Buckingham Palace: An Exclusive Tour with Thames River Cruise and Vintage Routemaster Bus
4.1
40 Ratings
Greater London
Embark on an exclusive tour of Buckingham Palace, accompanied by a Thames River cruise and a vintage Routemaster bus ride. Explore London's iconic landmarks and enjoy a rare audio tour of the state rooms, only available for two months each year. Don't miss the special Coronation display this summer!
Duration:
5 hours, 30 minutes
Cancellation:
1 day
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Highlights
- Tower of London - The UK’s Oldest occupied Royal Palace and Fortress. Home to the ‘Beefeaters’ and the Crown Jewels.
- Buckingham Palace - The London Residence of her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
- Tower Bridge - Cross the iconic bridge that has spanned the iver Thames since 1894
- St. Paul’s Cathedral - Sir Christopher Wren’s masterpiece in the heart of the City of London
- Trafalgar Square - Home to Nelson’s column and the beautiful fountains.
- Houses of Parliament - Home to the house of Commons and the House of Lords
- Big Ben - St George’s clock tower which houses the world famous bell Big Ben.
- Thames River - Enjoy a boat cruise on the river Thames from the Tower of London.
- London Eye - See the incredible London eye overlooking the river Thames and the houses of Parliament
- Westminster Abbey - Have a photo stop outside Westminster Abbey
What's Included
- Cruise along the Thames River
- Visit the State Rooms of Buckingham Palace
- Tour with a knowledgeable local guide
- Experience London on a 1960’s vintage bus tour
What's Not Included
- Gratuities
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
Additional Information
Embark on a comprehensive half-day voyage across London, exploring its marvels by bus, boat, and on foot. Take a delightful ride in the iconic Routemaster bus, traversing the city to witness landmarks like Big Ben and Trafalgar Square. Follow this up with a scenic Thames River boat ride to soak in the breathtaking view of London’s skyline from the water. The tour culminates with a visit to Buckingham Palace, the London abode and administrative hub of Queen Elizabeth II. With an advance purchase ticket, you’ll be given an auditory tour of the state rooms, an opportunity open only two months in a year to the public. Within these rooms, visitors can admire the exquisite grandeur that is frequently utilized by the Royal Family for state functions, official entertainment, and ceremonies.
Exclusive exhibit at Buckingham Palace this summer: The coronation attire of King Charles III and Queen Camilla will be displayed.
- Please note: Eating and drinking are not permitted inside the State Rooms. Photography, video recording and filming including the use of wearable devices for non-commercial purposes are not permitted inside the State Rooms.
- Please note: this is an open top bus tour, please be prepared for the possibility of rain. On rare occasions the open top bus may be changed to a closed top bus.
- There will be a few hours break after the morning tour and in the afternoon you will be re-joining and visiting Buckingham Palace. Buckingham Palace entry is booked for 14:30.
- The tour is not suitable for wheelchair users.
Location
Victoria Coach Station
Buckingham Palace Road
Located on 164 Buckingham Palace Road, Victoria, London, SW1W 9TP, approximately 7 minute walk from Victoria Underground and Railway station. Tour departs at 7:45am (Boarding starts at 7:30am)
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.1
(40 Ratings)
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Shreyas2912345
May 11, 2024
Wonderful guidance - Wonderful tour with a great detail of every location and the bus was equally comfortable . Our guide Steve was cordial guide and we enjoyed his articulation style
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Fred_j
Sep 28, 2023
Great adventure!! - Our guide was so helpful and informative, and went above and beyond his duties to help us out. We truly enjoyed this adventure!
Review provided by Viator
Jessyblooms
May 16, 2023
Be In London - Experience London's main attractions in just a few hours with our excellent tour. Our knowledgeable and entertaining guide brought the city to life, making it enjoyable for the whole family. You'll even get a unique view of London's landmarks during a Thames boat ride. The highlight was the spectacular Changing of the Guard, enhanced by our guide's informative commentary for all to hear. Don't miss out on this must-see London adventure.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Deborah_h
Aug 7, 2022
Great value, great time spent and great fun! - What a delightful way to see the sights in London! Our tour guide (older gentleman with silver hair carrying a pink duster) was funny, knowledgeable, and really cared that us tourists went away with a positive view of the city. It also helped that the weather was absolutely PERFECT. The company as a whole seemed pretty well organized based on my dealings with them and watching them in action at the bus station.
Review provided by Viator
Christianafox
Jul 27, 2021
Truly Amazing! - Derek the guide and Jermaine the driver were absolutely amazing start to finish. Derek is so lovely and knowledgeable and you can totally tell his heart is into this tour from start to finish. Loads of photos taken that you would never just stumble across locations. We also went on Jack the ripper tour same evening with Derek as our guide...amazing bloke! Thanks so much.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Victoria_w
Aug 13, 2019
Royal - A royal day. Changing of the guard was so dramatic. The state rooms just stunning and the river cruise so scenic. Enjoyed the Buckingham cafe for tea and dessert and picked up a darling welsh corgi keyring.
Review provided by Viator
Annette
Aug 10, 2019
Fantastic value - I can thoroughly recommend this tour and the team Sinhead being the tour guide were fantastic .Sinhead knew so much about every place we visited her knowledge of our history and the Royal guards was second to none .
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jesse1020
Sep 24, 2023
Tour was just OK - Vintage bus was cute. Open top which affords great view but very cold so dress accordingly.
It was difficult to hear the tour director so we missed a lot of what he was telling us. They seemed unorganized, for instance after we checked in and were on the bus, I got a call from someone asking if we were still coming on the tour. The tour guide didn’t mark our names off of the list.
During the tour he kept saying he didn’t know what the driver was doing. Not sure if it was a joke or the driver was taking detours.
We got to the Tower of London and you don’t actually get to go in. They told us to take a coffee break and meet back but then we had to wait about 30 minutes to get on the boat.
Then they stopped for some horse thing about 11:30 and told us if we were doing the Buckingham Palace tour to meet at the queens gallery at 2:30. Weird to have a 3 hour break in the middle. They told us to be there at 2:15 for the 2:30 tour. At 2:45 when nobody showed up, we had to call and they just said oh he will be there in 5 minutes. He walked us to the gate and then left us on our own. Not sure why we had to wait 35 minutes for that.
Anyway despite the above mentioned annoyances we did get to see a bit of London, the river part and the Palace were nice. Overall OK tour. We just think they could do better.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Elizabeth_c
Aug 31, 2023
It was okay - The tour was okay. Nice to get a layout of the city and take the river cruise. We added Buckingham place to our day. However due to how they schedule we had a 3 hr gap between the bus tour and the palace tour. We had other plans for the afternoon we had to cancel as the booking said a different time. Would have just bought the palace tickets on our own and not wasted time waiting. Can't have guides in the palace anyways it all audio tours.
Review provided by Viator
David_r
Jul 27, 2019
Poor Guide - Peter our tour guide kept reminding us how this was his day off and he shouldn’t have taken this shift. Often saying how miserable it was to be there. The cruise was mostly a waste. Seemed very rushed. A group of women did not know they had to tell Peter they were seeing the London Eye after. Peter starting yelling at them telling them they should have told him sooner. He basically told them the best he could do for them was getting off the bus now and walking. After they left, he was putting them down to the tour. Not professional at all. Made several comments that were inappropriate for children. Did not represent tour company well and did not make anyone excited to be there.
Review provided by Viator
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