If you don’t want to pay for a sightseeing tour, then try a do-it-yourself version with some of the local buses. You won’t have the benefit of a guide or recorded commentary and it’s not easy to replicate the routes followed by the hop-on hop-off bus tours, but take along a decent map and simple guidebook and you should be fine.
A weekly or monthly Travelcard for any zone gives unlimited travel on all London buses for the whole of London. If you don’t have a Travelcard, get a Pay as you go Oyster card or use a contactless credit/debit card — the maximum charge for travel by the bus for the whole day is £5.25. Or you can buy a bus pass for £5.90.
Cash is not accepted on London buses. See Bus tickets & passes for more information on how to pay for travel on London buses.
You see something of interest on most bus routes in central London but the following routes pass some of the major sights:
Bus number 9 from Trafalgar Square to High St Kensington
Departure point:
Bus stop S on Cockspur St,on the south side of Trafalgar Square
Route:
- Pall Mall
- Green Park
- Hyde Park Corner (for Apsley House & Hyde Park)
- Knightsbridge (for Harrods)
- Exhibition Rd (for The Serpentine and the Serpentine Gallery)
- Kensington Gore (for the Royal Albert Hall & Albert Memorial)
- Palace Gate (for Kensington Palace & Kensington Gardens)
- High St Kensington (The bus continues to Hammersmith station)
Journey time:
Approximately 25-35 minutes.
View number 9 bus route.
Bus number 15 from Trafalgar Square to the Tower of London
The route takes you from the West End, through the City of London to the Tower of London. Get off at St Paul’s Churchyard to walk over the Millennium Bridge to the tate Modern.
Departure point:
Bus Stop F on The Strand.
Route:
- Trafalgar Square (for the National Gallery & National Portrait Gallery)
- Southampton St (for Covent Garden, London Transport Museum)
- Fleet St (for Temple Church)
- St Paul’s Churchyard (for St Paul’s Cathedral, the Museum of London, the Millennium Bridge and Tate Modern)
- Monument
- Tower of London (for Tower Bridge)
Journey time:
Approximately 25-45 minutes.
View number 15 bus route
Routemaster buses – Heritage route
The old-style Routemaster bus service on routes 9 & 15 has now been withdrawn.
Last checked: 11 April 2023