Vintage London Bus Tour Including Cruise with London Eye Option
London, England
- 3 hours 30 minutes (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Combine a sightseeing tour aboard a vintage Routemaster bus with a Thames River cruise on this 2-in-1 London experience. Start with a ride on a double-decker Routemaster bus and take in stellar views of top attractions including the Tower of London. For added value, you can pick a package that includes a ride aboard the London Eye Ferris wheel.
- Perfect for first-time visitors and photographers
- Open-top decker routemaster buses provide panoramic views of London in summer
- Take a Thames River cruise to see London landmarks from the water
- Optional London Eye add-on available at booking for added value
Why Travelers Choose This Tour
Get a feel for London and its key experiences in just a few hours on this affordable tour.
What's Included
- Panoramic tour of London by 1960's Vintage bus
- Thames River cruise
- London Eye (if option selected)
- Entry to Stonehenge (if option selected)
- Local guide
- Gratuities
- Food and drinks, unless specified
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Victoria Coach Station, 164 Buckingham Palace Rd, London SW1W 9TP, UK
Located on 164 Buckingham Palace Road, Victoria, London, SW1W 9TP, approximately 7 minute walk from Victoria Underground/Railway station. Tour departs inside the building at Gate 19 at 7:45am (for AM tour) and Gate 0 at 1pm (for PM tour). Boarding starts 15 minutes before the departure time stated.
End point
- Victoria St, London SW1E 5ND, UK
End point may be different depends on option selected
Start time.1:00 pm
Itinerary
Select your tour option upon booking, and hop aboard your vintage, red double-decker Routemaster bus in Victoria in central London.
Sit back and drink in the views of London’s famous sights as you trundle around the heart of the city. Pass top London attractions such as Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and the Tower of London.
Then, leave your iconic bus at the Thames River, and set off on a short sightseeing cruise. Find a comfortable spot on your cruise boat, and admire London landmarks such as Tower Bridge, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, and the London Eye as you sail on this history-steeped river.
Next, rejoin your gleaming, retro Routemaster and drive to Buckingham Palace, the official London residence of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Stop outside to see the world-famous Changing of the Guard. Watch in delight as the Queen’s Foot Guards—dressed in red tunics and bearskin helmets—exchange duties with the new guard in time to military music.
If the guard change is not taking place, simply stop for photos of Buckingham Palace. Your trip concludes with a drop-off back in Victoria.
London Eye Flight Upgrade: If you wish, upgrade to take a flight on the London Eye following your sightseeing trip. After Buckingham Palace, enjoy a drop-off at the Eye and use your prebooked ticket for fast, hassle-free entry. Board your shared glass capsule and marvel at the 360-degree views of London as the Eye makes a single rotation.
Afternoon Stonehenge Visit Upgrade: Why not take an afternoon trip to ancient, UNESCO-listed Stonehenge after your morning sightseeing tour? After Buckingham Palace, enjoy a drop-off at Victoria and board a comfortable, round-trip shuttle bus bound for Stonehenge.
Then, travel straight to this prehistoric stone circle on Salisbury Plain and embark on a self-guided audio tour of the monument's perimeter and impressive visitor center (separate expense).
Your Stonehenge round trip then ends with a drop-off at Victoria.
Sit back and drink in the views of London’s famous sights as you trundle around the heart of the city. Pass top London attractions such as Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and the Tower of London.
Then, leave your iconic bus at the Thames River, and set off on a short sightseeing cruise. Find a comfortable spot on your cruise boat, and admire London landmarks such as Tower Bridge, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, and the London Eye as you sail on this history-steeped river.
Next, rejoin your gleaming, retro Routemaster and drive to Buckingham Palace, the official London residence of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Stop outside to see the world-famous Changing of the Guard. Watch in delight as the Queen’s Foot Guards—dressed in red tunics and bearskin helmets—exchange duties with the new guard in time to military music.
If the guard change is not taking place, simply stop for photos of Buckingham Palace. Your trip concludes with a drop-off back in Victoria.
London Eye Flight Upgrade: If you wish, upgrade to take a flight on the London Eye following your sightseeing trip. After Buckingham Palace, enjoy a drop-off at the Eye and use your prebooked ticket for fast, hassle-free entry. Board your shared glass capsule and marvel at the 360-degree views of London as the Eye makes a single rotation.
Afternoon Stonehenge Visit Upgrade: Why not take an afternoon trip to ancient, UNESCO-listed Stonehenge after your morning sightseeing tour? After Buckingham Palace, enjoy a drop-off at Victoria and board a comfortable, round-trip shuttle bus bound for Stonehenge.
Then, travel straight to this prehistoric stone circle on Salisbury Plain and embark on a self-guided audio tour of the monument's perimeter and impressive visitor center (separate expense).
Your Stonehenge round trip then ends with a drop-off at Victoria.
1
Buckingham Palace
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included
2
Westminster Abbey
15 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included
Houses of Parliament (Pass By)
Big Ben (Pass By)
Whitehall (Pass By)
Trafalgar Square (Pass By)
Royal Courts of Justice (Pass By)
St. Paul's Cathedral (Pass By)
3
Tower of London
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included
4
Thames River
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
London Bridge (Pass By)
Shakespeare's Globe Theatre (Pass By)
London Eye (Pass By)
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Stroller accessible
- Near public transportation
- Infants must sit on laps
- Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
- Please note: this is an open top bus tour, please be prepared for the possibility of rain. On rare occasions the open top bus may be changed to a closed top bus
- You’ll enjoy a great photo stop outside Buckingham Palace. In the afternoon, there are often fewer crowds, making it easier to take in the views and capture the perfect picture of this iconic landmark.
- Thames River cruise takes place at the end of the bus tour and ends at Westminster Pier. It lasts approximately 30 minutes and is included in the price of the tour.
- Travellers who select the London Eye upgrade will have a short walk from Westminster Pier to the Eye after the cruise.
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 40 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.0
based on 592 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
3 generations of our family greatly enjoyed the commentary and views of important London sites. Great for a first day.
Very informative our tour guide was hilarious loved everything, highly recommended to anyone visiting London. The highlight was the river cruise.👍
Alan, the tour guide made it loads of fun. The tour guide on the boat portion was equally great. This experience exceeded our expectations.
Bus was clean, driver was safe and guide gave a lot of good information about London. Cruise on Thames was nice, although we had to wait in a pretty long line. Commentator on river cruise was entertaining.
Fantastic scenic ride throughout London. Got to see all the top spots and learn a little bit about each. Stephen and Eugene were great! The river cruise was also a wonderful way to see more sites from a different perspective. The whole family really enjoyed the tour!
Tour guide was alot of fun and very knowledgeable! Enjoyed the Uber boat ride & the London eye. Would recommend.
We added on the London Eye experience after the bus and water tour. We were under the impression from the first guide we were being taken back to the station where the tour started but instead we had to get a cab to take us back to our hotel after the London Eye experience Future clients need to be aware that they are own their own once they get off the London Eye
The perfect taste of London. We were able to see everything!!!! No way we could have taken in all of these sights on our own. Terrific value! Lisa and Eugene were fantastic!
Harrowing ride through loaded London streets, more fun than an amusement park ride just watching our driver! Lisa was wonderful and taught us a ton despite the intermittent rain. Was the perfect trip to acquaint us on our first day in the city. Boat tour was frosting on the cake!
We had a lovely day: 2 hours bus tour of London followed bt a river cruise and a ride on the London Eye
This was an excellent tour of popular London sights with our knowledgeable guide, John. Riding the double decker vintage bus was a highlight as well as the river cruise. The views were amazing! Able to take amazing photos. A most wonderful time!
Unfortunately, we were 10 minutes late for the tour and the tour left without us. We lost the money and never had the tour of London. I can’t comment on this tour but what I will say is that it might be a little kinder if you had a 15 minute grace period
Response from Host, Aug 2025
Hi Jane, thank you for taking the time to post a review of our Vintage London Bus Tour. We are sorry to hear that you missed the tour departure. Please note that a 15-minute grace period is already in place as customers are asked to be present at the meeting point 15 minutes prior to the departure time to check in. I’m afraid we are not able to hold departures for longer than 5 minutes past the departure time considering the followed schedule, as well as the participants who show up on time for check-in and departure. We hope you will be able to travel with Premium Tours in the future.
* It was all a wonderful blur. We saw London tower, London bridge, changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, Thames River Cruise, Big Ben, Trafalgar Square. (Options for Stone Henge or London Eye). This was a really awesome tour, I’d call it a bit of a tease as I only had a brief time in London but was able to get a really quick and nice intro to it. My guide Alan was tremendous. He was funny, knowledgeable, and prompt. He got us to the perfect spot to watch the changing of the guard, and kept us well informed of what we were doing, what we were seeing, and every bit of historical and cultural significance. I HIGHLY recommend this tour for those with limited time or folks looking for the London highlight reels. There are tons of adds for everyone likes to make it as customizable to your travel needs as possible! Highly recommend
It was a nice way to get an overview of London. It hit the main attractions and got a bit of history as well.
Great overview tour of London, hits all the major spots tourists need to see! The vintage bus was very cool and fun to ride on.
The tour passed by all of the major landmarks and our guide Steve provided great commentary on each site.
This was worth the money. We didn't do the extra just the bus and boat.. we saw a lot more than we expected
We loved this tour! Very knowledgeable guide, saw all the places - palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Parliament, etc. We went across several bridges, and took a nice cruise on the River. Don’t skip the London Eye ride, well worth it!
We were on a crunch with just one day to explore London, and picked this tour to see it all. We enjoyed our tour guide Elisa and our driver Sean. We saw Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, did a boat tour on the Thames, and a changing of the guard ceremony. Elisa was witty and had lots of interesting history to tell us about, and Sean was a safe and efficient driver. Later we transitioned to another bus out to Stone Henge. Our new driver (sorry not to remember his name) was professional and got us there safely on a long adventure. Would highly recommend this tour!
I sat at the back of the bus up top and was able to hear the guide without issue. It was a well done tour that hit the highlights of London - exactly what I was looking for as I was only in London for a day! Highly recommend for anyone who wants a well-informed broad overview of London and its history.
Viator have great & efficient customer service. The trip was well organised, Magnus was a brilliant guide, very informative. London Eye was closed due to technical issues. Refund sorted easily the next day with Viator.
We all thoroughly enjoyed our trip, thank you!
Steve, our tour guide, was amazing! He made the entire experience of seeing London so enjoyable and knew so much about London's history. He was friendly, cared for his guests safety and was always ready to do whatever he could to make our tour the best possible tour of London ever!
We all loved this vintage tour bus!! The bus was kept up beautifully and so fun to ride in. The tour guide was so kind. He was very informative and so interesting to listen to. This tour was by far my personal favorite in London. Was easy to find where to board and had a wonderful relaxing ride. Our guide even made sure we were dropped off near the station. A wonderful way to start off our London holiday.
Our tour guide, Michael, was the best. Very friendly, knowledgeable, engaging and funny. (He's officially my new joke supplier!!)
A great way of seeing London from a real old red bus. Driver was able to adapt the journey to road conditions and time. Nothing felt rushed. Personable tour guide called Greg with a vast array of tales and insight into everything we passed. Nothing felt scripted as he was able to adapt conversation according to the groups interest and to what was happening live I.e King Charles being in residence at the Palace so Royal Standard flown.
A cost effective way of having a tour of the best sights in London, with great commentary plus river cruise and London Eye experience.
Tips:
1. Coach station feels chaotic-don’t worry staff are used to getting everyone to the right place.
2. Dress for the weather.
3. Ask questions. Our guide was so knowledgeable.
4. This was way better than driving for hours to Stonehenge on a coach.
5. Many great eateries near the London Eye. Google in advance to see where they are.
Super informative and fun tour. Richard our guide was extremely knowledgeable and quite personable. Would recommend for anyone in need of an easy tour.
Alan the guide was excellent .
The sights were excellent and the vintage bus was very apt.
Boat cruise very enjoyable
Great tour guide. Fun bus ride. Good boat trip. Great historic stories. Beautiful day to sit on top!
Our tour guide MAGNUS was the best. He kept us so well informed and talked for 3 hours! It was the best bang for the buck we could ask for. We cover all over London with the river tour and added London eye! Having a short trip, this was the best one to see all the sights. And great price too!!
it's was a disorganized mess!! totally awful, bus was stuck in traffic most of the time. Guide was easily frazzled, after 2.5 boring hours going thru random parts of London were we transferred to an equally horrible boat with dirty windows you couldn't see out of. Never went on London eye cause second guide left us... wish i could get a refund
Member Pricing
From
$79.42
per personWas $83.60(-5%)
up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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