Big Bus Company

I brought my visitors on the big bus tour thinking it would be great for children. Well, they made us get on and off at several stops with much waiting time between buses. We had 5 children with us who were not happy. At Hyde Park, we were told to get off the bus, get in a queue and then they tried to sell us other tickets to tourist attractions. We waited quite a while for the bus with the live tour guide. When it came, it was a stampede to get on the bus with much pushing and shoving. It was difficult to keep track of five children. The tour guide was okay although overall I did not feel like I learned much about London because of this tour. Also, at some of the stops, the ticket sellers would get on the bus and complain to the driver about other ticket sellers. At one point I complained as she was using many four letter words in front of my three and six year old!

The best part about paying for this ticket was the boat tour. We did have a little trouble finding where the boat left from but once we did, it was no problem. The "tour guide" on the boat was the best, very animated and interesting. The kids enjoyed this the most.

Well, let me start off by saying that we bought this bus trip probably more for the walking tours and river trip than the actual bus tour.

We bought our tickets at 6pm on our first night in and joined the Ghost and Gas lamp tour. (Not that it got dark at all - it stays light so late in July.) The gentleman who took us on our walking tour was a proud London native who had a good sense of Humor. It was a great way to get acquainted with the city. The tour lasted about 3 hours if I recall correctly and had a few stops at pubs along the way. The walking tour ends pretty far away from Trafalgar square, but the guide ensures that you know the correct tube routing to get you back to where you need to go. (Tube in London is very expensive compared to Paris Metro!)

The next morning we walked over and participated in the Royal London walk. Our guide was also a slightly older Brit with a rather proper manner. He was a great guide and we really enjoyed this city walking tour. He got us to two different locations to watch the guard. Though we did not see the changing of the guard from the front of Buckingham, we had a front row view of the new and old guards changing that was phenomenal, and much better than sitting with thousands of people in front of Buckingham. Once you see the new guard form, you need to double step to the second viewing area but it was a perfect view. This tour lasted about two hours.

After that we got on the red line tour. We went a few stops with a live commentary guide who was okay, but nothing special. Then we had to get off two stops later because that route ended. Low and behold we got on the bus with who better than - our guide from the night before. He remembered us and welcomed us again. His commentary was jovial, interesting and wonderful. We stayed with him for most of the remainder of the loop, but alas we got off at Tower of London, did that, then the London Eye and the river cruise (which was nice enough). Our 24 hours was up after that, but they still let us on the bus at 6:45pm to finish the last 5 stops without an extra charge...the bus driver did not seem to care. The final guide we had was once again, informative, but her Ukrainian accent made it a bit tough to understand.

All in all this 24 Pound per person tour was packed with value and I think since we ran into great guide, our tours were great.

I did notice that the two bus companies are rather competitive in getting people to buy their competing products. I of course did not really see any of their guides, BUT did overhear the guide for their walking tour at our changing of the guard and he sounded like he was going through the motions, not near the energy of our guide.

I think all in all, you experience will differ depending on the guides you get, on the bus but we really liked the walking tours.

The Big Bus Company is definitely the BEST way to see London. I took the bus tour on March 25th, 2008 expecting it to be just a typical drive with some typical guide, anticipating that he would have the enthusiasm of a two-toed sloth. I was happy to be proven wrong.

It was a cloudy and windy first day in London for my group of four, and the weather was already reinforcing the dreariness the city is known for. Not exactly the ideal day to take a tour, but you can't really blame anyone for that. With limited time to spend in London (5 days), we were ultimately at the mercy of nature's elements. Besides, it was predetermined to take the Big Bus Tour even after reading the reviews about it.

After doing some online research, viewing the online website, and contacting the company via email about minor details, Big Bus made it tremendously easy to find the nearest tour stops with respect to the place I was staying. I stayed at the Strand Palace Hotel and the bus stop was about 1-2 minutes away, walking distance.

Not knowing what to do when we got there, we were quickly greeted and aided by a friendly street representative. She gave us vital information about the Big Bus Company and told us about special offers going on at the time. She was extremely helpful as we would have been completely lost without her. Tickets can be sold at the stops if you're the spontaneous type. The price of a bus ticket was fair given that there was a 24-hr time limit on them. Our special offer was a free river tour for purchasing a ticket, but it may vary depending on the time of year.

So, my group waits anxiously for the "red line" which the friendly street representative highly recommended. This was the live commentary line and comes every 15 minutes. I remember she informed us of a blue and green line, but those were prerecorded guides. Not a really personable way to take a tour, but that's just me. So far, the customer service and personal relations were quite impressive, hopefully the tour could match it.

The tour itself lasts about an hour and a half, maybe a little longer. I suggest sitting on the second level of the bus because that is where the tour guide is, and also there will be tall buildings and structures that are better observed and admired with an open view. On some parts of the tour, the bus driver actually slows down the bus and traffic just so tourists can have brilliant photo ops. Very accommodating.

Our tour guide was remarkably energetic and funny, even on such a gloomy day. She was very informative and she added a few tidbits that one probably wouldn't find in any history books or documentaries. I don't want to spoil this for any would-be tourists, but I like Winston Churchill even more.

Our guide gladly took the time to get familiar with guests and make them feel welcome. I'm from California, and we live and breath tourism. So there are certain characteristics that need to stand out in a guide for an attraction to be not only successful, but enjoyable as well. I personally felt that our guide met and exceeded those characteristics.

Like the street representative, our guide was extremely helpful. There wasn't a question she couldn't answer regarding where we should stop and where we needed to go. But that just tells us that the Big Bus Company trains their personnel very well.

I went on the bus with a mindset that I wouldn't have a good time because the day was so dreary. If you're the daring type, and you deem it necessary to sit on the second level while it's raining, the tour guide will brave the weather with you, and even offer you a complimentary raincoat.

Overall I got to meet wonderful Londoners, toured an absolutely beautiful and historic city, and most important - created everlasting memories I will cherish for as long as I live. And I couldn't have done so without such a fine company and the friendly faces who made it worthwhile.

Thanks for taking the time to read.