London Double Decker Bus Tours

More details might help us give you a better answer.
Which airport are you arriving and departing from? Are you spending a night in a hotel? If so where?

In general a big bus tour sounds like a reasonable plan for what you want to do. But don't under-estimate the jet lag factor. (I took one of these on the day of arrival and the vibration of the diesel bus was very soothing and I had to fight staying awake and at times didn't. Just saying.)

Walking is always a good way to fight jet lag and I would supplement this by catching regular double decker buses to get around rather than an organised bus tour. Then you can run at your pace.

Plan what you want to see in London and to maximise your visit, try to focus on one geographical area eg Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace.

London traffic will be no better or worse than any other time on a Thursday lunchtime. Would a walking tour suit?

The first time I went to London I only had a day and a half there, if even that. So I did the only thing I knew which was go on one of those Hop-On/Hop-Off bus tours, the type where the upper deck of the bus is open top. Now keep in mind, there are many, many companies that run such tours, but the one that I've used in many cities is run by a company called "City Sightseeing". They are recognizable by their red buses with sort of cartoonish yellow font and graphics (in addition to having the name "City Sightseeing" emblazoned on the side). They operate in most major tourist cities around the world. However, in some cities, such as London, they used a live guide, but in others I've been to, such as Istanbul and Brussels, they used a recording.

The tickets aren't cheap but the routes do cover most of the major tourist destinations and you can get on and off at these sights. One can argue that you can visit and see all the same things using the local city bus for a fraction of the cost, albeit without any commentary from a live person. But there is something nice about the view you get from an open top bus. Plus, if you take a local bus and happen to be on a busy commute line, it could be so crowded with locals that you might not get to see anything.

As to the timing and crowds, as with ANY sightseeing endeavor, be it these bus tours, or just visiting museum, the earlier in the day the better. But if you're crunched for time and governed by your flight schedule, then you wouldn't have that luxury, still, it's worth a shot.

"Since you're not looking for recorded commentary, would you consider taking a regular London double-decker bus?"

Exactly, this article will give you tips on which public buses to take and save yourself some money:
http://londonist.com/2016/02/london-s-10-best-bus-routes

Agree take the regular buses not the pricey tourist riding options. Take seats upstairs and enjoy the views. You can also walk easily between Parliament Square ( Elizabeth's Tower with Big Ben, Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey all clustered together nicely) up to Buckingham Palace via Birdcage Walk. 20 minutes at most. You could then walk thru Green Park over to and down Piccadilly
to Piccadilly Circus on over to Leicester Square and down to Trafalgar Square. From there walk toward the Thames and follow the path to Westminster Bridge. Nice long circular jaunt. You'll see the London Eye across the river as you do so. Use the satellite image street view option on Google Maps and you'll see what's within walking distance. Don't short change time allowed to return to Gatwick to go thru security and catch your flight!

I've done both in London - city buses and HOHO bus (pretty sure we chose Big Bus, but we were at Hyde Park corner and there were at least 3 companies to choose from)

IMO, the advantages of a HOHO bus for the first visit, when you don't know the city and/or have limited time, are:

1) The HOHO is convenient and efficient - they really don't go anywhere but the major sights

2) They're foolproof - there's no need to learn bus routes, where to change buses, etc, and you're unlikely to get on the wrong bus and waste time figuring out how to get back to where you want to be. And at the end of your day you can easily end up back where you started - it's a big loop

3) Fresh air - when sleep deprived the open-air upper deck (even in the rain!) is invigorating. They offer a better view from the top deck than the city buses do, IMO

4) The route gives you a good lay-of-the-land for the rest of your visit or the next visit in the OP's case

For future rides, the city buses make eminent sense - but for a first and/or time-limited visit, I'd argue a HOHO bus is the best choice.

I agree with Motorgirl's points. The first time I went I did the HOHO and it was easy because no research/thinking/planning required. You just get on and see everything you need to see. When I went back to London a handful of years later and had more time, I took the city bus, paid a tiny fraction of the cost of an HOHO type bus, and just basically picked a route, rode from one end to the other and sat in the upstairs front row, saw tons!

One thing I would advise, since you have short time due to being there for just a layover, you'll be tempted to pack as much in as possible via HOHO buses and the like. Try and make time, maybe an hour, to just sit in a cafe or park or somewhere and people watch.

Excellent point, KC. London is so lovely. Grab a coffee or a Pret sandwich and sit on a park bench and feel the place!

Or a pint at a pub with outdoor benches or at least a wide enough windowsill to set your glass on!

ETA: If you feel like you're getting caught up in too much traffic on the HOHO, you can always get out and walk. :-)

Be aware of the time that you are getting on the bus, we made the mistake of going through the "city" portion of London at 4pm and traffic was horrendous and it took about 45 minutes to go 1 mile. So I would do it early to mid morning to avoid our mistake.

Thank you everyone for the replies and help! And we are for sure planning on stopping at a couple different pubs with patios for some beers and people watching :-)

....because blazing through a big city to cover all the main sites will result in some fantastic photos and videos and look like you did an awful lot, but sitting down at a cafe or on the steps of a cathedral to take in the people watching, perhaps even a chat or two with a fellow patron whilst having coffee yields quite a deeper, emotional, and memorable experience.

Hi! I have been following this discussion because we have a similar short stay in London this week. I'm interested to find out if you ended up doing a HOHO bus? Did it give the quick snap shot you were looking for? Hope you had a great trip!