Hop On Hop Off Bus Tour

Not sure where you're from, but I cannot emphasise enough how bad the traffic can get. I really wouldn't recommend a HOHO bus. If you do want that sort of intro view, just take a public bus - it'll be much cheaper and can use bus lanes.

When we traveled with small children (which admittedly was a long time ago) we did a lot of walking, but at that age you may want to bring a lightweight fold up pushchair for your 4 year old.

Having said that, I see plenty of people on the HOHO bus, so presumably some people like it.

Simon is right - traffic is AWFUL in Central London. Seriously carnage. I take the bus everywhere, and build in some time for delays. That said, I always get where I am going in about the time advertised on the TFL app. Bus lanes really do help, and make city buses a better option than the HOHO right off the bat.

I agree that with a kiddo in tow, the bus is a lovely option. Those short legs definitely might tire out on a longer walk! :-)

As mentioned, regular London buses can take you by many of the major sights and (bonus!) are WAAAAAY cheaper than a HOHO. That alone would make them worth your while, I think. Just tap on and head upstairs for superb views! The buses aren’t topless, like the HOHO, but the windows are HUGE and the views are great from a comfy seat.

Since you will be sightseeing as you travel, any delays won’t be “time wasted” necessarily. And of course… you can “hop off” any bus at any time to see something up close, to explore a park or pop into a pub. Just “hop on” another bus within an hour, and you will not be charged for another fare. Cheap and easy!

TFL has a helpful guide to which routes go by which places: https://tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/visiting-london/experience-london/bus-leisure-routes

I love a HoHo bus in almost every city on the planet - except for London.

I’ve attempted it twice with family members who wanted to do it. Both times we ended up abandoning the bus after about 90 minutes of sloooow traffic jams seeing very little of interest. London is so very big, and the tourist attractions are spread so far that there’s a hell of a lot trying to get from one to the next.

We still speak of how awful it was.

Oh, also we had a live guide on one of them who made so many stupid mistakes with what she was telling us (ad libbing to fill the time).

Now, I love riding on top of a normal London double decker bus, which move quickly via bus lanes and don’t need to wait for long periods at every stop - somewhere there’s a map of suggested bus routes to take.*

*ah, I was slow typing - see the link above.

If you are OK with a bike tour in Paris what about doing the same in London?

If you'll be coming off a transatlantic flight your first day, I wouldn't recommend the HOHO bus in London. I did it with my 2 teen daughters and we were all nodding off pretty shortly after getting on. And the slowness due to awful traffic doesn't help that situation. Now I prefer to go walking in a park near my hotel room and then get dinner somewhere before hitting the sack early and getting a good night's sleep to be prepared for the next day.

Your 4 year old might like St. James's park, there are ducks and geese (they had babies when we were there, but that was late May/early June), and squirrels that let you fee them by hand.

Have you looked into 24h Hop-On Hop-Off **River Pass****** from City Cruises? Kids ride free. They stop at four different locations that are accessible to many attractions. We took them to Greenwich to see the Royal Observatory and it was very convenient.

https://www.cityexperiences.com/london/city-cruises/24h-hop-on-hop-off-river-pass/?date=11/17/2025&endDate=11/30/2025

I agree that you should avoid HOHO buses in London.

Also, check out https://legrandbus.com/ They have really nice bus tours of London, two different routes, not a HOHO! Tours return to where they started.

Also, it helps to identify what places you want to visit first, and then book lodging that is convenient to reaching those places by London Tube. Good Luck!

We used the iconic double decker buses, sat up top sometimes if not crowded, we jumped into the front top seat and had great views of much of the city. Much cheaper and so much fun!

Here’s a good link to some of the various routes from tfl:

https://tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/visiting-london/experience-london/bus-leisure-routes

Transport for London have this site showing “Leisure “ bus routes

https://tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/visiting-london/experience-london/bus-leisure-routes

My personal favourite is the number 26 route which goes past many of the main visitor sites. If you can get the kids into the front upstairs seats they’ll have a great view and it costs a fraction of the HoHo bus

It’s route is here

https://tfl.gov.uk/bus/route/26/

The interesting bits are between Liverpool Street Station and Victoria. If you could get on at Victoria, you might be able to race upstairs to the front seats.

but we like to do some kind of tour on our first day in a new city to
orient ourselves (we're doing a bike tour in Paris for example). We
have a 4 year-old in our group...

When you say first day in the city, do you mean on a jet lagged arrival day or a first full day in London? It isn't clear from your other posts if London is stop #1 for your family, but if so I do not recommend HOHO bus while jet lagged - I dozed through my ride on my first visit to London (in traffic, it really was awful). Also, if your kiddo tires out or gets bored, you'd need to ride the entire circuit to get back to where you started or hop off and find transit back.

Depending on how long you are in London, where you're staying, and what you plan to see, IMHO there isn't a lot of merit in taking a street level drive by overview of the city - even on a non-HOHO bus, you're still going to be at the whim of traffic. As noted in prior responses, you can take a double decker bus to your sightseeing destinations. CityMapper will help direct you to a bus route over a tube route.

A walk along the south bank of the Thames could be a good way to see some of the sights at your leisure. I’d suggest taking the tube to Embankment, exit towards the river, and cross over the Thames via the Golden Jubilee pedestrian bridge. There are great views from the bridge. Once you are over the bridge, you can walk along the pathway that follows the Thames at a leisurely pace. You can walk east towards the Tower Bridge or west (a short walk) towards the London Eye and Houses of Parliament. Perhaps the 4-year old would like a ride on the Eye.

There is also a boat along the river, but I haven’t taken it so don’t know if it is a good option.

I’ve been looking into bus tours as well and was specifically looking at a London by Night tour that leaves from the London Eye. Is traffic still bad at 7:00 or 8:00 PM? Are there any audio tours that could go with city buses?

You could try the tea bus, which has a couple options meant to appeal to kids. You'll be glad of the slow motion while sipping your tea (coffee or whatever you choose).
https://b-bakery.com

"Is traffic still bad at 7:00 or 8:00 PM?"

Ok if its close to 8pm than 7pm.. My experience on the occasions I go out to dinner in central London and take an Uber (silly, I know) is that I tend ro regret it due to traffic. And that's normally 7.00-7.30pm.

Hyde Park plus picnic provides opportunity to create a wonderful experience at a pace meeting all ages needs.
https://www.royalparks.org.uk/visit/parks/hyde-park

We did a Black Cab tour two years ago at 8:30 am with the grand children and it was a great introduction to London and the cabbie did a great job of navigating the city.

Thank you all - grateful for the feedback and great advice! I'm going to look into the boat tour - that might be a great way to avoid traffic! The Le Grand bus tour is also intriguing, but wouldn't it be the same issue with traffic?

I'm open to the city buses that many of you suggested, but I think most of our group would prefer an audioguide or narrated tour in some form, so I'm not sure they would be happy with the city bus.

Anyway, I'm off to research a bit more - thank you again!

We have a 4 year-old in our group, so a walking tour likely isn't an
option

Rent a stroller. I also agree with the public bus suggestions. I will be in London in August and have all of my trips planned around bus routes, rather than the tube. I use busses and trams whenever possible while traveling as I prefer to people watch from above ground.