Has anyone ever done one of these and are they worth it? The family of five of us are coming over the end of June and staying outside London. As 2 of our kids are young (5 & 8) my wife is keen that we do our sightseeing in London by taking a hop on/hop off bus. She would prefer to avoid the tube as much as possible and walking too much between the sights. Its expensive for five of us but probably a good idea I think. I would be interested in the experiences of others.
Done that years ago & it was good providing you picked the right with weather, open top buses are cool enjoy.
I did the 'Original Tour' last year with my family and we all had a great time. You have a choice of 3 routes and also get a river cruise between Westminster and Tower included.
I haven't done the London one Ciarrai, but I have done it in Dublin and Belfast. It all depends on your kids, cities are very tiring places for young kids and generally adults over estimate what you can fit into a day. We managed one (!) trip with our Dublin tour and 2 in Belfast. The problem is, as I'm sure you well know, the kids get bored really quickly just sitting there looking at things no matter how interesting they appear to adults. My philosophy with kids now is to pick just one good place to go in a day and explore it to the full. My kids are aged between 4 and eight and there are four of them so we are hopelessly outnumbered, so perhaps different from your situation.
Much better just to hop on and off red buses IMO but if you must do a tour do this: http://www.londonducktours.co.uk/
I agree with this. Buy a one day travelcard and jump on any bus/tube/train you like. You also get a discount at one of the river cruise booth's down at Westminster pier. If you do a river cruise, I would just go as far as Tower Bridge. If you get off there, you have the Tower of London and HMS Belfast. You might fancy going to Greenwich but the journey between Tower Bridge is not very interesting. I definitely recommend the river cruise and bring your camera. PS, with young kids, I wouldn't bother with the London Eye. You queue for ages and then the kids find it very boring. That was my experience.
Wholeheartedly echo QPAAAAAGH, the Duck Tour is great. The standard sightseeing buses are good though and will pass all the important sights without you having to resort to bus maps to sort out your own route.
I've never done the London tour, but did do a similar one in Cambridge and it was well worth the money, thoroughly enjoyed it. Especially being able to get on and off as you please.
Done it a few years ago. Was very good, especially the boat trip up to Greenwich. Stalled it in Greenwich for a bit and checked out the old ship there but I think someone told me a couple of years later that some chavs put a torch to it?
The 'Cutty Sark' was torched but has been completely restored to it's former glory. The River cruises are excellent as are the bus tours, this company does both... http://www.bigbustours.com/eng/lond...tseeing_tour&gclid=CI7XrvzQ5rYCFYXItAodkkgAFg
Loved the Duck Tour too. It's a revamped WW2 amphibious craft that takes you round central London and then - wait for it... straight into the river! Blinding on a stormy day! Tour starts at the London Eye - so combined tickets makes a fantastic afternoon imo.
Is that another idea you "pommies" have stolen from us then .. http://www.aquaduck.com.au/ Agree with the other posters, get a bus/train day pass. i used to work at London Dungeons, London Eye & Cheesington (all Merlin group) on the engineering side. People expected to get off the bus and whizz around the attractions in an hour. In reality it takes about 2-3 hours to "do" each one so you're only going to get maybe 2-3 in a day whne you factor in waitng for bus, food breaks, entry queue's etc. You'd be better off picking a 4/5 of them and doing it over a couple of days. you can then change plans depending on weather, queues, kids etc. Have a great time PS..Highlight of my job was meeting Forrest Whittaker & his daughter at London Dungeons!
Don't know if this has been mentioned but you can pre-book a time slot on most of the major attractions which may help stop the kids getting bored witless. I have also heard the 'duck tours' are brilliant. Enjoy your stay.
