I concur that folks should definitely not ignore the buses. When I was in London for a week in 2007, we stayed next to the St. James Park tube station, so we planned to use the Tube as much as possible. As luck would have it, the District and Circle lines were closed over the weekend, then the St. James Park station was closed on Tuesday afternoon when a nearby building collapsed.

We used the bus as first choice for routes that had direct bus lines, but required a change of lines on the Tube. You can check out the spider maps (IIRC the name) showing where all the lines at your nearest bus stops go, and get some good use out of the buses.

Back in the dark ages when I lived in London ('68 and '69) figuring out the buses was an exercise in frustration. But now there are the online maps, and even better, the strip maps on the bus stops, and I've become a convert. I love to sit on the top deck and admire the upper stories of the buildings. And I'm more and more conscious that switching between tube lines can involve a route march.

flanner's saying that buses are slow as compared to tubes. of course this greatly depends on the day and time we are talking about. on a sat or sun you can get from, for example, liverpool street station toward trafalgar sq very quickly while at 18:00 on a monday this would be very slow. the end to end time taking the tube must include your journey down/up the stairs and to the platform and back up to the street. in some stations and destinations this can take several minutes.

london buses are not friendly for tourists who are not familiar with the system. finding the right bus stop using the cryptic maps marked with letters is not so straight-forward. and knowing when to get off would be a mystery to most tourists who don't know the city very well.

it's simply not possible to even give a general guideline concerning which is better or quicker.

One other thing that hasn't been mentioned is that thanks to the idiot Livingstone's decision to give free bus travel to the under 16s there are times when buses in outlying areas are basically mobile youth clubs - which can be a bit tiring if you are over 16.

ps Pal "English looking people"? Shame on you.

Even though the bus is slower, if you're a tourist and not rushing for a curtain time or something you can sit up there and look around and be in London.

We love the buses. (and busses)

Pal surely meant wearing tweeds and looking impeccable.

I remember reading some story about hoodie-wearing kids terrorizing buses.

Takes more than a hoodie to scare us.

>>ps Pal "English looking people"? Shame on you.<<

OK, I'll buy it. PQ meant, of course, that London bus passengers all have dazzling dentition.

I think the RV1 bus is pretty good for tourists to get to the Tate, Tower Bridge, or London Eye.

I have to admit that I love to jump on any bus in central London and just let myself take through neighborhoods I never had on my tourist agenda until I end somewhere in the outer districts, usually at a Tube station which brings me back to central London in not much time... obviously, I am not in a rush when I do that.

And sporting footwear of a largeness and whiteness to rival their teeth.

In regards to knowing or not knowing when and where to get off, the London buses are much better in recent years. Most of the ones in central zones have an LED displays on both levels, displaying the next stop, plus a recorded announcement for the next station as well.

Between these plus the addition of bus routes & maps at each bus stop, these are significant improvements done in the recent years, making the buses much more tourist-friendly than ever before (at least, much better than the bus systems in most US cities).

You all have just helped me with a decision I've been trying to make. I still couldn't figure out all the differences with the tube passes, oyster cards, etc. I think we will try for the bus. Are these the double decker red ones? Where do we buy the bus passes at? We will have 2 adults and 2 young children. Just trying to get my ducks in a row, we leave in a month. Thanks, Jennifer

On one trip I tried getting along with a bus pass only, and did not like it at all. I suggest finding a travel pass that includes Tube usage. For some hops, the bus is best, and for others, the Tube is best.

Jennifer, how long is your trip? There are some family travel cards that might work, depending on the length of your stay, and those are very good deals.

I totally agree with what WillTravel said. London is huge and the sights are spread out, and buses are not great for traveling distances more than a mile or 2 if you are in a hurry. I cannot imagine trying to rush to Tower of London early in the morning by buses alone from say, S Ken area.

Tourists who want to use buses only, need to look at the bus map, figure out how many bus lines serve their hotel, before they decide it is good for them.

As I've said in the past, when I stay in S Ken at the Gloucester Rd tube station, only ONE bus line is useful to me, and getting to Leicester Sq requires at least ONE change of bus, easily taking 30-45 mins. Whereas I can just hop on the Piccadilly line and be at Leicester Sq in 15 mins or less.

There are all sorts of discounts for families available...

see http://tinyurl.com/5xacqg

Go to page 11 to see how the rules are applied.

I would agree...while the 7 day bus pass can be very very good, there are almost surely will be times when the best bet is the tube...

I still think the best direction to go is oyster PAYG...if the kids are under 11 (or look under 11, rarely do they check), they can ride the buses with you for free nothing to show...it's a bit more complicated for 11 to 15's.....

It will be interesting to see if someone has anything to add that wasn't covered in my OP.

I'd like to do the Oyster PAYG and use buses and tubes, but I'm afraid we'd lose out due to having to stand in line at Heathrow on the morning of departure to get back our deposit and any credit we'd have coming. We have a 9:40 departure so won't have a lot of time to spare. Anyone have any experience with this? It just seems like such a hassle, and it might be worth a few pounds to buy 7-day Travelcards simply for the convenience.

I just keep the Oyster for the next trip. I've had the same one almost since they were introduced. The deposit isn't enough for it to be worth turning it in and getting a new one next time. Of course, if you never expect to go back...

Unfortunately, I can't imagine that we will ever get back. This will be our second trip, and with the economy the way it is.....
If we get to take any future trips, it will be to places we've never been. We'd still like to get to Ireland, but I doubt there's any chance of a return to London. I know, it's a very sad thought.