London tour bus
 

Do any of you have an opinion on whether the Big Bus tour or the Original Bus tour are better? Also, it is my understanding that the Oyster card can be purchased in London at a Tube station. Do you know if that is correct? Thank you!

Cinzia

Our experience on the Original Tour was that waiting for the next bus at each stop took longer than we would have liked. We took the tour during the last week in June. Some of the live guides had regional accents that were hard to puzzle out. I don't suppose Big Bus is any different. I recommend getting from sight to sight using public transport, and absorb the history from printed guides. The <u>AAA Spiral Guide: London</u> contains a #15 bus historic tour. Lots of fun on one of the old Routemaster double-deckers on that Heritage Route.

Here is a map you can download and print out to plan your d.i.y. tour:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/cen_bus.pdf

Oyster cards are sold at all Tube stations that I know of. If you load a 7-day Travelcard on it, the usual &pound;3 deposit is waived.

How long you have to wait pretty much depends on the time of year. In Summer they are VERY frequent and often one is pulling in before the previous one is leaving a stop. In the off seasons there are fewer buses on the route so you will have to wait longer. They are pretty fluid - adding buses during the day if they are crowded/busy.

Really not much difference in the routes - some prefer the live commentary - but others prefer having the tapes because they tend to be a bit easier to understand.

The DIY bus routes mentioned above are good - but the commentary on the tour buses really helps first timers - plus the open tops make seeing the sites a lot easier.

Thank you. I only need a 3 day oyster card. Is it worth it?

There is no 3-day Oyster Card, because an Oyster is just a stored-value electronic payment medium that you can load with cash for Pay As You Go fares or Travelcards (passes).

But there is a 3-day Travelcard that costs &pound;16.40 and is valid for both off-peak as well as peak period travel.

If you don't have to travel during peak hours, I would suggest you load an Oyster with &pound;13.80 and plan to ride the Tube only after 9:30AM. You can ride buses any time (no peak restrictions) anywhere in Greater London (no zone restrictions).

Over the years, I've been on Big Bus and Original. I preferred the Big Bus. At the time I did the original, the Big Bus seemed to have a more varied route. It appears that may have changed, in fact, the Original may now have the larger route. I liked the live commentary on the Big Bus. We generally had taped commentary on Original.

Both companies publish their route maps on line. They're almost identical.

http://www.theoriginaltour.com/files/jbmnrfokqt.pdf

http://www.bigbus.co.uk/uk/html/i/summer_07_map.pdf

&gt;&gt;The DIY bus routes mentioned above are good - but the commentary on the tour buses really helps first timers - plus the open tops make seeing the sites a lot easier.&lt;&lt;

This is why we've booked the Big Bus tour. I know we'll be jet lagged and tired, too, and it's just one less thing to figure out on our first day in London.

Lee Ann

Once again, I thank you all for your advice. Do you know where to buy Tower of London tickets in advance?

Cinzia

Any Tube station.

They also sell tickets to Madame Tussaud's/Planetarium* and Kensington Palace.

* Except at Baker Street

Bookmarking, thanks!

I was considering the Thames sightseeing cruise which lets you jump on and off at waterloo, embankment, bankside, Tower and Greenwich to take in some of the many attrations. Is this a worthwhile thing or should we stick to the previous recommendation and just jump on the tube? Thx! CC

The problem with ho/ho tours (bus or boat) is that they're rarely there when you're ready to move on.

I'd jump on a city bus for all your destinations except Greenwich, which I would reach either by boat or DLR.