Tootbus (The Original Tour) – panoramic and hop-on, hop-off ticket options
In summer 2021 The Original Tour changed their name to Tootbus. The bus livery has stayed the same with the iconic Union Jack embellished across the sides of their buses, so they are still easy to spot. Tootbus offer several programmes of tourist bus services in London.
You can choose from traditional hop-on hop-off tickets for different durations (with or without a river cruise) or alternatively Tootbus also offer shorter tours such as their Express Tour or the popular Kids Tour or the ever-popular quirky Bar Bus – ‘The most original rooftop terrace in town.’
You can also enjoy a Tootbus hop-on bus experience in the City of Bath.
Tootbus hop-on bus London – what’s included in your ticket
Over sixty years ago the company who ran London’s red buses decided to create a special open topped conversion of some of London’s famous double deck red buses and run them on a circuit of London’s main attractions with the facility to hop on and hop off. This company became known as The Original London Tour.
Today the Original London Tour now operates under the new name of Tootbus. The company is still going strong in London and has been refined to a sightseeing product so very popular with first time visitors to London.
- Unlimited travel for 24, 48 or 72-hrs on the Tootbus, (Original London Tour) sightseeing bus network that visits all major attractions in Central London
- High frequency daily buses with a selection of different tours available including Express, Kids, Bar Bus and Evening tours
- The only tour company to offer specially adapted Kids Tours
- The only tour company to offer the phenomenally popular and quirky Bar Bus
- A short river cruise on the River Thames to see major sights from a different perspective (on Must See London tickets only)
- Download the Tootbus app available on the App Store and Google Play to gain access to: routes and stops, audio commentaries (in English and French) and self-guided walking tours
- Free Wi-Fi on all buses
Comparison table of London’s hop-on bus prices
What you need to know about Tootbus (The Original Tour) London tickets
You can buy tickets for the Tootbus service in 24, 48 and 72-hour durations.
So, if you buy a 48-hour ticket, the ticket is valid 48 hours from the time you activate the ticket by boarding the bus.
London Discovery
A cheaper tour from Tootbus that offers good value on 1-day tours with no river cruise.
Must See London
This tour is more expensive as you get the river cruise included. Choose from a 1-day tour or a 2-day tour.
London Express – non-stop 2-hr tour
The Express Tour showcases the very best of London in just two hours. Perfect for anyone a little short on time who just wants to be taken around the beautiful sights the capital has to offer. This is a great way to see the city in the open-air, on a non-stop tour with on-board commentary.
London tours for kids
This is a short 45 minute open-top bus tour of the city, designed specifically for kids. This tour is special in that it is one of only two tours by Tootbus to feature a live guide, which really brings the whole experience to life. Your guide will give a fun introduction to the history of London as you pass major landmarks. This is a great way to see London in the open-air setting of the top of the London bus. As you’d expect, tickets are cheaper than the traditional tickets for 1 or 2-day durations.
London by Night – or Christmas lights
Tootbus’ evening tour offering, comparable with Big Bus and Golden Tours, a 90-min non-stop bus tour with pre-recorded commentary.
At Christmas another product is also on offer – the London Christmas Lights Tour, where you can enjoy the magical Christmas lights of London with a live guide (this is only one of two bus experiences Tootbus offer with a live guide – the other being the Kids Tour).
Bar Bus – the most original rooftop terrace in town
This popular non-stop 60-min tour of London offers a way to let you hair down on the top deck. See London with your friends, drinks on board, stunning views & photo opportunities, with a laid back vibe and uplifting music.
Tootbus (The Original Tour) tickets – how it works
Tickets can be purchased on the day from staff at the bus stops, Tootbus sellers on the street or online in advance from various suppliers (see banner links above.)
You can purchase London Discovery (hop-on bus only, no river cruise) at a cheaper price than going direct if you use our banner above.
Prices are seasonal and variable and prices above are based on low season prices. During school holidays prices are typically higher.
If purchasing online, the payment is by credit/debit card at the time of purchase.
Tickets are e-tickets and you receive a booking confirmation email, including a pass with a reservation number and a QR code. The QR code on the ticket is scannable on board the bus.
The validity of your ticket starts at the time of redemption, the first time your ticket will be scanned. While using the hop-on hop-off facility, your pass will be scanned every time you get on the bus.
It is recommended you use the Tootbus app to upload your ticket into it so it is all handy in one place. This is very easy to do, just a matter of filling in the reservation number and the name displayed on your ticket.
Tickets are flexible and are valid for 12 months from the date of purchase. You can amend or cancel your tickets free of charge any time during the ticket validity period.
You can begin your Tootbus tour at any of the bus stops in London.
Tootbus (The Original Tour) routes and buses
With your Tootbus ticket, you have access to 2 bus tour routes (depending on season) around London. The Yellow Route is the main tourist route, and as such offers the most frequent service, running every 5-20 minutes.
Summer and winter schedules
Schedules change seasonally.
The winter schedule runs until 1st April with both the Yellow and Blue tours starting from 9am.
Yellow Tour
The Yellow tour runs every 30 minutes from Coventry Street, Piccadilly, until the last tour departs at 4.20pm and 5pm Friday to Sunday.
Blue Tour
The Blue tour runs every 40 minutes from Grosvenor Gardens, Victoria until the last tour at 4pm and 5pm Friday to Sunday.
Free City Cruises river cruise with selected Tootbus tickets
Free Thames river cruise with City Cruises
Complete your visit to London with a cruise along the river Thames. Hop off at Westminster, take the river cruise to Tower Pier and board the Yellow Route again at the Tower of London.
City Cruises is the leading Thames river cruise company in London.
River cruises continue to be very popular with tourists and visitors to London as they allow you to experience the city from the river in ways you could never experience it from land.
Only the Must See London tickets include the river cruise; the cheaper tickets do not.
Tootbus v Golden Tours v Big Bus
In terms of London coverage all three Ho Ho sightseeing bus operations visit the same areas and all the main London attractions.
Live guides
This is one area that has changed in recent years. Traditionally all three companies offered live guides on at least one of their hop-on tours.
Today you will find this is no longer the case. If having a live guide is important to you there are a couple of options, but none of them are hop-on, hop-off but rather 60 or 90-minute continuous sightseeing tours.
Golden Tours have a live guide on their 90 min non-stop tour.
Tootbus have a live guide on their London Kids Tour and London Christmas Tour.
Big Bus no longer offer a live guide service on any of their tours.
Otherwise all three companies use pre-recorded commentaries for their hop-on bus services (they vary on the number of languages offered).
Durations
All operators offer tickets with 24 and 48-hr validity periods; Tootbus and Golden Tours also offer 72-hr tickets.
In addition Tootbus offer a 60-min Bar Bus ticket, while Golden Tours offer a fully guided 1.5-hr Express ticket (see above).
Evening Tours
All three operators offer evening tours. Big Bus also include a separate evening tour with their Premium and Deluxe tickets.
See websites for more details.
Walking Tours
Both Golden Tours and Big Bus offer highly regarded professionally guided walking tours included with your ticket (selected tickets only).
With Golden Tours you can choose from a Jack The Ripper Walking Tour or Coronation Walking Tour.
Big Bus offer THREE FREE TOURS with their Essential and Explore tickets: Changing of the Guard Walking Tour, City of London Walking Tour and a Jack the Ripper Walking Tour. Each tour is 1.5 hours long.
In addition Big Bus are currently offering a Royal themed hop on bus tour – ‘A Big Royal Adventure” together with a 45-min Royal Walking Tour.
Tootbus do not offer guided walking tours but instead give you the chance to download “Tootwalk” to your phone: a choice of three self-guided walks.
However, if you book Tootbus tickets using the banner on this page including Vox City guided walking tours you will get access to two professionally guided walking tours: “The Wizard Walk” and “Royals and Landmarks Tour.”
Each of these much-loved walking tours also comes with FREE access to the Vox City app where you can also discover more of London and its incredible history with your included self-guided Trafalgar Square Adventure.
River cruises
Two different river cruise operators are used, City Cruises and Thames River Sightseeing.
Golden Tours and Tootbus both offer tickets which are cheaper because they do not offer the river cruise. River cruises come standard with all Big Bus tickets.
All river cruises are for one-way only.
Add-on attractions or alternative tours
Golden Tours offer a range of attractions as add-on to the basic 4-hr hop-on bus ticket.
You can buy discounted bundles of Big Bus and top London attraction through Discount London.
In addition, through the Big Bus official website you can also add on tickets to: Madame Tussauds, Tower of London and London Eye Fast Track.
Tootbus don’t currently offer any add-on attractions but they do offer alternative tours such as an Evening Tour, Bar Bus and a very popular Kids tour.
London’s hop-on buses – discussion comparison
Prices and Tickets
TOOTBUS HOP-ON BUS ALL OPTIONS – 15% DISCOUNT ONLINE
Tootbus Must See London, Bar Bus, Kids Tour, London by Night, Christmas Lights tickets
- Choose from 24, 48 or 72-hr tickets
- London Discovery and Must See London tickets
- Thames River Cruise
- Audio guide in 5 languages
- Kids’ commentary
TOOTBUS HOP-ON BUS & GUIDED WALKING TOURS
Tootbus London Discovery tickets + Vox City guided walking tours
- Choose from 24, 48 or 72-hr tickets
- Audio guide in 5 languages
- 2 professionally guided walking tours: The Wizard Walk – Harry Potter Walking Guided Tour & The Royals and Landmarks – Walking Guided Tour
London’s Open Top Hop-on, Hop-off Sightseeing Tour Pricing
| Online advance ticket price adult/child/family from… | ||||||||
| Tour | 24-hrs no Cruise | 24 Hrs with Cruise | 48 Hrs no Cruise | 48 Hrs with Cruise | 72 Hrs no Cruise | 72 Hrs with Cruise | London Evening Tour | |
| Tootbus | Adult | £33.15 | £39.10 | £39.10 | £45.05 | £45.05 | £51.00 | £25.50 |
| Child | £19.55 | £22.10 | £23.80 | £26.35 | £28.05 | £30.60 | £17.00 | |
| Family | £85.85 | £100.30 | £102.00 | £116.45 | £119.00 | £132.60 | £68.00 | |
| Big Bus | Adult | £44.00 | £54.00 | £36.00 | ||||
| Child | N/A | £35.00 | N/A | £44.00 | N/A | N/A | £27.00 | |
| Family | £140.50 | £174.00 | £112.50 | |||||
| Golden Tours | Adult | £33.00 | £36.00 | £43.00 | £50.00 | £24.65 | ||
| Child | £19.00 | £22.00 | N/A | £24.00 | N/A | £28.00 | £13.60 | |
| Family | £99.00 | £106.00 | £129.00 | £149 | £66.30 | |||
All the hop-on bus companies have permanently discounted online prices, (compared with walk-up prices) which are between 10 – 15% off.
Prices are seasonal and variable and prices above are based on low season prices. During school holidays prices are typically higher.
To be sure you are getting the best possible price it is advisable to check our prices above against the hop-on bus companies’ websites as they occasionally run sales throughout the year.