Big Bus HOHO guides

just use some of the normal London buses if you want to travel above ground and see the sights

http://content.tfl.gov.uk/bus-route-maps/key-bus-routes-in-central-london.pdf

The HOHO guides in NYC probably spend a bulk of their time being screamed at by tourists when the buses are too filled to take more passengers and the tourists are left to wait for the next bus or the bus after that. There is bus stop near my manicurist and I've seen these guides get screamed at left and right during the summer months and between Thanksgiving and New Year's.

At least in NYC, HOHO looks to be a terrible operation. Customers are annoyed as they waste their time waiting for buses and the employees on board get yelled at by these very unhappy tourists. Those already on the bus tend not to leave the bus as they can see that if they do, they'll probably never get back on. Thus there is little if any turnover in seats.

I don't know how it is in London but I would not spend the money for HOHO given what I see in New York.

We enjoyed taking regular London busses when we were there in June—it was slightly cheaper than the Tube, MUCH cheaper than the HOHO’s, and we were able to see more of the city as we traveled from one place to another. A little pre-trip research on the routes and you should be fine!

With only three days, don't waste time sitting in traffic. The tube is great but does require some planning and thinking.

If you know what you want to see, you can use public traffic to get around from one site to the next.

If you want to find out what there is to see in London (or anywhere else for that matter) the HOHO bus can give you an overview.

IMHO waste of time and money given the short period of time you will be there. You want information from good guides then take some London Walks.
www.walks.com Always informative and well done.

Use the Google Maps Satellite Maps Street View. Type in Big Ben in the search box. Zoom out a bit and you will see that the London Eye, The Thames, Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Churchill War Rooms, Horse Guards, St james Park, Buckingham Palace and Trafalgar Square are walkable from one another.

Also accessible via nearby tube stations.

Make your list of what sites are most important. Look at Timeout London online. You’ll find what tube station is close to each site. Look at the tfl.gov.uk tube map.

As previously mentioned regular London bus routes can be used to view the sites as well. Sit up top. I believe Rick mentions a specific bus in his guide and hopefully another poster will chime in with that route.

Buy your Oyster card when you arrive in London. Refundable deposit. Load 20 pounds on it and away you go.

Yep, public transport is the way to go. We got to where we liked using the buses as you didn't have to deal with the crowds on the Underground - and you could see more.

On a HOHO, the guides are reading from a script. They have to, since they have to time their comments to fit the places you are passing, and since they're not driving and can't control traffic, it's hard for them to deviate. On a walking tour, they can amend their planned comments much more easily.

So, if your primary reason for taking a HOHO is the commentary, take a walking tour instead. If you just want to stay on the bus for a single circuit to get an overview, that's fine.

I agree that the larger the city, the more problematic traffic issues are with HOHO's. In Glasgow, they work very well; in New York, not so much.

I would not rely on a HOHO for transportation. However, if you wanted to do a tour for one day that could work. I was there in April and took my elderly parents on a Big Bus tour. It worked out well for us as they are somewhat mobility limited and this was the best chance for them to see many of the sights. We pretty much rode around the entire loop (got on near the Horse Guards and rode it all the way around to the Tower of London). During this time we had two guides and they were both great. The first one was a woman from CA and then they changed a few stops later and a guy named Phil took over. Neither one seemed to be reading from a script and both were entertaining and informative. Note that not all the routes have a live guide.

I like HOHOs and will continue to use them when I am getting to know a new city - both in the US and OUS. The only terrible experience I've had was a HOHO in London a couple of years ago. I would not count on the guide for "gaining really good information".

Our guide fell into a long monologue about something of interest to himself but had no connection to the tour. He gave information that has since been verified as incorrect and was so busy having a side conversation with passengers as we approached Buckingham Palace that he literally didn't say one word of acknowledgement that it was on the route - let alone offer any interesting commentary about it or its history.

Like you, we accepted the tour would be traffic ridden - and it was - but worse than that was the disappointment with the guide. We opted not to risk how much of a wait it would be to get on a bus that had room, we could have tried a different guide and we didn't. As a customer, I purchase a tour with the idea that every guide should be good - I shouldn't have to jockey to find the one having a good day.

I generally don't like HOHO buses. I think they're overpriced, at least at the walk up rate, and the guides are often mediocre at best. Plus, you spend more time looking at bank buildings than you do at actual attractions. I work next to the Sears Tower in Chicago and often see the HOHO buses heading down Wacker towards the Sears Tower, the people on the bus spend far more time seeing office workers eating lunch or out for a smoke than they do actually seeing the Sears Tower.

I agree with the London Walks suggestions, the guides there are all experts in their field and many are full time professional guides. And, of course, they can adjust the pace of the tour on the fly as well as making quick detours if necessary. Plus, they're only ten pounds. If you want a general overview, they have a Welcome to London walk, plus most of their Westminster walks cover a lot of the highlights.

We took the HoHo tour last week, it was incredibly hot and crowded. I’d take the Megabus tour to get an overall feel for London but take the tube to get around.

I have never taken the HOHO in London because the Tube is so convenient. I have used them in Edinburgh and Bath and found them very useful for both transportation and overview info.

Has anyone out there done the megabus sightseeing tour in London? From what I read it is a 2 hour non-stop tour of 50 popular landmark sites with English commentary. It is certainly very reasonably priced compared to HOHO - but is it any good? Would love to hear from someone who has taken it. If our intention is to just ride the loop of the HOHO - is this a better alternative?

The tfl link provided above -- Transport for London, official guide to mass transit -- will lead to an interactive trip planner covering buses, Underground, regional trains etc. Very useful. So is Google Maps, which also measures walking distances as part of its itineraries. The map link varies according to your computer's country of residence.
My limited experience of HOHO gave a decent introduction to one compact city, Dublin, but otherwise was far too slow for basic transport.
Because London's attractions are spread over a wide area, a guided walk during your short stay would be most satisfactory if confined to a specific area and/or theme.

I always like to get to know a new city using hop on hop off buses. It’s worked out for me in several cities, with the exception of Rome where the bus never seemed to come to the stops! I have to say, I chose to take it several weeks ago in London when Trump was in town and this was a bad decision because Traffic was backed up due to protests. I normally like to ride the entire loop and then start again, getting off where I want to stop once I’ve seen everything. This time, I ended up getting off and switching to public transportation because we weren’t moving. My mom and I are visiting London again in a few weeks for her first trip and we will ride the bus so she can get an idea of the city.