London: Hop On and Off Bus - Worth it?
 

If one has an Oyster card, is it possible to hop on and off the regular bus and achieve the same effect as the Hop On and Off Bus? If so, what route (or bus #?) should we follow? Are there double decker 'regular' (non-tourist) buses. So much to learn! Thank you for the advice.

Hi

What I did like about the Hop on Hop Off Bus is that it included some free tours. I did the Rock n Roll tour and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Of course you can take regular buses past all of the major sites of London for a fraction of the cost and get off whenever you want. Whether that is what you want to do depends on if you'll know what they are w/o any commentary, and if you'll be happy looking around from inside a bus through the windows.

The hop-on-hop-off buses are double-decker, open top and you are told what you are passing. On a tfl bus, you just get rolling signs of what the next stop is.

oops didn't mean to hit post . .

this link is a tfl bus map of the main "site heavy" bus routes http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/cen_bus.pdf

But persoanlly - if it fits in your budget - I'd recommend the comercial tour buses.

As for which regular service buses you could use, see:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/gettingaround/1106.aspx

The map of central London routes and tourist attractions (PDF link at the bottom of the page) is the one you need.

I did the hop on hop off bus tour a few years ago. Personally I think it is preferable to the 'do it yourself' option. You have the commentary which is useful and also excellent maps which are colour coded and show you where to change etc. Although I knew London reasonably well, I found it helped me to orient myself as catching the tube all the time gives you a somewhat distorted view of the geography etc.

I could have walked faster than our bus went.

It was totally not worth it to me.

" could have walked faster than our bus went."

You might find that has changed somewhat recently....Ken the Red's congestion charges have indeed cut traffic a great deal in Central London; that is not to say from time to time traffic backs up a bit but it is much less common than it used to be.

The main problems I have with the ho/ho tours is that

a) they go where they want to, not where you might want to explore, and

2) you can wait for a long time for the next one when you've finished at a stop

Any decent guide book will provide the history (if you're <i>totally</i> passive, get an audio tour), and you won't have to contend with the regional accents of the on-board guides, some of which are indecipherable to unaccustomed ears.

The view out the front window of the upper deck of a TfL bus is great, and the fact that you're not in the open air is often a benefit. On a ho/ho bus, if the weather changes to wet, you have to sit downstairs where the only view is out the sides.

&gt;&gt;You might find that has changed somewhat recently....Ken the Red's congestion charges have indeed cut traffic a great deal in Central London; that is not to say from time to time traffic backs up a bit but it is much less common than it used to be.&lt;&lt;

I think that I still really prefer to walk - I'm glad it's better now though. But we waited like 20 minutes for a bus (I could have walked a mile already!), and then we went a couple of miles, then had to switch buses. It was really, really not worth the money that day! I do like to walk, and that way I can stop and look at things along the way.

I remember waiting with Mme. Robespierre and three sons at the Original Tour stop for Westminster Abbey. When the first hour had gone by, I asked myself very hard if I was getting my $200 worth.

I did notice that countless TfL buses went by while we stood there, and made a decision to never pay that tariff again.

in the summer the tour bus companies run more buses - and add more if they have heavy load factors. Very often the next bus arrives before yours leaves a h-o-h-o stop. Seldom will there be a wait of more than a few minutes.

Yes you can walk, and yes you can take tfl buses -- and you should do both during a London visit. But neither is a substitute for the h-o-h-o buses. Whether they are &quot;worth it&quot; s up to you -

&quot;Whether they are &quot;worth it&quot; s up to you - &quot;
Thank (again), everyone, for the help!

We took one of the Big Bus tours (with the audio guide) in early May. It was perfect for us - we got a basic London orientation and were able to sit and enjoy. We got off at the Tower of London and walked around a bit, and had no trouble getting on the next bus.

Lee Ann

Personally, I find it a waste of money. I oriented myself by guide books ,metro maps and bus routes 40 years ago. It's even easier today with the internet. For what you pay for a 1 or 2 dday ho/ho, you could ride the buses or metro for a week

The Big Bus hop on/off is my only experience but we loved it so much the first day that we took another route the second day. The advantage - and you must get one with live commentary - is you get a terrific overview of the city, get off wherever you like, get back on (my wait time was maybe 10 minutes, if that long). Someone is telling you what you passing by.

Even though I've spent a couple of weeks (at different times) in London I would do it again. If you're an old hand in London, I still wouldn't waste my time on a regular bus; I'd just take the tube to my destination.

been to London a few times. the hop-on, hop off bus did not work for us.
so slow, and waiting for another bus at the bus stop...

Here is a map of public transport bus routes of interest to tourists:

http://tinyurl.com/2f7dtg

Unless you've got a *thing* for the open-top hop-on buses, you can certainly do the same sightseeing for much less money.

My mom had a thing for the open-top buses. The tour guide's microphone was really, really, really ear-splittingly loud. The bus was painted to look like Ronald McDonald. The route was repetitive and circuituitous.

We went round and round, and what with being up so high, and inhaling all those traffic fumes, I felt really nauseous and headachy after a while. Not to mention the vague sense of humilation.

That map has been linked above twice.

I don't understand what you mean by going &quot;round and round&quot; They aren't meant to be ridden around and around over and over again. Did you never get off and just kept riding around again . . . .

Apres_Londee, I can imagine your sense of humiliation if you were to ride in a bright yellow duck (amphibious vihicle) would be even greater.

http://www.londonducktours.co.uk/aboutus.htm

thereyet

whoops, I always seem to do that- linking links that have already been posted- don't pay enough attention, obviously

Personally, I just would have much rather taken a regular city bus. Same sights to see, less money, and more normal. But I'm not a bus tour person in the first place, I much prefer walking. Saw way more interesting things on the ground than on the bus.

The Hop on buses are *so* loud, surely Londoners must find them irritating?

An amphibious tour bus sunk near Ottawa several years ago. Not sure I'd trust a thing like that that, D-Day vehicle or not.

The only thing more humiliating than being seen riding in one, would to be seen getting rescued from one.

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

thereyet

A well kept secret- the number 11 bus. For route see TfL website but we found it great from Liverpool Street, all through the City of London, past St Paul's, Fleet Street, the Royal Courts of Justice, the Strand, Trafalgar Square. It goes all the way to Fulham via Chelsea's trendy Kings Rd. frequent too!

There are two &quot;Heritage&quot; routes utilizing the old Routemaster buses which pass many historic London sights.

#9 runs between Royal Albert Hall and Aldwych, and #15 goes from Marble Arch to Tower Hill.

We're just back from London and found the traffic very congested. Especially around tourist sites on the weekend when the congestion charge does not apply. And of course during the rush hour. We were last in London 3 years ago when the congestion charge seemed to be having some effect. But not now.

To the OP, the regular buses are double decker but the top deck is enclosed. It's not enclosed on the HOHO buses.

Apres_Londee

They are called hop-on hop-off because you are allowed to hop off.
You alight from the bus when you see something interesting, toddle off to look, lick an ice-cream and then hop on another bus to continue your journey.

I suggest that you next experience the delights of the Circle Line.
You hop on at any station and you can keep going round and round all day.

Many city buses ply historic routes. In fact, one of the &quot;do-it-yourself&quot; tours in the <u>AAA Spiral Guide - London</u> is a #15 bus expedition through the heart of historic London, with exhaustive commentary on all the sights along the route.

Throughout the day, a #15 comes along about every 5 minutes.

Josser, how do you do an emoticon for hrumph? ;-)

Actually, when I was a student way back when dinosaurs had just been cleared from the tube, I and a few others went round and round the Circle Line selling rag mags.

I too am rather tickled at the thought of those poor souls going round and round on a tour bus like Flying Dutch-persons.