The 10 Best London Tours: Walking, Bus, Bike and Black Cab (2026)

Walking tours: the free one

SANDEMANs' Free Tour of London is the easiest way into the city on a budget. It meets at Charing Cross station, in front of the Clermont Hotel entrance, and finishes by Westminster Abbey two and a half to three hours later. It's free to join. You tip the guide at the end, and that tip is how the guide gets paid, so budget for it rather than treating it as optional pocket change. You can reserve a place online or just turn up.

SANDEMANs also runs a paid Old City Walking Tour through the City of London (£26 adults, £20 children, 10:00 from the citizenM hotel next to Tower Hill station) and a Historic Pubs Tour at £30 with drinks extra, 18+ only. If you'd like another free option in Westminster, Free Tours by Foot runs a name-your-price walk on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 10:00 from the fountain in Green Park by the Buckingham Palace exit of Green Park station (not the Diana Memorial Fountain in Hyde Park), timed around Changing of the Guard when it happens.

Who it suits: first-timers who want the big-picture story of Westminster. The trade-off: guides are freelancers, so the content and quality vary with who you get, and summer groups can be big.

Walking tours: the ones I'd pay for

London Walks is my pick of all the walking tours in London, and it's a simple system: every walk costs £20 for adults (£15 for over-65s and full-time students, £5 for children 8 to 15), lasts about two hours, and starts just outside the exit of a named Tube station, where the guide holds up the white London Walks leaflet. You reserve online and pay the guide on the day by card, contactless or exact cash. If you'll do three or more, buy the £5 Loyalty Card from your first guide and every walk after that is £15.

For a first walk I'd pick Old Westminster (Tuesday and Thursday 2pm, Saturday 11am, from St James's Park station), which passes Buckingham Palace for Changing of the Guard; the evening Jack the Ripper walk is below. One Google reviewer praised guides who know how to manage a group, which matters on narrow London pavements.

Who it suits: anyone with a free morning or afternoon, and repeat visitors who've done the big sights. The trade-off: it's all outdoors, rain or shine, and none of the walks go inside the buildings they talk about.

Walking tours: Jack the Ripper

Two Jack the Ripper walks stand out. I'd pick London Walks' version for its route and the 3pm Saturday option; pick The Jack the Ripper Tour if you want to see period photos at the sites. London Walks' Jack the Ripper was created by crime historian Donald Rumbelow; it's £20, runs every night at 7:30pm plus 3pm on Saturdays, meets by the coffee stand outside Tower Hill station and ends near Spitalfields two hours later. The Jack the Ripper Tour is the other: £20 for adults and £12 for children aged 10 to 16, plus booking fees, meeting outside the Whitechapel Gallery at Aldgate East (exit 3). It runs at 7:30pm Monday to Wednesday and at 5pm and 7:30pm Thursday to Sunday, takes 1 hour 45 minutes, and its guides use handheld projectors to show period photographs at each site.

Who it suits: true-crime fans and teenagers. The trade-off: it's a story about five murdered women told on street corners, often in big groups (up to 30 on The Jack the Ripper Tour), and the East End streets have changed a lot since 1888.

Hop-on hop-off buses: the cheaper one

Tootbus is the one I'd pick if you want an open-top bus without paying Big Bus prices. The London Discovery one-day ticket is £24.99 online for anyone 16 and over (£13.63 for children) and covers four routes plus six self-guided walking tours in the operator's app. The Must-See London ticket adds a City Cruises river cruise for £33.99. The main Red route starts at stop 1 on Coventry Street, between Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square, and runs 08:30 to 18:30 every 15 to 20 minutes. There's also a 45-minute Kids Tour with a live guide, from £24.

Who it suits: a family or anyone with limited mobility who wants to see the lay of the land on day one. The trade-off: commentary is recorded, the Green and Pink routes only run hourly, and one reviewer found no staff at the stops to help.

Hop-on hop-off buses: the bigger network

Big Bus has more add-ons. The One Day ticket is £32 online, but the one I'd look at is Essential: £46.99 for 48 hours of buses, a one-way Thames cruise and three guided walking tours; one Google reviewer on the 48-hour ticket said the walks were what made it worth the cost. Explore adds a 75-minute evening tour with a live guide for £56.99, or you can book the Evening Tour alone for £29.99 (7:30pm and 9pm). The Red route starts at Green Park station next to the Ritz and loops in about two and a half hours, every 15 to 20 minutes, 08:30 to 17:45.

Is a hop-on hop-off bus worth it in London? On a first visit with a day to spare, or with anyone who can't walk far, yes. Otherwise, probably not: London traffic is slow, daytime commentary on both companies is a recording through headphones, and a Tube day costs far less. The trade-off: multi-day tickets have to be used on consecutive days, and the prices shown are online discounts, with full prices £3 to £7 higher.

Tower of London, St Paul's and Westminster in one day

If you want the big hitters in one organized day, Golden Tours' Total London Experience is the combo tour to look at. The Classic version is £109.65 for adults and includes entry to the Tower of London and St Paul's Cathedral, a Thames cruise, and a coach tour past Westminster, with a stop for Changing of the Guard on ceremony days. You check in at 7:30am at Stop 8 on Buckingham Palace Road, near Victoria station, leave at 8:00am and finish around 4:30pm at the Tower. Classic Plus adds the London Eye for £140.25.

Is it good value? Tower of London admission alone is £38 from 1 October 2026, so you're paying for convenience more than a discount. Tower Bridge is seen from the coach and the boat, not entered; if you want to walk the high-level glass floor, Tower Bridge is £18 for adults on its own site, and Golden Tours sells Tower of London and Tower Bridge entry together from £49. Golden Tours also runs day trips out of London from the same area, which the best day trips from London compares with doing it yourself by train.

Who it suits: short stays and anyone who hates planning. The trade-off: it's a long, fixed day, the Changing of the Guard isn't guaranteed (a Horse Guards photo stop replaces it), and time inside each sight is limited.

Private: a black-cab tour

A black cab tour is London's most London-y private tour, and Black Taxi Tours of London has the clearest per-cab pricing. A licensed cab driver collects you from your central London hotel and drives you round the sights with stops for photos and short walks. Prices are per cab of up to six people: £185 for two hours, £260 for three, £335 for four and £515 for a seven-hour day. You pay the driver by card or cash at the end, with no deposit, and every cab is wheelchair accessible.

Because it's private, the route bends to what you want to see: reviewers mention drivers asking for their preferences up front, and themed tours such as a rock 'n' roll tour.

Who it suits: families, groups of four to six (about £31 each for two hours with six), older travelers and anyone with limited mobility. The trade-off: it's a lot for a couple, and you see the sights from outside rather than going in.

Bike tours: the royal route

Fat Tire's Highlights of Royal London Bike Tour is the one I'd pick for a first ride: from £42, about three hours, taking in Trafalgar Square, Westminster and Buckingham Palace. It leaves from the shop at 135a Mepham Street, a short walk from Waterloo station, at 10:30am on scheduled days through the year, with a 2:30pm tour added in summer. The same shop runs Secrets of London (from £45, via Tower Bridge and Borough Market), a version of the royal tour with a Thames cruise, and a Best of London e-bike tour (from £62). On Google the shop is listed as Unlimited Biking (formerly Fat Tire Tours).

Who it suits: active travelers who want to cover more ground than a walk. The trade-off: it's real city cycling for part of the route, and e-bike riders must be 14 or older.

Bike tours: the longer, local option

The London Bicycle Tour Company has run tours since 1991 and now works from 74 Kennington Road, near Lambeth North and Waterloo stations (not its old Gabriel's Wharf base). The Gold Classic is £49.95 for adults and £37.95 for children, 3.5 hours and 13.2 km every day at 10:15am. The Love London tour runs at 2:15pm and the Sunset Tour at 5pm, both £49.95. For e-bikes there's the Original eBike Tour at £64.95 and Total e-London at £74.95.

Pick this over Fat Tire if you want a longer ride or a sunset tour; pick Fat Tire if you want the shortest, cheapest royal loop. The trade-off: the minimum age is 10 (12 for the sunset tour), and 3.5 hours is a long ride if you don't cycle at home.

Street art in Shoreditch and Brick Lane

Alternative London runs an East End street-art walk led by street artists themselves. The walking tour is from £14, takes 1.5 to 2 hours around Shoreditch and Brick Lane, and runs Tuesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 11am and 2pm, capped at 20 people. Add a spray-paint workshop for £30 (2.5 hours, daily) or £40 (4 hours, weekends, 12+). The route changes as new pieces go up, and the exact meeting point is emailed when you book.

The other specialist, Shoreditch Street Art Tours (Dave Stuart of the Graffoto blog), has no public dates listed after 6 September 2026, so email before you plan around it. When it runs, it's £21 for adults (£16 over-60s, £11 under-18s), Saturdays and Sundays at 10:00, from the goat statue on Brushfield Street by Spitalfields Market.

Who it suits: art and photography fans, and anyone who's done Westminster. The trade-off: it's a lot of standing on busy pavements, and the art you see depends on what's on the walls that week.