Full day bus tour of London

Viator is not a tour company, it just re-sells other company's tours, I think sometimes at a mark-up. When you find something interesting, I'd try to find the actual supplier by Googling, locate reviews and then book directly.

I have no experience taking city bus tours in Europe, so I cannot offer any specific advice. I will note that traffic in downtown London can be very sluggish.

I have not been on a bus tour in London, but traffic in the center of town is brutal: day or night. You might want to consider taking a walking tour. London Walks has excellent tours, including a Hello London tour that shows you the area around Westminster, Parliment, and Buckingham Palace. They also have really fun evening walks like the Jack the Ripper Tour.

The other option is to take Hop-on-hop off bus and then jump off one or two sights you want to see along the way. I haven’t taken one in years, but you can read reviews on them on trip advisor.

Have a great trip,
Sandy

I have spent a few days the last two years in London and did a bus tour each time. That being said after my two experiences I doubt I will or would every do this again. The travel in central London is just OMG crazy. So much so that a round trip without getting off can take hours.
And personally I would rather spend my time seeing something.
Now if you want to take a bus tour I would recommend a Night (after dark by preference) bus tour, traffic is less and the night tours give you an interesting view otherwise hard to see.
Also a boat trip on the Thames is nice and does not take anything close to as long.
But trying to get around downtown London in traffic is just horrible

Hop on hop off buses are sometimes recommended here but I can't speak to that since I've not taken one in London. I'm not sure if you'll have kids with you but even if you don't, a night time bus tour off the grid is the Ghost Bus tour. I've done it twice; once with my husband and then once more recently with my son and his family (3 kids ages 8-10-12).It was so much fun; a tour of beautifully lit London plus a very well done "performance" and a lot of fun!

You could look at the well-priced two-hour Megabus tour, which whisks you around the top sights (like the HoHo does) but because they don’t stop to let anyone on or off once it’s started, it’s much quicker.

It gives you a good overview - then use feet/public transport the rest of the time.

I’ve twice bailed out of a HoHo bus tour after a couple of hours because they make such slow progress.

It can often be quicker to walk, incidentally.

I'd vote for a series of London Walks as well!

I've done a couple of bus tours as a part of a multi-day tour (both Rick Steves and Road Scholar). I always used to think that it would help you get oriented but for me it doesn't. As mentioned, traffic is sloooow and frustrating. I'd not want to spend a full day on a bus tour in town.

I'd list what you want to see, divide it up by geography, then add in some London Walks (www.walks.com) OR Rick's free audio tours from his app or just download the map and off you go ( https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/audio/audio-tours/london ).

I've not done a night tour, but if you feel like you must, this seems like a better plan with less traffic.

DO be aware that there are awesome tours at some of the big sights - Tower of London Yeoman Warder's tours are free, Westminster Abbey Verger tours are 5GBP on top of the entry fee. Each free museum has free talks as well - National Gallery and British Museum and maybe V&A.

We will be in London for 5 days in May, We are thinking of doing a
full day guided bus tour the first day to get a good overview. We are
looking at full day tours with Premium Tours or Viator. Has anyone had
any experience with these companies? or are there other tours to think
about? Also has anyone any thoughts of a night time bus tour of
London, good or bad? Thanks for your help.

Traffic is awful in Central London. Is that how you want to spend much of your day? Why not consider London Walks tours. Also consider the RS London travel guide book and his free podcasts as you sightsee on your own and use the Tube to get from place to place.

We did a Premium Tour, mainly because it saved us a lot of debate over which sights to prioritize. No complaints, just note some stops are just a drive by. No time for an in-depth look. No matter how you slice it, you can only see so many things in one day. Tour ended at the Eye, where we waited in line for the ride a couple of hours, and then got back on our own. Our tour started at the Victoria Coach Station so it helps if you are staying near there. Based on one experience in Paris, I would not do a HOHO anywhere, unless you were just using it for an orientation tour. If you actually hop off somewhere, you could use up a lot of precious time waiting for a bus with free space to show up to hop on.

Thanks everyone for you input, most of you convinced me to do some walking tours . The bus tour is out and will sign up for several walking tours. Last question, when should I reserve the walking tours?

You don't reserve walking tours - at least not with London walks. You just show up at the appointed hours and pay your 10 GBP when asked. This means that you don't have to decide till you have seen the weather.

Have you been to the London Walks website? All the walks are there, and a bit of entertaining description and very entertaining description of the guides.

Everything you have heard good about them is true. I have never had a bad experience with them. Ever.

I, too, have enjoyed all the LondonWalks I have taken; I believe it's six so far. What you might do is--as you're walking along to a new stopping point--ask the guide on the first tour for suggestions about others you might especially like, based on any particular criteria you have. Or ask for comments on some you are considering. For example, the Highgate tour is a bit strenuous for some folks. The territories of some tours overlap a bit, so it would be smart to look at a map to be sure you're going to be covering new territory on each one.

Another vote for London Walks...satisfied repeat customer here!
Take a look at their website. Different walks go on different days.
The walk you have in mind (once you decide what that is) may only be given, say, on Monday, or Wednesday, etc.
Do check the schedule.
http://www.walks.com/our-walks/monday-walks

See their home page http://www.walks.com/
and check out their Great Escapes--day trips to the Cotswolds, Oxford, Salisbury, Winchester, Cambridge--many more options.

We just got back from London and took two tours. One was booked through Viator and I'd be careful. It was another tour company - Golden Tours and it was not as represented.

We booked this trip in April for Boxing Day. When we arrived we were told there was no two items on the tour were not offed at the holiday but we paid less. We actually paid in full in April. Viator offered us $12.50 per ticket to be used within 9 months after we contacted them. In addition to that our tour guide provided no relevant historical or related tour information other when to be at the bus. He also made condescending about the homeless in London which offended our children.

On a positive note we took the Oxford and Harry Potter tour which we booked through Get Your Guide and it was wonderful. Our kids are 26 and 22 - we all loved it. Would have enjoyed an overnight in Oxford.