Big Bus Company

I got on the bus on the blue line. I did not have a pass purchased ahead of time. The driver was a bit surly when I told him I needed to purchase a pass. He eventually said I could get one at a later stop when there was an agent available. I assume because it is the winter (and not the tourist time of season) they have fewer staff working.

On the blue line there is only an automated tour. I plugged in the provided headphones (grab them on the way into the bus, as well as a pamphlet!) and sat back for the tour. I was on the first level and this seemed to be a bit of a mistake. The recorded audio tour was fine. It was prompt with its blurbs. However to fill some of the dead time between sights they would play music. This music can be MUCH louder than the talking voice. This is a bit annoying but be prepared for it and it shouldn't be too bad.

I rode the blue bus until I was able to switch to red (and live commentary) at the Marble Arch. This time I rode on top of the bus. I wasn't quite dressed warm enough, but the views on the open top were worth it! The commentary was informative and witty. Unfortunately I feel some of it was lost on the sparse (and cold) crowd. He definitely elicited a few laughs from myself and others.

during the winter the pass is good fro 48 hours which makes up for the shortened time the bus is available. The price was about 22 or 24 pounds. The tour is long (no thanks to traffic). I ended up taking it to the tower and then taking the underground home after the tour had ended.

I had my parents over visiting me and the bus just stopped in front of us. I usually utilize the original red version, but the sales staff was quite energetic and we got easily pulled in. I understand why! Commentary, service, look are not just the same as the red one I am used to when I have to entertain visitors. The advantage is that here you are always going to find an available seat!

I was in London with my father the first weekend of November 2008. He was traveling for business and I came along to help. He is visually impaired and normally uses a guide dog, but we didn't have time to get her rabies records in order before traveling to the UK.

I wanted to do some kind of tour so he could get the feel for London, but I didn't want to have to be the tour guide myself. Big Bus fit the bill perfectly!

I was a little nervous about choosing Big Bus over Original London because the OL reviews seem to be a little bit better. I chose Big Bus because they run their blue route in the winter and there was a stop within walking distance from our hotel. (According to an email from an OL rep, OL doesn't run their blue route in winter.) Also, with Big Bus you can print your ticket from online purchase and get on at any stop. It seemed easier to just walk to the bus rather than having to take the tube to a starting point.

We got on the blue route bus and it was surprisingly full. We rode on the lower level and listened to the recorded tour for 3 or 4 stops, until we got to a combined Red/Blue route stop. The recorded tour wasn't anything special. It was a little dry and boring.

We hopped off the bus and waited for a Red bus. We waited under 10 minutes. We went up top so we were out in the cool air but could see all of the tops of the buildings easily. Our guide was fantastic. He was british and told lots of jokes interspersed with his facts. We really got a kick out of him, my father especially. We took the whole Red tour and towards the end, they did make us get off and hop onto another Red bus. The guide on that bus was very informative but not as entertaining. We took that red bus to our starting point, then hopped off and headed to a restaurant for lunch.

We hoped to do the haunted pubs tour the next evening, but it was rainy and we had had another long day, so we skipped it.

I feel like this was a great way to get to know London and it was very entertaining for my father to have everything "described" to him. It took a lot of pressure off me. We took the tube all over for the next few days and always felt like we knew where we were because we had been in or near that area on the tour.

So, even though I was nervous because of some of the reviews here, we had a great time on Big Bus.