London Sightseeing Tips

Full-day guided tours of London, at around £80 per adult, are too expensive for most budget visitors. However, there are plenty of other ways to see London’s highlights that don’t cost the price of a cheap hotel room.

Here are some suggestions on affordable ways to see London’s main sights:

London hop-on hop-off bus tours

A cheaper alternative to a full-guided day tour is a double decker bus tour. A good option if you’re in London for a short period and want a quick way to get your bearings and see the sights. Take advantage of the free walking tours and river boat trip to get your money’s worth.
Find out more about Hop-on Hop-off bus tours

See the sights on a local London bus

For serious money-savers, try a do-it-yourself tour on an ordinary London bus. You’ll miss out on a guide but arm yourself with a map and guidebook and you’ll save £££’s.
Find out more about sightseeing by London bus

London guided walking tours

See London on foot with a guided walking tour of London. Our pick of the top three walking tour companies who offer 1 1/2–2 hour London walks for £5–8 per adult.
Find out more about guided walking tours

London self-guided walks

One of the best ways to get an overview of London is to walk the Jubilee Walkway, a self-guided walking route which passes all the main sights in central London.
Find out more about the Jubilee Walkway

River Thames boat trips

A trip on the Thames is a popular way to see London. You don’t have to take one of the tourist boats. The Thames Clipper commuter catamarans are a cheap way to see the sights from the water.
Find out more about Thames riverboat trips

London sightseeing by taxi

Taxis are the most expensive way of travelling around London, but if you’re in a group 4 or 5 a 40-minute trip around London can work out cheaper than a sightseeing tour.
Find out more about sightseeing by taxi