Marycang

Which bus company have you used and what do you recomend The Big Bus or The Original Tour?

jamikins

I think there are very little differences. Just take the one that is the most convenient.

jean253

Go to www.london-tour.conciergedesk.co.uk.you an buy tickets on line, their day & overnight tours to Paris are very good value also

lyb

I used the Big Bus and really liked it. A friend of mine used The Original Tour and she was pleased. So like another poster wrote, there's probably little difference.

Whichever you use, I do think that it is one of the best things to do on your first day in London. It really gave me a great overview of everything and you did get bit o history by the guides.

worldinabag

Hi

I did the Big Bus Tour. I researched both and came to the conclusion that was the best (can't remember why). We enjoyed it. Guides were upbeat and chirpy. It was fun riding upstairs on a double decker bus coasting through the streets of London. As a bonus they have a couple of free excursions. We did the Rock n Roll tour - that was great!

Cheers

GreenDragon

I concur with the above. My first trip to London (alone) I did the Big Bus, and the second trip (with husband) was with Original Tour -- they were both fun, informative, and delightful.

Robespierre

With a £3 Bus Pass, you can also hop on and off the city buses for a day (£11 per week). Here's your map of sights:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/pdfdocs/cen_bus.pdf

Sally

ttt

gail

We took Big Bus last week at recommendation of friend. It was great. There seemed to be a few more Big Buses around than Original Buses - but the routes and cost were about the same.

Robespierre

Big Bus offers a number of walking tours as freebies. Original has lunch discount coupons.

Original's river tour is circular (begins and ends at Westminster Pier). Big's is one way (either downriver or up).

They both have too many different routes that overlap at various places. For example: between them, they run FOUR buses from the West End to the Tower and down the South Bank. So if you take either Big's Red and Blue tours or Original's Red and Yellow tours, you'll see about 3/4 of London twice.

Yet another reason the DiY Bus Pass tour is superior.

Nancy45

Marycang, I hope you don't mind if I join your discussion as we are also travelling to London. We are torn between doing the bus tour ourselves or using the Big Bus tour (expensive). Many say the Big Bus tour commentary makes it worth the money. Is there another way to easily obtain "fun" and educational information on the sites seen on your own bus tour? Thanks to Robespierre I have downloaded the scenic bus routes and they do pass by all the major sites. I want the kids (and myself) to know what we're seeing and get a lay of the land, so to speak.

MaureenB

What's the DiY Bus Pass? The one Robespierre referred to?

Robespierre

It consists of buying a Bus Pass and being your own guide:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...2&tid=34535187

MaureenB

Thanks, Robes. Might there be a hop-on-hop-off Thames River boat, maybe even combined with a bus pass? I'm dreaming, right?

kenderina

I'm planning a weekend in London this summer (last weekend of July). I was thinking about the bus tours too, but finally I think the Bus Pass is more suitable for me and my friend, it's cheaper and as my friend doesn't speak English we don't have the chance of a live commentary, just a taped one ..I think it doesn't worth the money.

Maureen, there is a Westminster - St Katharine’s Hop on hop off service. Just search in this page : http://www.ltbuses.co.uk/river/

Claudia_Cruz

I´m also looking for the best for me. I think it depends on if and how you are planning to use other things the buses offers like the Walk Tours, River Cruises, lunchs and so on ...
Big bus offers walk tours and an one-way River Cruiser but is more expensive and it seems the late bus tour leaves earlier than the late Original Tour bus ( I´m not sure, still checking )
The Original Bus offers some lunch discounts, a circular thames-river cruises ( in several languages ) but not walk tours.
Although Big bus is more expensive than the original Bus it offers a not live tour also in Portuguese, my native language, what seems be better for me.
My only complain is that Big Bus is not RED. I´d like to take a RED bus
Probably all of you looking for the better hop on-off bus already have the links, but anyway here it is:
http://www.bigbustours.com/uk/html/uk_our_tours.html
http://www.theoriginaltour.com/tour_information/
You can contact me to exchange ideia if you want.
[email protected]

crefloors

I don't know what it is, but when I'm at home I don't have the slightest problem knowing north, south, east, and west, but when I am in London, I suddenly have no idea in h--- what direction is what. I blame it on the streets that go at all angles. Anyway, for that reason I find one of the bus tours to be great for me, inspite of the cost. Getting lost is wonderful, and I'm so very good at it in both London and Paris, but when I, for what ever reason, want to spend the day at a couple of places in particular, I don't need to be wandering around for a couple of hours. My older brother on the other hand is like a homeing pidgeon...he just knows where everytning is and what direction etc. what ever city or place he is in. It just never works that we can travel together.

MaureenB

I answer my own question-- when in London, we did discover that one or both of the bus tour companies offer a hop-on-hop-off bus combined with one Thames river cruise, good for 24 hours. We ended up buying the day pass for the metro and the bus combined, then buying the Thames cruise separately. That worked fine for us. Loved London. The tube and the buses are very easy to figure out.

dclein90210

The Original Tour is fabulous.