'Big Bus' Royal London Walk

If your main goal is to see the changing of the guards you probably don't need a walking tour to see that. I expect they will have some interesting stories and information that goes with it and that can make it worth booking this tour. I personally haven't done this tour but trust they would do a good walking tour.

Go early on your own to see the Changing of the Guard especially if you are traveling in the Summer months. Hordes of tourists, hordes! Might also consider watching the Royal Horse Guards instead. Personally I'd leave your accommodation early, grab a quick bite at a Pret a Manager (and take sandwiches for later) and take the tube to either Westminster or Green Park. If you depart at Westminster you'll be in Parliament Square and can walk up Birdcage Walk through St. James Park to the Palace. In Parliament Square is Big Ben, Parliament and Westminster Abbey. If you use the Green Park tube merely walk through Green Park over to the Palace. If you use Google Maps satellite maps you can view how easy it is to take these routes. IMHO the best way to explore London is on foot and these lovely strolls are nice ways to get started. Great city. Have fun!

I agree with Kevin and Claudia. In all honesty I cannot say I have tried the tour... but Claudia makes an excellent point about do-it-yourself in London.

Thanks for the great advice! Since it is the kids' first trip, we will probably start with the bus tour to get the overview and have the experience of the double-decker bus. (Hope the weather cooperates, but then it's England...rain is part of the charm, right? :) ) We will probably skip the walking tour.

I thought about the Horse Guards, but the Changing of the Guard was something my son was particularly interested in. Maybe I'll revisit that idea with him. If we can get closer it would probably be more enjoyable..."hoards" sounds bad! My husband & I went in May years ago and there was a pretty big crowd then, so I can only imagine what a summer crowd will look like!

London is a great city, I've only been once before and I know there is so much more to see. But I'm so glad to get to share it with my kids, I hope they love it too!

Thanks again, Susan

Good idea Emma, I still need to check the map to see when we can take advantage of the busses to get where we're planning to go. My daughter is especially excited about the double deckers!

Thanks!

The routes I suggest to give a ride by a number of sights each are 9, 11, 14 and 15. These bus routes have been the same give or take a turn or two in the central area for over 100 years with reason. There are probably others.

HoHo buses can be good in some places but as transport in London they are a poor choice as they run less frequently than regular services and can take convoluted routes. If you can take advantage of the walking tour aspects though and use them for a full circuit for the commentary you may get more value and fewer frustrating waits.

I am in London right now. Just finished our second day using the Big Bus hoho. They sold us the two day ticket for same price as one day so we took it.

Don't do it.

Horrible long waits, buses take forever to get anywhere. If bus is crowded( in season it is !) you may end up standing, we did twice, and can't plug into commentary.

Take regular buses, we did at first part of our trip( we started in London 27 days ago, toured some other countries and now are back for a few days before we fly home).

A rrcel card is less then 9 GBP a day and you can hop off and on all day with that ticker. Regular buses come every 3-5 minutes , not so with Big Bus.

Would not recommend hohos on London, although I would for Paris.

Wow, so much great info! I'm so glad I hadn't bought the big bus tickets yet. Thanks everyone! We will be enjoying our new route on the public busses :)

Thanks again!
Susan