Hop On Bus

Which city are you planning to take the bus in?

London. We are staying near Tower bridge.

Make sure you go to the Crown Jewels first thing in the morning, before the lines get long. Have a great trip!

The Victoria and Albert Museum has a very good jewelry and gems collection, as well as fabulous work in every other decorative-art medium imaginable. Arriving at the museum just before opening time is very worthwhile, because if you go straight to the jewelry collection, you should have 20 minutes or so practically by yourselves, so you can move freely from showcase to showcase. After that period, more people will begin to filter in, and you will be slowed down quite a lot. The V&A is very popular, but the jewelry section is the only area where I've felt significantly crowded. The issue is that jewelry is small, so you need to be able to get close to it.

It sounds as if you're considering taking the HO/HO bus late on the day you arrive. That would be a waste of money for me, because if I sat down at that point, I'd fall asleep instantly.

I haven't taken a HO/HO bus anywhere, much less in London, but others here have said they don't work well in London because they are slowed down badly by traffic.

I took a hop on hop off bus in London in May 2022. Big mistake. You really just get an overview of traffic and traffic jams. To make things worse, the route often doubled back on itself which meant 10-15 minutes just to turn around and go back through the same traffic again. If you feel like you want to sit down and rest, perhaps this is a good choice because you will be sitting for a long time.

Frankly HOHO buses are a waste of money in London. The delays caused by traffic means you will spend a long time crawling along seeing very little. These buses are not allowed to use the bus lanes like the regular bus service. Finding a couple of interesting ordinary bus routes will be more productive and a whole lot cheaper. But on no account do either on your arrival day, especially later on - it will just be an expensive way to have a nap, which will then wreck your first night’s sleep.

Been visiting London for 50 years. Best to be be specific when referencing London locations.

Are you staying near Tower Bridge? Tower of London? Elizabeth’s Tower?

Hop on Hop off bus is a total waste of time and money. London traffic is horrific.

Provide your accommodation locale and we can offer a better way to provide a first day overview.

There have been a lot of threads on the topic of hop-on hop-off buses (Big Bus) and both good and bad reviews. I've done them in Paris, London, and cities in the US (San Fran, Chicago), and have always had good experiences. It's a nice way to get a "sampler platter" of the city and determine where you want to spend more time later. Just try to avoid rush hour or you will be stuck in traffic per the comments above.

Johnew52, can you suggest way to view bus routes available starting at Tower of London? I concur sitting in traffic would be an awful waste of time. After early arrival, Tower of London seeing jewels, Yeoman tour, lunch therein, the bus was a way of getting an overview.

If you go to this page

https://tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/visiting-london/getting-around-london/visitor-maps?intcmp=28170

and scroll down to Bus Maps you can download a map of useful bus routes

HOHO buses can be a good way of getting an overview of a new place and I have done a few in my time. It’s just that they really don’t work well in London. It’s not just a rush hour issue, the traffic will probably be very slow all day long.
There is a good link above for other bus routes but I can’t recommend even doing that on your first day. You will be jet lagged and if you’ve just spent 3 hours on so in the Tower of London you really don’t want to take a longish bus ride. Personally I would walk across Tower Bridge and walk along the South Bank for as far as you can manage before you get too tired. There are lots of opportunities to take a break for food or drink and you well get a good feel for th3 city, especially if you can get all the way to Westminster.

The best London bus route passing the Tower of London (it starts in the East End of London) is #15 to Trafalgar Square. If you change there within 1 hour of boarding at Tower Hill you get a free transfer onto #23 (to Westbourne Park) down Regent Street and Oxford Street to Marble Arch (and Paddington).

Anywhere on Oxford Street switch to #10 which takes you to Harrods, Royal Albert Hall and Knightsbridge (#9 takes you straight there from Trafalgar Square past St James' Palace and Green Park).

Switch at Marble Arch onto the #74 and it takes you to the V and A, and the Natural History Museum.

You get an unlimited number of free transfers within an hour of boarding.

But any of those are easy and wonderful sighteseeing routes for the princely sum of £1.75.

Stay on the #74 to Putney and you can catch a Thames Clipper boat down the Thames back into Central London. It is not included in the daily/weekly cap, but can be paid for using Oyster or contactless.

(or catch the Clipper from the Tower to Putney then reverse the bus travel).

That is a wonderful half day touring for a fraction of the cost of the HoHo.

Lots of similar possibilities on the service buses.

We are arriving on Wednesday and will begin our visit to all of the wonderful places in London on Thursday beginning with Tower of London and continue for a week. I’m not clear on the bus route suggested regarding transfer within an hour of initial boarding. Can come one explain? Thanks.

London buses cost £1.75 per journey. But if you take one bus and then get on another within an hour of starting that bus will be free.
Buses are cashless- you need a contactless card or phone or watch pay or an Oyster card to pay. Just tap once on entry each time - the system will work out if a second ride is free.