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Discounted Big Bus tickets compared with booking direct
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About Big Bus London hop-on hop-off sightseeing tours
The Big Bus London hop-on hop-off service is one of the three London hop-on, hop-off sightseeing tours operating in London, the others being Tootbus (formerly Original Tour) and Golden Tours.
Big Bus offer a good choice of three walking tours included with their mid-range and premium tickets, a free one-way river cruise is included with all tickets. Evening tours are available and included with the Explore ticket.
On this page we offer discounted tickets, compared with booking direct.
We also discuss your ticket options, what is included and how Big Bus is different from the other two major hop-on bus providers.
Big Bus Tours is the largest operator of open-top bus sightseeing tours in the world and will be well known to many people; read on to find out which provider is right for you.
BOOK Big Bus tickets What's included Big Bus ticket types Save on walk-up prices Save £££'s on Big Bus with top London attraction Big Bus times and map Big Bus included with London Pass 3 FREE walking tours FREE river cruise Big Bus compared with Tootbus & Golden Tours Hop-on buses price comparison table
DISCOUNTED BIG BUS LONDON TICKETS
DISCOUNTED TICKETS COMPARED WITH BOOKING DIRECT
Choice of tickets • FREE River cruises on all tickets • 3 FREE guided walking tours on Essential & Explore tickets • Evening tours included on Explore ticket • Free Wi-Fi on board • Audio in 5 languages • London in your Pocket app access
Big Bus London - what's included in your ticket
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Unlimited travel for 24 or 48 hours on the Big Bus sightseeing bus network that visits all major attractions in central London.
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Flexible tickets available
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3 high frequency daily open top sightseeing routes that feature live, English speaking guides and/or pre-recorded commentary in 5 languages.
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Free on-board Wi-Fi
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London evening tour included with Explore tickets
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A one-way river cruise on the River Thames to see major sights from a different perspective
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3 FREE guided walking tours included with Essential and Explore tickets
What you need to know about Big Bus London tickets
Types of Big Bus tickets
Big Bus offer four basic ticket types, and in addition several combination offers of well known attractions plus Big Bus hop on bus ride.
1. Discover - 24 hr- with river cruise (one way)
2. Essential - 48 hr - 3 free guided walking tours + river cruise (one way), fully flexible
3. Explore - 48 hr + evening tour + 3 free guided walking tours + river cruise (one way), fully flexible
4. Evening Tour - panoramic evening tour of London
5. Discover + London Eye standard
6. Discover + Madame Tussauds
7. Discover + Tower of London
8. Discover + London Eye Fast Track
9. Essential + London Eye Fast Track
Unlimited use of buses plus river cruise included
All ticket types cover unlimited use of all of the Big Bus open top sightseeing buses and you can board the river cruise once (one way) during the validity of the ticket.
3 different routes
Red route - with live commentary - 'The Best of London.' Including London Eye, London Bridge, Trafalgar square, St Paul's Cathedral, Tower of London, Westminster Pier, Buckingham Palace, and much more.
Blue route - with audio guide in a choice of 5 languages. 'The West of London.' Including Kensington Palace, South Kensington Museums and Marble Arch.
Green route - connecting King's Cross and St. Pancras stations with the heart of London, where you'll be able to easily join our Red Route and Blue Route bus tours.
Valid for 6 months
The advance purchase discounted tickets are valid for six months, you are not committed to a particular day of travel until you board the first bus.
The multi-day tickets are contiguous. So, if you buy a 3-day ticket, the ticket is valid for 3 consecutive days from the day you activate the ticket.
Winter hop-on hop-off sightseeing tour promotions
Look out for extra promotions in the winter months from November to March. Big Bus often run promotions for an extra 10% or more. So, if you are travelling outside the peak summer months, keep your eyes open for this promotion.
Big Bus + top London attractions tickets - save up to 23%
Discount London are offering a great deal: buy your Big Bus tickets in combination with your choice of top London attraction and save up to 23% on the cost of buying tickets separately.
Attractions included are: London Eye, SEA LIFE, St Paul's Cathedral, London Dungeon, Madame Tussauds, Tower of London and London Zoo.
In addition, through the Big Bus official website you can also add on tickets to: Madame Tussauds, Tower of London and London Eye Fast Track. It is worth comparing prices between Discount London's combination of tickets and on the official Big Bus website as prices can differ.
SAVE UP TO 23%: COMBINE TOP LONDON ATTRACTIONS WITH HOP-ON HOP-OFF BUS TOUR
Combine attraction tickets with hop-on hop-off sightseeing bus package
• Enjoy Big Bus hop-on bus ride and river cruise with combo ticket of discounted attractions • Choose from: London Eye, St Paul's, Madame Tussauds, SEA LIFE, Tower of London, London Zoo, London Dungeon
Big Bus Tour - how long does it take? Start and end times and map
Big Bus Tour map
With over 40 stops across 4 different routes, you'll have plenty of opportunities to hop off the bus and explore the London landmarks and attractions that appeal to you most.
First Bus: 9am from Stop #1: Green Park Underground (Piccadilly - next to the Ritz, by entry to Green Park tube station)
Last Bus: 5pm from Stop #1: Green Park Underground (Piccadilly - next to the Ritz, by entry to Green Park tube station)
Full Circuit Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes (approx.)
Evening tours are included in your ticket for Premium and Deluxe ticket holders only (Classic tickets not included).
Evening Tours: Departure #1: 6pm from Stop #12: London Eye (Westminster Bridge Road (bus stop next to Lion Statue, outside London Marriot County Hall). One per evening.
Note, route changes happen relatively frequently and there are always events in London (especially Sundays) where road closures can impact the operation of tours. So do check the Big Bus website just prior to travelling which will highlight known issues in advance.
Audio guides and languages
On both routes you can listen to an informative digital commentary, available in 5 languages and broadcast via complimentary headphones (or bring your own).
The audio commentary is available in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.
Free Wi-Fi
There is free Wi-Fi across the entire fleet of Big Bus London.
London Pass - Big Bus included
The London Pass is a flat rate sightseeing pass to many (but not all) of London's main sightseeing attractions. You can buy a London Pass for 1, 2, 3, 6 or 10 day durations
The London Pass gives you entry into more than 90 London tourist attractions and a river cruise on the River Thames.
Top tier attractions include the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, London Eye, Westminster Abbey, Big Bus, Madam Tussauds, London Bridge Experience, Chessington World of Adventures, London Zoo, View from the Shard, and St. Paul's Cathedral. The London Pass offers incredible savings over buying individual attraction tickets.
The London Pass includes a 1-day Big Bus hop-on hop-off bus tour, whatever the duration of the London Pass.
Key points of the London Pass Ho Ho bus offer
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The Ho Ho bus offer is for one calendar day not for 24 hours.
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Most people use the Ho Ho facility on the first day of their London Pass, but there is nothing stopping using it on another day when the London Pass is valid.
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The Ho Ho bus offer with London Pass doesn't include the walking tours and river cruises included in the standard tickets issued by the Ho Ho companies concerned, only the bus tour (but you do get a river cruise included in the London Pass separately anyway)
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You show your London Pass to the driver or tour guide of the first bus you board. They will scan your London Pass and issue you with a separate ticket for the bus company concerned valid for the rest of the day. You cannot switch to the other bus company once you have made your first journey.
Three FREE walking tours included with Essential & Explore Big Bus tickets
If you purchase either the Essential or Explore tickets (both for 48-hour periods) you get three free walking tours included with your tickets automatically.
Walking tours on offer include:
1. Changing of the Guard Walk. Reveals iconic royal pageantry through the city (a 'Royal Walk' when Changing of the Guard not taking place)
2. City of London Walk. Explores the history and modern architecture of the City of London.
3. Jack the Ripper Walk. Explores the East End while sharing tales of London's most notorious serial killer.
Free river cruise with Big Bus tours
FREE Thames river cruise with City Cruises
A complimentary one-way river cruise offered by City Cruises (lasting around thirty minutes) is included in your Big Bus London ticket (all tickets).
The cruise departs from Tower Pier and arrives at Westminster Pier, where you then hop off to rejoin the bus tour. At Tower Pier you will see the majestic Tower of London, while at Westminster Pier you can see the Elizabeth Clock Tower (Big Ben) and the London Eye.
The cruise includes live commentary and enables you to see London and its attractions from a different perspective.
Tower Bridge, HMS Belfast, Shakespeare's Globe and the Tate Modern art gallery are some highlights that line the riverside.
Departure times vary, but are about every 20 minutes in the summer and every 30-40 minutes in the winter.
Big Bus v Tootbus v Golden Tours
In terms of London coverage all three Ho Ho sightseeing bus operations visit the same areas and all the main London attractions.
Live guides
This is one area that has changed in recent years. Traditionally all three companies offered live guides on at least one of their hop-on tours.
Today you will find this is no longer the case. If having a live guide is important to you there are a couple of options, but none of them are hop-on, hop-off but rather 60 or 90-minute continuous sightseeing tours.
Golden Tours have a live guide on their 90 min non-stop tour.
Tootbus have a live guide on their London Kids Tour and London Christmas Tour.
Big Bus no longer offer a live guide service on any of their tours.
Otherwise all three companies use pre-recorded commentaries for their hop-on bus services (they vary on the number of languages offered).
Durations
All operators offer tickets with 24 and 48-hr validity periods; Tootbus and Golden Tours also offer 72-hr tickets.
In addition Tootbus offer a 60-min Bar Bus ticket, while Golden Tours offer a fully guided 1.5-hr Express ticket (see above).
Evening Tours
All three operators offer evening tours. Big Bus also include a separate evening tour with their Premium and Deluxe tickets.
See websites for more details.
Walking Tours
Both Golden Tours and Big Bus offer highly regarded professionally guided walking tours included with your ticket (selected tickets only).
With Golden Tours you can choose from a Jack The Ripper Walking Tour or Coronation Walking Tour.
Big Bus offer THREE FREE TOURS with their Essential and Explore tickets: Changing of the Guard Walking Tour, City of London Walking Tour and a Jack the Ripper Walking Tour. Each tour is 1.5 hours long.
Tootbus do not offer guided walking tours but instead give you the chance to download "Tootwalk" to your phone: a choice of three self-guided walks.
River cruises
Two different river cruise operators are used, City Cruises and Thames River Sightseeing.
Golden Tours and Tootbus both offer tickets which are cheaper because they do not offer the river cruise. River cruises come standard with all Big Bus tickets.
All river cruises are for one-way only.
Add-on attractions or alternative tours
Golden Tours offer a range of attractions as add-on to the basic 4-hr hop-on bus ticket.
You can buy discounted bundles of Big Bus and top London attraction through Discount London.
In addition, through the Big Bus official website you can also add on tickets to: Madame Tussauds, Tower of London and London Eye Fast Track.
Tootbus don't currently offer any add-on attractions but they do offer alternative tours such as an Evening Tour, Bar Bus and a very popular Kids tour.
Click through on the banner for a thorough discussion on the differences between companies.
DISCOUNTED BIG BUS LONDON TICKETS
DISCOUNTED TICKETS COMPARED WITH BOOKING DIRECT
Choice of tickets • FREE River cruises on all tickets • 3 FREE guided walking tours on Essential & Explore tickets • Evening tours included on Explore ticket • Free Wi-Fi on board • Audio in 5 languages • London in your Pocket app access
LONDON'S OPEN TOP HOP-ON, HOP-OFF SIGHTSEEING TOUR PRICING 2024
Online advance ticket price adult/child/family from... |
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Tour |
24 hrs or 1-day no cruise |
24-hrs or 1 day with cruise |
48-hrs or 2 days no cruise |
48-hrs or 2 days with cruise |
72-hrs or 2 days no cruise |
72-hrs or 3 days with cruise |
London Evening tour |
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| Tootbus (Original Tour) | Adult Child Family |
£29.75 £17.00 £90.00 |
£35.70 £20.40 £108.00 |
£34.85 £21.25 £107.00 |
£41.65 £24.65 £127.00 |
£39.95 £25.50 £124.00 |
£47.60 £34.00 £146.00 |
£23.80 £13.60 £72.00 |
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| Big Bus | Adult Child Family |
N/A | £43.00 £33.00 £140.50 |
N/A | £45.00 £37.00 £174.00 |
N/A | N/A | £35.00 £26.00 £109.00 |
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| Golden Tours | Adult Child Family |
N/A | £29.99 £18.46 £100.10 |
N/A | £43.47 £27.10 £129.83 |
N/A | £49.95 £32.11 £154.60 |
£27.00 £15.00 £74.00 | |||
| London's hop-on buses - 3 hop on buses compared | |||||||||||
All the hop-on bus companies have permanently discounted online prices, (compared with walk-up prices) which are between 10 - 15% off.
Prices are seasonal and variable and prices above are based on low season prices. During school holidays prices are typically higher.
To be sure you are getting the best possible price it is advisable to check our prices above against the hop-on bus companies' websites as they occasionally run sales throughout the year:
Tootbus offer cheaper tickets, which are bus only, no river cruise. Tootbus offer this for a 24, 48 or 72-hr period and call this ticket 'London Discovery'.
