Four companies run open-top sightseeing buses in London, and on a good day any of them will show you the city in a way the Tube never can. The trick is picking the right one before you buy, because they are not the same.
I have spent years pointing visitors at these buses, and the honest truth is that the “best” one depends entirely on who you are travelling with and what you want from the day. This guide lines up every operator, plus the passes that throw the bus in for free, and sends you to a full breakdown of whichever one fits.
Hop-on Hop-off Bus Tickets
Which London Bus Tour Is Best for You?
🔴 Big Bus Choose this if you hate waiting and want the best all-rounder. The most frequent buses, a reliable bus-tracking app, and a Thames river cruise plus live walking tours all included on one ticket.
🔵 Tootbus Best for families and variety. The widest range of tours, a dedicated kids tour with its own commentary, plus evening and Christmas tours and a strong bus-and-cruise combo.
🟥 City Sightseeing The familiar global red-bus brand with a solid app. Its route is very similar to Big Bus, though you may wait a little longer between buses.
🟡 Golden Tours Choose this for a live guide on board rather than only recorded audio, with included walking tours across three routes.
What Is a Hop-on Hop-off Bus Tour?
It is an open-top double-decker that runs a fixed loop past the big sights, and your ticket lets you get off at any stop, look around, and catch a later bus to carry on. One ticket, valid for a set number of hours or days, covers unlimited hops.
The appeal is simple. You get your bearings, you cover a lot of ground without working out the Underground, and the top deck is the best moving view of London you can buy. The catch is traffic: on a busy afternoon the bus crawls, so it works best as a way to see and sample rather than a fast way to travel between two points.
Tickets & Prices
With four operators and a couple of passes to choose from, each with several ticket lengths, it can be hard to know which one to pick. The table below lines up what each operator includes so you can spend more time sightseeing and less time planning.
Compare London Hop-on Hop-off Bus Tours
| Tootbus Tours | BigBus Tours | City Sightseeing | Golden Tours | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ticket Durations | ||||
| 24-hour ticket | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 48-hour ticket | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 72-hour ticket | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Family Options | ||||
| Kids under 5 free | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Family discounts | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Kid-specific commentary | ✓ | |||
| Included Features | ||||
| Thames river cruise | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mobile app | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Walking tours | ✓ | ✓ | ||
| Live guides | ✓ | |||
| Special Features | ||||
| Themed tours | ✓ | |||
| Night tours | ✓ | ✓ |
For the full detail on any one of them, including the exact routes, ticket types and honest pros and cons, see each operator’s guide: Big Bus, Tootbus, City Sightseeing and Golden Tours. If you are torn between the two most popular, we have a dedicated Big Bus vs Tootbus comparison.
Choose Your Experience
Tap through each operator for its ticket lengths, what is included and the operating detail, then book the one that fits your trip.
Ticket Details:
- Duration: 24, 48, or 72 hours after first validation
- Cancellation: Free until 24 hours before visit
Operating Information:
- Start time: 8:20 daily
- Routes: Yellow route & Blue route
- Frequency: Regular departures throughout the day
What’s Included:
- Unlimited hop-on hop-off access
- Pre-recorded commentary in English + 9 languages
- Kids’ commentary in English & French
- Complimentary earphones
Infants travel free, with separate seat tickets only required if an individual seat is needed.
Ticket Details:
- Duration: 24 or 48 hours after activation
- Cancellation: Free until 24 hours before visit
Operating Information:
- Hours: 8:00 – 17:00 daily
- Frequency: Every 10-20 minutes
- Routes: 3 routes covering 50+ stops
What’s Included:
- Hop-on hop-off bus access
- One-way Thames river cruise
- 3 guided walking tours
- Evening panoramic tour (Explore ticket only)
- Free WiFi
Children under 5 travel free. All buses and cruises are wheelchair accessible. The evening tour starts at 19:30 from London Eye and runs for approximately 2 hours.
Ticket Details:
- Duration: 1, 2, or 3 days after activation
- Cancellation: Free until 24 hours before visit
Operating Information:
- Red Route: 8:45-17:30 (every 15 minutes)
- Green Route: 9:20-15:50 (every 30 minutes)
- Blue Route: 8:50-16:50 (every 20-30 minutes)
What’s Included:
- Hop-on hop-off access on all routes
- Audio commentary in English + 10 languages
- Stops near all major sights
The service is wheelchair accessible. Some King’s Cross area stops are currently suspended due to roadworks, with the nearest pickup at the City Sightseeing Shop.
Ticket Details:
- Duration: 24, 48, or 72 hours from first use
- Cancellation: Free until 24 hours before visit
Operating Information:
- Routes: Classic Tour (Blue), Essential Tour (Red), Museum Tour (Orange)
- Stops: 60+ locations across London
- Audio: English + 10 other languages
What’s Included:
- Hop-on hop-off bus access
- Multilingual audio commentary
- Live guide on selected Blue route buses
- One-way Thames river cruise (if selected)
The service is wheelchair accessible but has no onboard restrooms. River cruise duration is approximately 30 minutes between Westminster and Tower Millennium piers.
Ticket Details:
- Duration: 24 or 48 hours after activation
- Prices vary by season and duration; check the ticket link
- Cancellation: Free until 24 hours before visit
Operating Information:
- Hours: 08:00 – 17:00 daily
- Frequency: Every 10-20 minutes
- Routes: 3 routes covering 50+ stops
What’s Included:
- Hop-on hop-off bus access
- One-way Thames river cruise
- 3 guided walking tours
- Evening panoramic tour (Explore ticket only)
- Free WiFi
Children under 5 travel free. All buses and cruises are wheelchair accessible. The evening tour starts at 19:30 from London Eye and runs for approximately 2 hours.
City Passes with Hop-on Hop-off Included
Love the idea of hopping between London’s big sights on an open-top bus without paying for the bus separately? These passes bundle a hop-on hop-off tour with entry to top attractions:
✓ The London Pass: a 2-day hop-on hop-off bus tour and a 24-hour Thames river cruise, plus entry to 80 or more attractions including the Tower of London and Westminster Abbey.
✓ Go City London Explorer Pass: pick 2 to 7 attractions and pay only for what you choose, with a 2-day hop-on hop-off bus tour among the options.
All Hop-on Hop-off Providers
Find your perfect London bus tour experience
Pick the operator that fits your trip
Plan your ride: Routes & Map | Night Bus Tours | Christmas Lights Tour
How It Works
Book online
Choose a duration and pay online. Your ticket lives on your phone, and booking ahead beats paying the driver.
Instant confirmation
Your mobile ticket, the route map and a link to the operator’s app for live tracking arrive by email straight away.
Listen as you ride
Board at any stop, head up top, and follow the multi-language audio guide. Bring your own earphones for most operators.
Hop on and off freely
Get off at any stop, explore, and catch a later bus. They come every 10 to 30 minutes depending on the operator.
Flexible booking
Most tickets can be cancelled free up to 24 hours before, so your plans can change without losing the fare.
Top London Landmarks on the Hop-on Hop-off Tour
Book tickets to the attractions within your route
The Routes and What You See
Between them the routes take in most of the landmarks people come to London for: the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, St Paul’s, the South Bank and the London Eye, Westminster and Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly, and up towards Marble Arch and Kensington. Tootbus and Big Bus push a little further into the museums quarter and the parks; the core central loop is much the same whichever operator you pick.
The routes overlap more than the maps suggest, so the sensible move is to pick your operator on the extras and the guide style, not on a single stop. For the full picture of who goes where, and which route to take for which sights, see the London hop-on hop-off routes and map guide.
Night and Seasonal Tours
The daytime loop is not the only option. Several operators run evening tours when the city is lit up, which is a genuinely different experience: see the London night bus tours guide. And in winter, the Christmas lights bus tours run past the Oxford Street and Regent Street displays and are worth booking early.
Is A Hop-on Hop-off Tour Worth It?
Hop-on hop-off buses compete with London’s extensive public transport system, which includes plenty of regular double-decker buses. So why pay tourist prices when you could ride a regular bus for much less?
Hop-on hop-off buses make sense if you want to:
- Enjoy sightseeing with unobstructed views from open-top decks
- Travel at your own pace without rigid schedules
- Hop on and off as many times as you like during your ticket period
- See London’s major attractions with a single ticket
- Avoid figuring out complex transport routes and connections
- Get audio commentary explaining what you’re seeing
Skip hop-on hop-off buses if you:
- Need to get from point A to point B quickly
- Travel on a tight budget (regular buses cost much less)
- Prefer exploring neighbourhoods on foot
- Already know London well
The value depends on your travel style. Tourist buses move slowly, make frequent stops, and cost significantly more than regular transport. But they also provide context, convenience, and flexibility that public buses don’t offer.
Practical Considerations
- London weather changes quickly. Bring layers even in summer, and don’t be surprised if your open-top bus experience includes some rain. Most buses have retractable covers.
- Peak tourist season (June to August) means crowded buses and longer waits at popular stops. Shoulder seasons offer better availability and often lower prices.
- Traffic affects schedules. Those frequent-departure promises assume the traffic is behaving, which in central London it often is not. Build flexibility into your itinerary.
- Bus stops aren’t always obvious. Download your chosen company’s app for stop locations and live bus tracking. Standing on the wrong corner wastes precious sightseeing time.
FAQ
Which hop-on hop-off bus is best in London?
There is no single winner. Big Bus is the strongest all-rounder for frequency and included extras, Tootbus is best for families and variety, City Sightseeing is the familiar simple option, and Golden Tours is the pick if you want live guides. Match the operator to your trip rather than looking for one best ticket.
Is the hop-on hop-off bus worth it in London?
For first-time visitors, usually yes, particularly with a river cruise included. For return visitors who know the city or anyone on a tight one-day schedule, individual tickets and the Tube often make more sense.
Can I use my Oyster card on the hop-on hop-off bus?
No. These are private sightseeing buses, not part of the Transport for London network, so Oyster and contactless pay-as-you-go do not work on them. You need a hop-on hop-off ticket, which is separate from your Oyster card for the Tube and red buses.
How long does a full loop take?
Roughly two to two and a half hours without getting off, depending on traffic. Most people spend a half or full day hopping on and off rather than riding the whole loop in one go.
Is a river cruise included?
With most operators, yes, either included or offered as a cheap add-on. Always check what your ticket covers before booking a cruise separately.
Do the buses run all year?
Yes, though services are more frequent in summer and reduced in the depths of winter. Evening and Christmas lights tours are seasonal.
Are the buses covered if it rains?
The lower deck is enclosed, so you stay dry. The top deck is open, which is where you want to be, so pack a layer and check the forecast.
Quick Links: Big Bus | Tootbus | City Sightseeing | Golden Tours | Big Bus vs Tootbus | Routes & Map | Night Tours | Christmas Lights