London

Buckingham Palace and Vintage Bus Tour of London

London, England

5 hours 30 minutes
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

See London’s highlights by retro double-decker bus, cruise boat, and foot on this half-day tour. Take a seat on a vintage, red Routemaster bus and pass top London sights including Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey. Then, soak in more London landmarks, such as Tower Bridge and the Tower of London, on a Thames River sightseeing cruise. Finally, crown your tour with a visit to magnificent Buckingham Palace. Take an audio tour of the ornate State Rooms, only accessible to the public for two months in the year.

Cruise through London’s street on an iconic Routemaster bus
Enjoy a short boat ride on the Thames River, passing St. Paul’s Cathedral, the Tower of London and more
Explore the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace, which are only open to the public for two months of the year
Plug into an audio guide and learn about Queen Elizabeth II and the British Royal Family

Why Travelers Choose This Tour

Pair city sightseeing with guaranteed entry to Buckingham Palace’s State Rooms, open just two months per year.

What's Included

1960's Vintage bus tour
Thames River cruise
Buckingham Palace The State Rooms
Local guide

Gratuities
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 and Railway station. Tour departs at 7:45am (Boarding starts at 7:30am)

Start time

07:45 AM

End point

Buckingham Palace Road
Buckingham Palace Rd, London SW1, UK

What To Expect

Travel independently to the start point in central London. Meet your expert guide and hop inside your iconic Routemaster bus—one of the vintage, red double-decker buses that are forever associated with England’s capital.

Sit back into your comfortable seat, and have your camera ready for your panoramic tour of top London sights. Journey around the landmark-packed heart of the city, and enjoy great views of such famous monuments as Lord Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey, the latter the setting of the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton in 2011.

Leave your bus at the Thames River, and step on to a comfortable sightseeing boat for a scenic cruise. As you sail, admire London’s skyline. See the massive dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral, and snap photos of Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, and newer city icons such as the London Eye.

Afterward, continue by bus to Buckingham Palace: the official London residence of Britain’s royals since the 19th century. Walk with your guide to the entrance of the palace, a site that’s only open to the public for two months each year. Then, bid your guide goodbye and enter independently as guides are not permitted to accompany you inside.

Show your prebooked ticket, and set off on an audio-guided tour of Queen Elizabeth II’s opulent State Rooms. Admire the glittering chandeliers, sumptuous furnishings and other priceless treasures from the famous Royal Collection, and drink in the rarified atmosphere of the history-stepped rooms and halls.

Your experience ends when you exit Buckingham Palace, leaving you free to continue exploring London independently or to make your own way back to your hotel.

Tower of London (Pass By)

Buckingham Palace

2 hours • Admission Ticket Included

Tower Bridge (Pass By)

St. Paul's Cathedral (Pass By)

Trafalgar Square (Pass By)

Houses of Parliament (Pass By)

Big Ben (Pass By)

Thames River

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

London Eye (Pass By)

Westminster Abbey

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Please note: Eating and drinking are not permitted inside the State Rooms. Photography, video recording and filming including the use of wearable devices for non-commercial purposes are not permitted inside the State Rooms.
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.
Not wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible

Near public transportation
Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
There will be a few hours break after the morning tour and in the afternoon you will be re-joining and visiting Buckingham Palace. Buckingham Palace entry is booked for 14:30.
The tour is not suitable for wheelchair users.
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 50 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.

Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.

Traveler Photos

Reviews

4.0

39 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

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Showing 1-10 of 39 reviews

Great adventure!!

Fred_J, Sep 2023

Our guide was so helpful and informative, and went above and beyond his duties to help us out. We truly enjoyed this adventure!

It was okay

Elizabeth_C, Aug 2023

The tour was okay. Nice to get a layout of the city and take the river cruise. We added Buckingham place to our day. However due to how they schedule we had a 3 hr gap between the bus tour and the palace tour. We had other plans for the afternoon we had to cancel as the booking said a different time. Would have just bought the palace tickets on our own and not wasted time waiting. Can't have guides in the palace anyways it all audio tours.

Great value, great time spent and great fun!

Deborah_H, Aug 2022

What a delightful way to see the sights in London! Our tour guide (older gentleman with silver hair carrying a pink duster) was funny, knowledgeable, and really cared that us tourists went away with a positive view of the city. It also helped that the weather was absolutely PERFECT. The company as a whole seemed pretty well organized based on my dealings with them and watching them in action at the bus station.

Royal

Victoria_W, Aug 2019

A royal day. Changing of the guard was so dramatic. The state rooms just stunning and the river cruise so scenic. Enjoyed the Buckingham cafe for tea and dessert and picked up a darling welsh corgi keyring.

Poor Guide

DAVID_R, Jul 2019

Peter our tour guide kept reminding us how this was his day off and he shouldn’t have taken this shift. Often saying how miserable it was to be there. The cruise was mostly a waste. Seemed very rushed. A group of women did not know they had to tell Peter they were seeing the London Eye after. Peter starting yelling at them telling them they should have told him sooner. He basically told them the best he could do for them was getting off the bus now and walking. After they left, he was putting them down to the tour. Not professional at all. Made several comments that were inappropriate for children. Did not represent tour company well and did not make anyone excited to be there.

Awesome way to get a taste of London

cindyhkraft, Sep 2018

Totally enjoyed our bus tour on Sunday morning. We were able to see so much of London, in a short period of time. The driver was super spectacular, especially when you consider he had to avoid the bike London. We made it on time to the changing of the guards. Most tour groups missed it ,being stuck in traffic. Our guide had the perfect combination of knowledge and humor. We totally enjoyed!!!!

3 in 1 excursion: Perfect combination

Stinalr, Aug 2018

My husband and I had just 2 full days in London so this excursion was perfect for us. Nick our tour guide made the tour even greater with his theatrical input in describing the history of London and its attractions. We only touched the surface on The Tower if London. Very interesting. We will come back and do it on it own. We feel like we got to know London with Nick’s insite and in deapt knowledge about the city and its attractions. The Changing of the Guards and Buckingham Palace was better than I had expected. It is a very Real exoerience being in the staterooms the Queen uses for visits by head of state and other important events like giving out medals of honors, Garden Parties etc.

Well organised tour, perfect way to...

angela-norris, Dec 2017

Well organised tour, perfect way to see the sights from the top of a double decker bus! It was great to hop on and off the bus to see the sights. The tour guide told various stories on and off the bus and on the river cruise on the Thames: a fascinating way to see London - Westminster, bridges galore, buildings old and new. Fantastic. Buckingham Palace was a highlight - the architecture, the paintings, the ceilings, the carpets, the opportunity to walk through the royal rooms, seeing gifts presented to The Queen during her reign. Highly recommend this tour.

Bus experience was awesome. Kevin...

James J, Oct 2017

Bus experience was awesome. Kevin drove that big bus like it was a mini-car and Mark ? our Scottish guide provided everything we wanted/needed to know about London !

Excellent tour! Covered lots of...

HEATHER S, Oct 2017

Excellent tour! Covered lots of sites. Our guide was very knowledgeable! The only thing I didn't like was being rushed into Buckingham Palace at the end of the tour. It was a half day tour and it would have been nice to have just received the passes and then gone in after some lunch!

We had a fantastic tour. Excellent...

AILEEN C, Aug 2017

We had a fantastic tour. Excellent tour of the sights of London with a brilliant tour guide. Getting to see the Changing of the Guard was fun and carried out with military procession enabling us to witness three different aspects of it. Couldn't quite believe how lovely the boat was for the river cruise - after which we were transferred to Buckingham Palace and ushered straight to the entrance effortlessly - we then enjoyed a visit to the State Rooms. Really enjoyed the whole tour experience and excellent value for money. Special thanks to our guide.

This tour didn't start too but as...

Deb F, Aug 2017

This tour didn't start too but as the day went along things improved significantly, our guide was pretty good giving us interesting tidbits along the way. The cruise was wonderful and Buckingham Palace was amazing.

Excellent tour and real WFM. We had...

Kwojdat, Aug 2017

Excellent tour and real WFM. We had an Irish tour guide don't remember his name but he was fantastic! Very knowledgable and witty! Would recommend it!

Brilliant trip, well worth the...

VIOLET T, Aug 2017

Brilliant trip, well worth the money. One point to be improved .......... instructions told us to go to Bay 0 .......... we had to go to Bay 19 All very confusing early in the morning. Had to ask numerous people where to go to get the bus before being directed to Bay 19! very stressful way to start the day .......... Please get tour operator to improve this detail, we were not the only people asking where had to go!

Great tour by our guide Alan. He was...

Scott S, Oct 2016

Great tour by our guide Alan. He was witty and knowledgeable. The nice thing about this tour is that it was early, and you really avoid the crowds. Once the day progressed, you could see the masses of people out trying to see the same things we visited earlier. The Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace was nice to see.

The buckingham palace part of the...

kathleens_k, Oct 2016

The buckingham palace part of the tour was great. But I don't think the bus tour of the city and the river Thames ride was very good. Suggest adding in a visit to see the London bridge at the same time since we stopped for 30 minutes close by.

Tou is Ok however there is too much...

ELSIEM_W, Oct 2016

Tou is Ok however there is too much to do to force visitors to rush during the morning in order to reach the Buckingham Palace at noon.

Another fantastic tour and great...

Dianne S, Sep 2016

Another fantastic tour and great guide, excellent value and a good look at some of London's Iconic landmarks, A great little trip up the river.

Tour bus was great and time in...

SAM P, Sep 2016

Tour bus was great and time in Buckingham Palace on our own worked out.

Fantastic! Excellent tour guide and...

ROSALIE F, Aug 2016

Fantastic! Excellent tour guide and fabulous tour. Worth every penny. Highly recommend.