London Hop On, Hop Off Bus Tours

We didn't take 2 different companies, but since we took the London pass and it was included in the price, we decided to take a break from walking and take a tour. We in fact took 2 different tours, from the same company, Big Bus Tours, the red buses.
It was fine, relax, good explanations.
Since London is spread out, we appreciated these tours

Personally don't think the company makes much difference. Go with the route.

We took the red one, but we don’t care which one we take in any city as long as it’s an open top, double decker.
As Frank said, it’s the route that matters.

I don't remember which one we took, but it included a boat trip from Tower to Westminster. I am not sure if they all do.

We took Golden Tours and agree the routes matter and also the number of buses. I would take the Red Big Bus next time as Golden Tours buses were less frequent but not by a lot. I would also concentrate on the pricing before you go as I did see a lot of people buying tickets at the bus stops and they seemed to be paying too much. But I like Golden Tours because we did a combined Xmas day Pub Lunch with the ticket so we paid a premium but the pub was great, the White Swan. Also, I did not understand the colored routes to get to where I was going but the Golden Tour drivers were helpful. I also called their customer service as one of us got sick and could not go and they refunded the Xmas day ticket which was great customer service.

Enjoy

We don’t get on and off the HoHo bus to see sites, we stay on and do the whole circuit. We do it to rest our feet and to see the sights. They really aren’t good for transportation. Regular busses or the tube are faster.

Thanks for the info, I've lived and worked in London in the past, so I'm fine with using the regular city buses too, and I'd just like to not-think about it so much (for the 1st couple of days) this next time that I go. I'm leaning towards the Original London Tour for several reasons, like they have the whole 24 hours and don't have to specify which day to use the ticket, OLT lets you activate the ticket when you use it. I can hop on a city bus to get to their closest bus stop to my hotel, looks like a fun option.
Thanks,
-Alison

We tried to do this last year. We could NEVER find the right bus to hop on/hop off. I called them twice. They kept sending me to places where the bus driver said - not our bus. After trying eight different busses, we gave up.

I'm sure it was our fault for not reading something, but I found it very discouraging. I will never try a hop on/hop off in London again.

I also appreciate the responses. Initially we planned on doing the big bus but have since lost our enthusiasm. Reviews are rather mixed, my friends.

We love HoHo busses. We even did the one here in SF. They’re fun and a great way to see everything.

I just like saying HoHo! Makes me smile.

When I visit a new city, I always ride the hop on hop off bus for a full circuit just to get an idea of how the city is laid out. The only place I’ve ever had a bad experience is In Rome, where I waited at stops forever for buses to come!