HELP!!! London tour suggestions

[Larrydano]

Help-I'm quickly running out of time!!!

We will be 4 people visiting London prior to a Transatalntic cruise on the QM2.

We would like to go on a one day tour of London on Sunday 5/28/06, preferably a private car tour with a tour guide/driver for just the four of us.

I tried "Harry" and he is booked thru July.

Any suggestions/experience with a specific tour Guide or company?

 

Larry

[Globaliser]

Is everyone capable of walking? Why not tour London yourself? Most people do.

[cberge]

I agree with Globaliser(as usual)..you can walk to a lot of the sights.However,that being said I always tell people about the Hop/On bus tours..they are fun and informative IMHO and you can stay on the whole route see it all or get off where you want.There are several to chose from and I always say to look at the routes that are best for you as the commentary is about the same although one of them has live commentary(which can be really funny at times).You really don't see much from a car and the Hop/on are really good.If you insist ona car/guide..when youget to London I am sure your hotel can help you or you can check out Evans and Evans to see if they do private tours.

[tinkerme1]

CALL Malcolm (head of operations) at : http://www.airporttransfers.biz

 

He runs a car-for-hire service and may have some suggestions for you for the day! His hired help is wonderful and they all know London very well.

 

You should also check into Evans-Evans Tour bus company. Yes, I know that it is a bus, but they do excellent tours which are almost like private tours. We did a tour with them to Canterbury, Dover, Leeds Castle. Included tea at a very lovely tavern and lunch in Canterbury. We highly recommend this company! They do tours in London proper and 1/2 day and full day tours as well. Check out their website! http://www.evanevans.co.uk/output/full_day/page_54.html

[Nickwolf]

I second the suggestion of using the Hop On/Hop Off buses.

 

The ones with the live commentary are very good and when I did one in November last year it also included a 30-45 minute river cruise from Tower Bridge to Westminster (or vice versa). The commentary on the river cruise was hysterical (as well as informative)

 

I would very much doubt a car tour would have the same sights due to the height of the vehicle or flexibility (if I remember correctly there were 3 routes and you could get off at any of dozens of stops to have a better look if you wanted).

 

It all means nothing of course if you have anyone in your party who would have difficulty using a bus.

 

HERE is the link to the company I used.

 

Nick.

[Casshew]

I have a tour booked with this company

 

http://www.guidelinestobritain.com/tours.htm

 

They take a good day to reply to email, so put *Urgent* in your Re: line if you write them.

[K D cruiser]

Nickwolf, There are two double decker hop on, hop off bus tours. the Big Bus Company which you mentioned and The Original London Sightseeing Tour. It looks like they both go to about the same places and the prices are about the sme. Also, they both include a free river cruise.

 

Is one better than the other or does it really matter? They both provide live narration. I was just wondering which is best. Thanks for any information.

[cberge]

Nickwolf, There are two double decker hop on, hop off bus tours. the Big Bus Company which you mentioned and The Original London Sightseeing Tour. It looks like they both go to about the same places and the prices are about the sme. Also, they both include a free river cruise.

 

Is one better than the other or does it really matter? They both provide live narration. I was just wondering which is best. Thanks for any information.

 

I am not Nick,but I have done them both over the years and OLST used to be the only one that was live,but I am going to guess they are both just as good.It's the way they do the commentary that can make or break the tour as some of them are really just so funny,but whichever one you choose I am sure you will be fine. I am sure Nick will responfd too. No matter what...enjoy your stay in London:D

[Nickwolf]

I would agree that they are probably as good as each other.

 

I think they often have some kind of special deal on and I would use that to choose which one I would use.

 

Nick.

[chasetf]

I would agree that they are probably as good as each other. I think they often have some kind of special deal on and I would use that to choose which one I would use. Nick.

We did the Big Bus Company and really enjoyed it. They had a two day ticket that was a good buy (which we did).

 

Other pluses were: The ticket include a Thames River "cruise". We were able to also buy major attraction tickets (like Tower of London) which allowed us to go to the head of the line. :D