How to take a London bus

You don't have to use only the Underground to get round London. I'll show you the best way of seeing London virtually for free: from an ordinary, normal, London bus.

LONDON BUSES

The traditional London red doubledecker bus may look like it’s only designed to be pretty but it hasn’t. It’s practical and inexpensive for travelers to use, and definitely worth a try at least once. In fact, once you’ve cracked it, it’s a joyous way to travel. How come?

Firstly: it’s cheap.

It's only £1 a journey if you have a pay as you go oyster card. The tube's at least £1.60.

Secondly: You get to see the capital.

You get to actually see London. On the tube, it’s hard to get any sense of how one place relates to another, because you’re always scuttling underground to go to the next place. On the bus you get to see it all. And – if you sit and listen to a busy bus – you’ll here the babel of a hundred foreign voices, showing what a melting pot London is. Plus you can hop on and off if something interesting takes your fancy.

So how do I use it?

The network is massive, and although the maps look like someone’s plastered multi-colored spaghetti over a gleaming white plate, it’s actually quite easy to use. Generally buses are fast, frequent and reliable.

Step 1 – find a bus stop

Look at the picture on the left. The red circle tells you it’s a bus stop and the numbers on the sign show which routes stop here. Be aware that buses  – like everything else here – are busier and slower during rush hour, particularly before 0930.

Step 2 – Find your destination

Look on the bus shelter; there’ll be a list of destinations. Find your destination and look what routes serve it. [If you want to see about routes in advance then post your browser over to Transport for London's Journeyplanner. It's free and will give you the best way to get to and from any part of London. You can get general bus maps there too, though there are too many of them to be much use.]

Step 3 – Find the stop your bus goes from

On the list of destinations, right by where your destination is listed there’ll be small letters, like A or D. These represent the bus stops where buses on the route you want actually stop. There's a spidery map by the list of destinations. In the middle of it is a local map showing where the nearby stops are – they’ll be within a hundred yards or so. On the top of each individual stop is the relevant letter. (Orientate yourself by working out which bus stop you’re reading the map at – it too will have a letter, you just need to step back away from the map and look up.)

Step 4. Wait at your stop & see how long your journey will be

Having walked to the right stop, there’s now a separate useful poster telling you where each route goes, how long it takes between stops and what the stops are. It also says how frequently they run, usually about every eight to ten minutes or so. Take a look how long it will take you to get to your destination.

Step 5. Board your bus

Having found out the route number you simply wave your arm at the driver of the correct bus when you see it coming along. The route number will be written on the front.
You get on and pay the driver £2 in cash, or even easier, touch your Pay as you Go oystercard on the reader. It will only cost you £1 by Oyster Pay As You Go, no matter how far you go. If you insist on paying by cash they do give change but they’ll get very surly if you hand them a big note! If you’ve got a travelcard – on paper or on Oyster – then all buses are free, just flash it at the driver!

If you’re not totally sure that you’ve got the right bus, ask the driver as you get on – they’re very used to this. There are so many bus routes in London that they get asked all the time. I’ve been living in London for years and I do this a lot: they never mind.

 

Step 6: Once on board the bus

Once aboard, try and climb up to the top deck if it’s a double-decker bus – you get a whole different perspective on London from up here. Keep looking out of the window – and see London life! Keep an eye too on the street signs. At every bus stop your vehicle stops at you’ll be able to see out of the window the name of that stop, so you should be able to work out easily where you are so you should know when to get off. Some of the newer buses even tell you in a computer voice where you are at any given time.

Step 7: Time to get off.

Once you think you’re nearing your destination, press one of the buttons which say 'stop' on them. The driver will stop at the next stop – make your way to near the exit but keep holding on tight as the buses can start and stop quickly and sometimes people can fall over if they’re not holding on.

NB: Unlike the tube, if you're using an Oystercard you don't have to 'touch out' of your journey when you use the bus. You simply 'touch on' as you get on and then walk off when you want to get off.

Step 8: You're there!

You're (hopefully) at your destination! Now I know all of that sounds complicated but I’ve tried to write everything you need to know. Take your cue from everyone else and if you get stuck just ask someone, they’ll be happy to help. It's easy, promise!

If you’ve gone wrong

Buses are really frequent so if you’ve gone too far just cross the road and get the same number bus back the way you came. On most bus stops there’s a mini map of the area which is really helpful too.

Which buses are good to take?

Some popular bus routes to try for fun would be the 453 from Waterloo to Marylebone – this passes Madam Tussards, Sherlock Holmes’ house, Oxford Circus, Regent Street, Trafalgar square before going across the Thames where you’re near the London Eye and South Bank.

The RV1 is good too – from the Tower of London past London Bridge, Tate modern and across the thames to Covent Garden. Or the reverse route, starting in Covent Garden.

But to be frank London is so packed with history and so vibrant today as a world city then you can pretty much catch any bus and see something that will confuse, astound or delight. That's the joy of travel, after all.

If you’re partying late into the night – after the tube shuts down at about 0100 – buses with an ‘N’ in front of the number run through the night hours. (see the maps here)

So definitely take the bus at least once – a cheap and fun way to see London.

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What about taking a scheduled bus tour? Is it worth it?

There is of course also the option of taking a guiding bus tour: they show you the main sites with a recorded or live guide, some even include a river trip. So they’re good for convenience… but I wouldn’t recommend them.  They’re freezing in the winter and crowded in the summer but more importantly they’re hugely, cripplingly expensive. Big Bus Company and Original Bus Tours are the two to choose from: despite their claims to the contrary both companies offer a very similar service. It all just seems bad value for money to me.

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This guide was last updated in Autumn/Fall 2010 and is updated every six months