The Big Bus Tours Red Route in London is a hop-on, hop-off service covering major central landmarks in approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes. Key stops include Green Park, Hard Rock Cafe (Piccadilly), Queen Mother Gates (Park Lane), Marble Arch, Regent Street, Piccadilly Circus, Haymarket, and Trafalgar Square.
The network of major roads we manage - red routes - make up 5% of London's roads, but carry up to 30% of the city's traffic. Red routes help reduce congestion and ensure crucial deliveries and journeys can be made safely to keep the city moving.
London buses are all cashless, so you need an Oyster card, Travelcard or contactless payment card to ride. The bus fare in London is £1.75, and a day of bus-only travel will cost a maximum of £5.25. You can make unlimited free transfers to other buses and trams within one hour of touching in for your first journey.
How long is the tour? The Red Route lasts approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes, with buses departing every 10 to 20 minutes. The Blue Route lasts about 3 hours and 20 minutes, with buses running every 10 to 20 minutes. The Green Route lasts about 1 hour, with buses running every 20 minutes.
Before You Book a London Hop On Hop Off Bus Tour, Watch this First!
What is the 1 hour bus rule in London?
London's "1 hour rule" refers to the Hopper Fare, which allows unlimited bus and tram journeys for a single £1.75 fare within one hour of your first tap-in, using the same contactless or Oyster card. It means you can switch between buses and trams as much as you like, even linking with the Tube or DLR (though the main benefit is bus/tram hopping), without paying again, provided your subsequent taps are within 60 minutes of the initial touch.
London buses are 100% cashless and the most common way to pay is via contactless card. If you have the kind of card that doesn't charge any commission for using another currency, then this will be the easiest way to pay.
Buses 11, 211, C1, and C10 stop near Buckingham Palace. Get off at the Wilton Street bus stop and walk to the entrance. It is just a 3-min walk. For further information, visit the Transport for London website.
A red route is a Clearway where a vehicle cannot stop. Unlike an Urban Clearway, a Red Route prohibition applies to the footway and verge as well as the carriageway and does not include any signed and marked lay-bys or bays.
Scope. The local bus network in London is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. As of March 2024, 8,797 buses operate on over 670 different routes.
Freedom Pass is a concessionary travel scheme, which began in 1973, to provide free travel to residents of Greater London, England, for people with a disability or over the progressively increasing state pension age (60 for women in 2010, increased to 66 for everybody until about 2026, then increasing further).
Freedom Pass. Providing Londoners over the age of 66 and those with eligible disabilities free public transport across the capital and on local buses across England.
The Crown Jewels is a definite must-see – it's home to an impressive collection of diamond-encrusted state crowns alongside many other precious treasures, from historic gold chalices to royal robes.
When taking a bus tour, you are bound by the tour's timetable rather than your own. This might mean that you're traveling too quickly or that you're waiting on others. To keep up with the timetable, you're often obliged to rush or forgo things entirely. This can be a significant disadvantage.
