London bus tours

angelax

Im going to London later this week and ive been told that there is a bus tour for about £7 that you pay when you get on the bus. When I looked online I found 2 bus tours but both cost about £20 for a 24hour pass, does anyone know if you can buy half day passes on the bus?

dzug1

I'm not aware of the half day option - if it exists you'll be able to buy it on the bus.

An alternative is a £3.80 London bus pass available on all normal services in London. Buy it at the machine at every bus stop - exact change needed. Or for £5.60 include the tube (off peak) as well.

minerva_windsong

I think that you can effectively do a very good bus tour by taking a normal bus through central London (forget how much it is with a travelcard but with an Oyster card it's £3 deposit for the card and 80p for the bus). I'm not entirely sure what bus number it is or where you get it from though.

davmail

Bus route 15 is a good one,goes through a lot of important sites,Oxford Street,Centrepoint,St Pauls,Tower of London.

flea72

i think they mean get a One Day Travelcard which allows you on buses and tubes

what landmarks did you want to see, and i can give you ideas on which buses to take

agree with davmail, the No 15 covers most landmarks

Flea

melb

Hi there hope you don't mind me "hopping on board" this thread for some advice if possible (sorry). Me OH and 2 kids 13 and 9 are coming to London for 3 nights in october half-term and very excited. We would like to go to: London Zoo, Tower of London, Natural History Museum and HMS Belfast. We also would like to go on a river trip. We hope to use buses mainly although we'll get a tube from Kings Cross to Hotel - Premier Inn olympia nearest tube station at earls court. Which sort of travel pass do you think we should get? OH has seen one for about £200 for the 4 of us which gives entry to attractions and travel but seems very expensive to me. I have family and friends railcard which I have used for the journey from Leeds - can I use that in London? also the tickets from Leeds to Kings cross - are they OK to use for the 2 for 1 please as they include the zoo and tower of london. Sorry for so many questions it's our first time for many years and first time for the kids and I want them to enjoy it but also save as much as I can by pre-planning. also I fancy using the ordinarly buses rather than the tourist ones to save some money but is there a website where we can look for numbers and where the stops are thanks

kb36

Tourist bus map (but us Londoners use it too!) available here showing major sites and bus routes. I would also recommend the 15, 9 and RV1 bus routes


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

Geoggy

minerva_windsong wrote: »

with an Oyster card it's £3 deposit for the card and 80p for the bus). I'm not entirely sure what bus number it is or where you get it from though.

your figures are a bit out of date - its a fiver deposit for an Oyster and bus journeys are now £1 each.

davetrousers

melb wrote: »

Hi there hope you don't mind me "hopping on board" this thread for some advice if possible (sorry). Me OH and 2 kids 13 and 9 are coming to London for 3 nights in october half-term and very excited. We would like to go to: London Zoo, Tower of London, Natural History Museum and HMS Belfast. We also would like to go on a river trip. We hope to use buses mainly although we'll get a tube from Kings Cross to Hotel - Premier Inn olympia nearest tube station at earls court. Which sort of travel pass do you think we should get? OH has seen one for about £200 for the 4 of us which gives entry to attractions and travel but seems very expensive to me. I have family and friends railcard which I have used for the journey from Leeds - can I use that in London? also the tickets from Leeds to Kings cross - are they OK to use for the 2 for 1 please as they include the zoo and tower of london. Sorry for so many questions it's our first time for many years and first time for the kids and I want them to enjoy it but also save as much as I can by pre-planning. also I fancy using the ordinarly buses rather than the tourist ones to save some money but is there a website where we can look for numbers and where the stops are thanks

CRIKEY! That's expensive!

Look at the tfl (Transport for London) website for info on buses and tubes. I think under 10s go free on tube and buses. But you could consider an Oyster card or travelcards.

Plenty of free things to do in London!

melb

I know I don't know where he saw it. We're going to Natural History museum which is free but if I can get 2 for 1s at the other places I'll be happy but just not sure if the rail tickets from Leeds to London are the correct ones to access these - I think it might just be the ones within London. do you know please?

flea72

melb wrote: »

Hi there hope you don't mind me "hopping on board" this thread for some advice if possible (sorry). Me OH and 2 kids 13 and 9 are coming to London for 3 nights in october half-term and very excited. We would like to go to: London Zoo, Tower of London, Natural History Museum and HMS Belfast. We also would like to go on a river trip. We hope to use buses mainly although we'll get a tube from Kings Cross to Hotel - Premier Inn olympia nearest tube station at earls court. Which sort of travel pass do you think we should get? OH has seen one for about £200 for the 4 of us which gives entry to attractions and travel but seems very expensive to me. I have family and friends railcard which I have used for the journey from Leeds - can I use that in London? also the tickets from Leeds to Kings cross - are they OK to use for the 2 for 1 please as they include the zoo and tower of london. Sorry for so many questions it's our first time for many years and first time for the kids and I want them to enjoy it but also save as much as I can by pre-planning. also I fancy using the ordinarly buses rather than the tourist ones to save some money but is there a website where we can look for numbers and where the stops are thanks

with the places you need to visit, then a one zone card would be enough for getting around - you wont pay for the 9yr old, and its only £1 for the 13yr old, and a 3 day travelcard is £18.40 per adult (but could be cheaper to buy daily ones if staying over a weekend though, as its classed as off peak). however, central london is tiny, so most places are within walking distance of each other, its just it can get a bit tiring. but if youve bought travelcards to get in from the hotel, then you might as well use them during the day for getting around too

as for cheap entry to places, your train tickets will be valid for the offers - think you just need to print off the vouchers

hth Flea