Has anyone used the Big Bus tour of London and also taken advantage of the Thames river boat ride and walking tours associated? I cannot find much information about the river tour and walking tour. Do these need to be taken on the same day the bus tour is activated or are the vouchers good for some days after bus tour? Who operates the river cruise and is it narrated? Which walking tour company offers the available walks and which walks can be chosen? Were the walk and boat ride worthwhile? Also, has anyone taken the evening bus tours? Thanks in advance.
Posted by
South Yorkshire, UK; formerly St. Louis, MO, USA
317 posts
Full disclosure - I have not done the Big Bus tour in London for years and years, and I have never done the cruise combo you have in London, though I have ridden down the Thames on a water ferry.
If you are not that familiar with London, the bus tour is a great way to get a general feel for the city even if you dont care for the commentary (when I did it years ago it was live and funny). The cruise would be similar, just a different way to see the city.
Other places I have been, if you buy a combo ticket like this, the attractions do not have to be done on the same day. If you go to the Big Bus Tours website, and scroll down to their cruise description, you will find that their cruises are done by their partner City Cruises. https://www.citycruises.com/ My read is that you do not have to do the cruise and bus on the same day, but thats just my opinion.
I cannot speak for the walking tours. The only organized walking tours in London I have ever done have been a couple Beatles walking tours that start at Marylebone.
Posted by
OP
Greater Boston
28 posts
Thanks for the info Tom! Perhaps someone else will know about the walking tours.
Posted by
Huntington Beach CA
1116 posts
It’s really a matter of time. The busses usually run from 9-5 so to get the most of the bus time, you need to stay on the bus while it goes through its loop. There’s usually several loops offered, some of them overlap. I know it offers the convenience of hopping on and off so you can use it for transportation but with London traffic being so bad, you’re sitting on the bus forever. Once you get off, it may take awhile to get on the next bus due to timing or busses being full. Make no mistake, I enjoyed the HOHO my first time in London but we basically got on by the Eye around 10ish, got off at Buckingham for a quick photo and to get lunch. A couple of hours later, we got back on to go all the way to Tower of London, got off for photos then took the river cruise from the Tower back to Westminster and the busses were done for the day. Our river cruise had a live narrator. Some busses have live narrators while some routes only had recorded narration. Those hours can go by fast! We had no time to do the walking tours.
Posted by
New York
521 posts
I did this last year and while I can’t remember the specifics of the time line to use the tickets, I can say that we really enjoyed the bus and the cruise. The cruise was narrated. We never did the evening bus tour or the walks due to lack of time.