The two open-top London night bus tours compared on price, departure points, group size and languages, with the winter and summer timetables in full.
An open-top double-decker, roof off, running a continuous ninety-minute circuit of the floodlit centre with a guide talking as it goes. It does not stop. You board at a central departure point, you sit down, and the whole of Westminster, the City and the river goes past you before you are set down where you started.
Two operators run this in London and both leave in the early evening. It is the widest sweep of the city available at any price in an hour and a half, and at $39 to $42 a seat it is also the cheapest way to cover that much ground.
Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, the London Eye, St Paul's, the Tower and Tower Bridge are all on the circuit, and one route adds Knightsbridge, Harrods and the Royal Albert Hall on the way back. Nothing that stops covers that much in the time.
London's landmarks are tall and lit from below, and a window cuts the top off all of them. From the upper deck you are looking up at floodlit stone with nothing between you and it, which is an experience the enclosed lower deck cannot reproduce.
No pickup radius, no meeting-point confusion, no route to agree. Choose a stop, turn up ten minutes early, sit down. On a first evening in an unfamiliar city that counts for more than it sounds.
Both routes carry a live English-speaking guide, and one offers recorded audio in twelve languages alongside. Travellers name their guides in the feedback for both, which on a shared departure of sixty or more is not a given.
The two formats that dominate this market, and the choice between them is arithmetic rather than taste. A bus sells you a seat; a cab sells you the vehicle.
| Open-top bus | Private black cab | Ghost or Ripper walk | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $39–$42 per person | $356–$633 per vehicle | $27–$31 per person |
| Length | 1 hour 30 | 2–4 hours | 1h 45–2h 30 |
| Stops | None | Wherever you ask | On foot throughout |
| Pickup | You go to the stop | From your hotel | You go to the meeting point |
| Covers | The whole floodlit centre | The whole centre, slowly | One district, in depth |
| Warm? | Not upstairs | Yes | You are walking |
| Accessible | Neither route is | All of them are | One of the two walks is |
At two people the bus wins comfortably. At four the numbers converge. At six the cab is cheaper per head and four times longer. The cost guide works it through in full.
You get: ninety minutes on an open top deck, a live guide subject to availability, audio in twelve languages on one route, and a return to your departure point.
You do not get: a single stop. Neither route lets you get off and rejoin — this is not a hop-on hop-off ticket and one listing says so plainly. You also do not get hotel pickup, food, drink, or warmth on the upper deck.
Gratuities sit outside the fare on both. Nothing here includes admission to a building, because every building on the route is shut by the time the bus leaves.
Departures run at 7.30pm and 9.20pm from October to March, and six times a night between 7.30pm and 10.15pm from April to September. Neither route runs on 25 or 31 December on one operator's own timetable.
Book two to five days ahead in summer and through December; midweek in the quieter months you can often book the same afternoon. Both refund in full up to 24 hours before departure.
Dress for a moving vehicle rather than for a walk. The single commonest criticism in the feedback on both routes is the cold on the upper deck, and it is entirely fixed by a hat and one more layer. What to expect covers the rest of the evening.
If you want to get out and stand in front of things. The bus does not stop, and no amount of choosing the right route changes that. A private black cab stops wherever you ask it to.
If you need step-free access. Both routes state that they are not wheelchair accessible. The black cab tours describe the vehicle, the surfaces and the transport as accessible, and one carries infant seats.
If you are visiting between May and July. Both operators say in their own small print that summer departures run mainly in daylight. Take the last bus of the night or come in another season — the darkness table has the months.
If you want a story rather than a skyline. The walking tours are cheaper, longer and about one subject. London by night open top bus tour lists everything.
Between $39 and $42 a seat depending on the route, with reduced child rates published on both. That is the cheapest way to cover the whole floodlit centre in one evening. Neither price includes admission to anything, because nothing on the route is open.
No. Both routes run a single continuous circuit and one states plainly that you cannot hop on and hop off. The seat you take at the start is the seat you keep until you are returned to your departure point.
At 7.30pm and 9.20pm from October to March, and six times between 7.30pm and 10.15pm from April to September. In summer take the latest departure available, because the earlier ones run in daylight.
Yes on both routes, listed as subject to availability on one, with audio guides in twelve languages as the alternative there. Travellers name their guides in the feedback for both routes.
Colder than the air temperature, because the bus is moving and you are sitting still. In December treat it as several degrees below whatever your phone says. A hat and gloves solve it completely.
Neither route is, and both say so. If step-free access is needed, the private black cab tours describe the vehicle and the surfaces as wheelchair accessible and reach the same landmarks.
One leaves from a signed stop at Green Park beside the Ritz, which is not the station exit. The other offers several central departure points chosen when you book. Both return you to where you boarded.
Yes, and the lower deck is enclosed if the weather turns. Every departure refunds in full up to 24 hours ahead if you would rather not risk it.
Every departure of this kind, with the operator's own rating, review count and starting price. London Night Tours lists the rest.
Several central departure points to choose from, a live guide on board and audio in twelve languages. Fifteen of the ninety minutes run alongside the London Eye.
From $39 per person
Leaves Green Park beside the Ritz and swings out through Knightsbridge for Harrods on the way back. Two departures a night in winter, six in summer.
From $42 per person
From $247 per person