Hop on hop off London bus

Search for threads on this. I know I commented in at least one of them and the past few months.

Depends on your travel style. If you're tired of walking, they offer a nice rest for your feet. However, they are on the congested London streets, so it takes forever to get anywhere. If you're happy just to just sit and sightsee, you'll be happy. As a mode of transportation , they aren't an efficient mode. Safe travels!

Personal opinion from an individual who has been traveling to and enjoying London since 1972.

Hop on Hop Off Bus. Waste of time and money.

Instead take Bus 11. Start at Fulham Town Hall stop R.
This bus route will take you past Westminster, St Pauls, to Liverpool Street where you get off and walk to Spitalfields Market. Spitalfields is a good spot to meander about and have lunch.

EDIT: re: Marco’s post below; drat!

We find them useful. Need to check their schedules and routes. First day we tend to run one full circle to get a good orientation and then for the second loop will decide which stops we will see. If the ticket is a 24 hr ticket (fairly common) we will not buy the ticket till noon so we have time the next morning. And try to be at a large site that will take a lot time in both the later pm and when the ticket expires the next morning.

Unfortunately the route of the 11 has changed quite recently - from Westminster it now goes to Waterloo station.

You are completely correct - they are love or hate generally.

Unfortunately the route of the 11 has changed quite recently - from Westminster it now goes to Waterloo station.

Bah!!! Humbug!!!

Regarding Claudia's London City Bus Number 11: The city bus routes in London are constantly changing, from what I've observed. The bus map I've sent as a PDF to people a year ago is no longer correct. Just as I've learned a great many of the bus numbers and where they go, they go and change it all again....rats.

The London city buses are different from the HOHO tourist buses.

Regarding the OP's question about the Hop-On-Hop-Off buses:
The main use for the buses is to stay on for the entire ride, for a tour of the sights. It's designed to give you a quick look at the landmarks, etc. If you choose to go this route, after doing the whole ride, you can get off at whatever sight appeals to you. Some have a narrator onboard, telling you what sights you are seeing and telling you facts about them. This is worth it, if that's what you are wanting.
(Review what Frank said, in his post above.)

As said by others, not good for transportation. Use the tube or city buses instead, or in some cases, walking. Some popular tourist sights are walking distance from one another.

Another transportation option is the riverboat. Look for the Uber/Thames Clipper boats on the river. You can get on near Big Ben/Parliament/Westminster Abbey and travel along the river to the Tower of London. This boat takes the Oyster card. Tap in when you get on, tap out when you get off.

Small paper maps of the tube and the city bus system can be picked up at tube stations.
Or at the London Visitors Center across the street to the south of St. Paul's Cathedral.

I did the London hop off and on bus the first time I went there. It was a great way to get the lay of the land. We had fun.

There are up to date maps of the bus system now on the TfL website, after the last tranche of changes

Mark me on the “hate it” side. If being stuck in a non-stop traffic jam where a convoluted route can take 20 minutes to go two blocks is your idea of a good time, take it. Otherwise,spend your time and money elsewhere.

Definitely on the "love it" side here. Great way to get your bearings when you arrive in a new city, and also helpful if you're tired or have sore feet, as one poster noted. I've done Hop On Hop Off tours in London, Paris, Chicago (years before I moved here), San Francisco, and New York and loved them all.

TIP: Have a hard copy of your ticket in addition to having it on your phone. The Big Bus operators in each city seem to work a bit differently. In Paris, they wouldn't accept the ticket on my phone and made me get off at one of the stops where their office was located to stand in line and get a paper copy. This was in 2018. Pretty sad and low tech, but it all worked out in the end. If memory serves, I think the ticket redemption process in London was a bit clunky too.