London hop on hop off busses

Just wait till you get there - I've never seen the HOHO buses full. I would also say that you might want to get a sense of the traffic before you book, or perhaps consider a normal bus, which will be much cheaper. Personally i think London is better explored on foot and by tube/public bus, but that's just my opinion.

I've never been on one, but I've noticed at the stops they always have a number of sales people giving it the hard sell. There's a few different companies doing it in competition, so that sounds like a discount to me if you get talking to the sales people in the street.

Like Simon says, weigh it up when you get here. Everyone will be quick to tell you how much a waste of time it is because of traffic, but in my experience traffic's not as bad as it used to be. I mentioned on a thread before, off peak times when traffic is lighter are the times to try the HOHO bus. 9:30am - 1pm weekdays, Saturday mornings, Sunday all day. It's too dark in November to consider anything after about 3 or 4pm.

Given how early it gets dark in November, you might want to check out the various “See London By Night” evening bus tours. I did one 10 years ago on my first visit to London (which was in early December) and enjoyed seeing the Christmas lights as a bonus. It was an open top bus so wrap up warm if you go.

I would not bother with the HOHO bus. They seem like a great idea, so I get why you would want to, but IMHO they are not worth it in London.

For £1.75 you can take a regular London bus, sit upstairs, and see all the same sights. Regular buses get to travel in the bus lanes, so they move through traffic rather expeditiously. HOHO buses get stuck in traffic. And they are HUGELY more expensive.

You can check out Transport for London’s “leisure routes” here:
https://tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/visiting-london/experience-london/bus-leisure-routes

As an example:

Bus leisure route 9: London's museums and palaces. This route explores several royal palaces including St James's Palace, Clarence House and Kensington Palace, as well as interesting museums such as the London Transport Museum and the Natural History Museum. The route also includes other famous London landmarks, such as Trafalgar Square, and parks to explore and relax in.

The route stops at or near:
Somerset House
Covent Garden Market
London Transport Museum
Trafalgar Square
St James's Palace and Clarence House
Green Park
Wellington Arch and Hyde Park Corner
Natural History Museum
The Albert Memorial
Kensington Palace
The Design Museum
Holland Park

Bus leisure route 17: Heritage and pubs
Take bus route 17 and visit some of the oldest pubs in London, the Charles Dickens Museum and St Paul's Cathedral, amongst other historical highlights.

The route stops at or near:

King's Cross St Pancras Station
Charles Dickens Museum
Grays Inn Road, Square and Chapel
Cittie of Yorke Pub
Ye Olde Mitre
Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese
Old Bailey
St Paul's Cathedral
Monument to the Great Fire of London
George Inn

There are 3 more “leisure routes” in addition to those listed above.

You can “hop on” and “hop off,” too. If you get back on the next bus within an hour, you won’t even be charged!