Card and a Hop-in, hop-off bus ticket which would be valid for 24hrs. Are most of the major attractions close to the tube stations or do we have to walk a lot?

I know that with the Hop-in, hop off bus, we would save some time, since it stops right outside all the attractions. I wasn't quite sure about the tube though.

Thanks for all the help.
Suhas

Suhas:
Log on to the London tube website which contains maps of the tube system. Your answer lies there.
John

Depends on whether you want to "see" the insides or just the outside of "most of the major attractions." Two days is barely time to nibble at all that London offers.

If you want to just drive past the outsides, then the bus is the way to go. With just two days, you won't have time to do much more than this, OR choose a couple of key places that you want to see the INSIDES of, and check out how far they are from the nearest tube stops.

Last summer I only had two days in London also. I liked the hop-on / hop-off bus tours. That way you can see the city as you are travling. The Tube is just fast, you don't geet to see anything. With the bus tours you can get off at any location and walk around/explore that area for a while (hours) and hop on a bus again and go to the next location. My friend and I spent 2-3 hours around the London Eye/Big Ben.(we even rode the London Eye but we had reservations) I had a lot of fun touring this way. Just my opinion though...lol
We did this all over the City. If certain attractions are availabe through reservations make them now that way you know you can see/do those things.

My wife and I were in London for the first time a year ago. Here's what worked well for us. We bought a good guidebook which listed the major attractions and their closest tube stops. We downloaded a tube map and bus maps from the Transport for London Web site (www.londontransport.co.uk). We visited the Web sites for the Original Bus Tour and the Big Bus Tour to get an idea of good routes to take. Then we bought travel cards and did our own version of a hop-on/hop-off tour the day we arrived which gave us a good "above ground" orientation to the city. This way we could jump off whenever a block or neighborhood looked interesting, whether or not a "main attraction" was close by. When we were in a hurry, we took the tube.

Footnote to my post above: You'll also need a central London street map. You can get order one free from the British Tourist Authority Web site: www.visitbritain.com.

Second footnote: The guidebook my wife and I used (Rick Steves' London 2001) also listed bus route numbers closest to each major attraction.

At the risk of being blasphemous... I HATE the tube. Not normally a claustraphobic person, I inevitably get horribly claustraphobic on it. You can't see ANYTHING and it is terribly crowded. I'm sure for the London commuter it's very convenient and it you want to get from point A to point B, it's probably the fastest cheapest option. But even a city bus has better views and I find London cabs to always be like mini-tours.

The Big Bus Tour is great for a first timer and for a good overview of the city. Go on one with an english commentary (not taped).