Hop on Hop Off in London
 

During my stay in London I will be wanted to do some sightseeing and I was wondering if the tube would be better or should I do the Hop on Hop off bus tour? I would like to visit all the touristy stuff?

Personally I can't think of a better way to initially get the layout of the city and see all the "touristy" stuff you'll want to see. Some of those deals actually include more than a day, so it really is possible to use it for getting off and seeing some of the sights and getting back on. For example get off at one end of the Tower Bridge, go up and walk across it, then do Tower of London (or Vice Versa) before getting on another bus. Meanwhile you'll get a lot better understanding and some good background on the city (often pretty humorous) on the commentary of the hop on hop off busses. Of course it's best if it's a nice enough day and you can sit in the open top level.

...and for a fraction of the cost, you can use the public buses and see the same sites (no commentary)...see especially the #12, #15, #148 buses which cover the major tourist spots just as well as the hop on and hop off (come to think of it, aren't all buses hop on hop off?)

All buses are "hop on, hop off" in the sense that no-one's going to make you stay on to the end of the route, but if you want to do this on the regular scheduled buses, it's much cheaper and easier with a bus pass or travelcard. See

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/tourist_map.shtml

for a map of the regular public buses in relation to the main tourist attractions. A one-day travelcard for the central zones costs £6.20 per person (cheaper if you start after 9.30 am) and will get you one-third off the price of a boat trip. A one-day bus pass costs £3.50 per person (but gets you buses only, albeit throughout the entire system). You can get 3-day and 7-day travelcards as well.

Certainly you can hop on and hop off any bus, but I think the original question had to do with a single route to all the main touristy places along with commentary that tells you about them. You don't get that while trying to figure out eight or nine different bus routes and schedules. Nor are you going to get a live commentary as you ride along on an open upper deck perfect for taking pictures.

The Original Tour: 1 day, £15
Big Bus: 2 days, £20
TfL Bus: 7 days, £13.50

The tourist bus map (prints on a letter sheet):
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/pdfdocs/tourist.pdf

Everyone who says you can do a tour of the major sites by regular public bus are right, of course. However for most visitors (and especially for first timers) it really isn't the best idea.

Sure there are 2 or 3 bus routes that take you past most of the biggies. But seeing - oh say, St Pauls Cathedral from the inside of a crowded city bus is MUCH different than seeing it from the open air upstairs deck of the hop-on-hop-off tour buses.

Crossing the river - a tour bus will pause so one can take photos from up high, whereas on a city bus you will be looking through the fingerprinted windows down at street level.

and so on - driving along Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens you really can't see much from insude a city bus, or crossing Tower Bridge on a city bus you can't look straight up and see the amazing construction and towers.

So city buses are great for traveling from place to place and seeing a little bit, but the tour buses are much better for actually seeing things -- and w/ the commentary you will know what they are.

London is very large and spread out. I think the hop on/off bus is a good idea when you first arrive. It is a good orientation, plus you can take advantage of the fast track admission to the tower, and the free river cruise.

After that public transportation is great. The tube system is fast, inexpensive and goes just about everywhere.

Make sure you get a good map in advance as well.

Here's a street map of central London showing the locations of all the sights as well as the actual Underground routes:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/buses/pdfdocs/centlond.pdf

Don't worry about all those numbers next to many streets - they're just the numbers of bus routes, which many posters think you are too stupid to figure out. ;)

May - Without a doubt go for the hop-on-hop-off bus. It's worth the extra money.

What if it rains? Or is very very windy the day you planned on doing it?

Just asking.

You sit on the bottom floor of the bus, rather than the top :P

I too highly recommend it. We took the Hop On Hop Off bus a few years ago as an introduction to the city and it was great. The guide gave a lively commentary of what we were seeing, and we got a feel for the lay of the land. I think its definitely worth the money.

Tracy

&quot;<i>What if it rains? Or is very very windy the day you planned on doing it?</i>&quot;

Well, hopefully one's itinerary isn't so regimented they can make changes for weather, or other hiccups that can always happen.

if it's pouring rain - go to a museum and save the bus tour for another day. (A city bus wouldn't be any better BTW - on a nasty day they are more crowded, steamed up windows, wet coats/umbrellas and so on)

In addition to what Janis said, an open top tour bus on a rainy day in peak season will have an overcrowded lower deck with steamed up windows and very little room to sit down. That will be a museum day, for sure.