Open-top buses run to a fixed route on a fixed timetable, with forty strangers and a recorded commentary. Private minibus tours London visitors book with us work the other way round. You give us the list of what you'd like to see, and we plan the day around it, with a driver and a vehicle that stay with your group and stop where you want to stop.
What a private tour with us looks like
The day starts at your hotel, home or cruise terminal. The driver takes you to the places on your list, in an order that makes sense for the traffic and the time of day, and waits while you look around.
Some groups want a quick look at as much as possible. Others want two or three places and time to explore each one. Both work. Tell us what you'd like and how long you've got, and we'll suggest a plan. Half-day tours of four or five hours suit families with young children or visitors on a tight schedule. A full day gives time for a proper lunch and a museum or two.
The driver isn't a tour guide. For a guided tour, we can arrange for a qualified guide to join you, or you can bring your own.
Private minibus tours London visitors put together
The classic London day covers the sights most people know from photos. The Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey. Buckingham Palace. Trafalgar Square. St Paul's. The Tower of London and Tower Bridge. Covering all of those in a day is possible, but most of them involve a walk from wherever the vehicle can stop.
Other groups want something more specific. A Harry Potter day with the Warner Bros. Studio Tour at Leavesden and a few London filming locations. A Beatles morning with Abbey Road and the West End. A royal day with Buckingham Palace and Windsor. A day around the East End's markets and street art. We'll plan the route around whatever the theme is, and suggest a lunch stop that fits the day.
For views, Primrose Hill, Greenwich Park and the free viewing galleries in the City are all worth a stop, though some need booking ahead.
Booking ahead matters for the big attractions. Many have timed entry slots. Book those first, then give us the times, and we'll plan the day around them.
Adding a guide
London's Blue Badge guides are qualified tourist guides with deep knowledge of the city. If you'd like a guide to join the tour, we can help arrange one, or you can book your own.
A guide changes the day, especially for first-time visitors. They can take you inside the Tower or Westminster Abbey, explain what you're looking at and pace the day for the group. The driver handles the vehicle and the stops.
Stopping near the sights
Central London is strict about where vehicles stop. Around Parliament Square, Buckingham Palace and the Tower, most roads are red routes or have strict controls, and minibuses can only stop briefly in set places.
So most tours have a pattern. The driver drops you at a set point, you walk to the sight, and the driver waits nearby or comes back at an agreed time. For some sights, walking between two or three of them is quicker than driving, and the driver will meet you at the far end.
Changing the guard at Buckingham Palace draws big crowds on the mornings it happens, and the roads around the palace get busy. If it's on your list, check the day's schedule and give yourselves time to walk in from the drop-off.
Early mornings and Sundays are the easiest times for a tour. The roads are quieter, the stopping places are freer, and the crowds at the big sights haven't arrived yet.
If anyone in the group has limited mobility, tell us when you book. We'll plan the drop-off points to keep walking to a minimum.
Tours outside London
Plenty of tours head out of London. Windsor is about an hour away and makes a good half day. Stonehenge and Bath together make a long full day. Oxford and the Cotswolds are another popular pairing. Canterbury and Leeds Castle in Kent work well together too, and Cambridge with Ely makes a quieter alternative.
For trips like these, drivers' hours shape the day, and so does traffic on the way back into London in the early evening. A very long tour with a late return may need careful timing or a second driver. We'll plan it within the rules when we quote.
Families, cruise passengers and small groups
Families visiting London book private tours to see the sights without dragging small children around on public transport. Cruise passengers use them on the day before or after a cruise, with luggage on board and a drop at the hotel or the port at the end.
Small groups of friends, visiting colleagues and school groups from abroad book them too. Corporate hosts use them to show visiting clients around between meetings, often finishing at a restaurant or a hotel. For overseas visitors, a single vehicle and driver for the day takes away the stress of a city they don't know.
Evening tours of London's lights are popular in the winter months. An hour or two after dark, past the river and the West End, ending at a restaurant for dinner. For families with young children, tell us if you need car seats.
For a private tour of London, call 020 7183 0567.