London Hop on hop off Tours

[aussiecruzer]

Our family of 4 will be staying near the London Eye at Premier Travel Inn County Hall for 2 nights late Sept prior to a cruise. We have only one full day and I would like advice as to which HOHO tour bus to take - the Big Bus Tour , or the Original Tour . I know they both have a couple of routes - one with live commentry and one recorded. Does anyone have any experience or comments - positive or negative - about either. I am particularly interested in frequency of buses/ hours etc.

Thanks a lot, Susmita.:) :)

[emrmom]

Hi, I'm a huge fan of the HOHO bus tour option. Seems to me it's the best way to get an overall view of a place you don't know and, if the tour is good enough, you pick up lots of good insider/local info from the guides.

 

Saying all of that, my husband and I did both of the London HOHO tours a couple of weeks ago and I have to say, we were both so impressed with the Original Tour. We were in London for three days. We did the Big Bus tour first and it was OK, but the live tour guides were unimpressive and ordinary and often seemed totally bored. The recorded tour option was slightly better, but the two times we used it, there were technical problems that made it unlistenable.

 

By contrast, we were delighted with the tour guides on the Original Tour. We had a live guide four separate times (we took great advantage of the HOHO!) and they were delightful and each one different. They were funny and entertaining and engaging and all had a different insight into their hometown. It just seemed they loved their job and meeting people and, even in pouring rain, they made it a lot of fun.

 

I felt that the routes were basically the same and I couldn't say that one bus came around more often than the other one. We only did the Thames tour with the Big Bus and that tour guide was awesome. But I did notice the Original Tour had some amenities for kids that I thought my children would have loved (I'm not sure what ages your children are). They both offer a river cruise (the Original Tour had better options, but we had less time) and other amenities (discounts at restaurants, walking tours). Just know that you will spend a significant amount of time in traffic or waiting for a bus, so those amenities don't really add up to much, IMHO.

 

I do wish the tickets were good for longer than 24 hours and/or the buses ran later into the evening during the summer.

 

If we had taken the Original Tour first, we wouldn't have bothered trying the other. I would have happily ridden with their guides for several days!

 

And though you haven't asked, let me give you my best piece of advice, hop off the bus at the Tower of London and walk around with one of the yeoman warders when they give a tour. It was the singularly most informative and entertaining tourist stop we've ever taken.

 

You will have a great time no matter what you choose. We've become insanely crazed for the history of London and have turned into foolish American tourists with stacks of Philipa Gregory books and endless viewings of "Elizabeth." Sigh ...:p

 

Have a great time!

Cindy

[aussiecruzer]

Wow Cindy, Thank you for your detailed reply!! That's exactly the kind of information I was after. How lucky for me that you have recently tried both tours and therefore you are in a great position to compare them.

This will certainly help me with my planning. Sounds like you had a great time - I can't wait. Thanks again, Susmita:) :)

[pcur]

We also used the Big Bus HOHO, and loved it. We've used HOHO's all over Europe and really do like the overall information you get.

 

We prefer the recorded tours over a live guide. You take pot luck with the guides, but a firsthand recommendation like emrmom's is great!

 

I downloaded the route map to study it before we went. There were a few non-touristy places in London we wanted to go, and I wanted to get a hotel close to a stop, because that was our transpo all around while we were there. Also, we took the little fold-up laminated map of London with us (costs $8 at Borders or Barnes & Nobles). Having a copy of the route and a city map help, also, if there's heavy traffic, because you can walk to the next stop to get back on.

 

We didn't mind slow traffic much, because it gaves us an opportunity to look around more, but if the stop had long lines, we'd see if we could walk to another one and get on.

 

At night, after the HOHO stopped running, we used the Tube, which was also close to our hotel.

[aussiecruzer]

Peggy, thanks for your advice. It is much appreciated. :) Susmita.

[jspirit]

Any stop near Cromwell Holiday Inns? How about the Copthorne Tara hotel? ( any comments on hotels or locations would be appreciated, too!)

How do we know if it is the Original Tour or the others? Any idea of price for a 2 day ticket?

Thanks!

[pcur]

Any stop near Cromwell Holiday Inns? How about the Copthorne Tara hotel? ( any comments on hotels or locations would be appreciated, too!)

How do we know if it is the Original Tour or the others? Any idea of price for a 2 day ticket?

Thanks!

 

You need to provide the street address for these hotels.

 

Check the Big Bus web site for their ticket prices:

 

http://www.bigbus.co.uk/