Our verdict
Best overall
London: London by Night Sightseeing Open-Top Bus Tour
The yellow open-top buses of See London By Night, with live commentary, from Green Park beside the Ritz. 4.5★ from 6,000+ reviews — the most-reviewed night tour in London by a distance.
4.5★ · 6,112from £25 GetYourGuide →
Best value
London: Vintage Open-Top Bus Night Tour with Live Guide
A 1960s Routemaster with a live guide and a guaranteed top-deck seat, from about £23. 4.6★ from 900+ reviews.
4.6★ · 953from £23 GetYourGuide →
Best private option
London: Private Black Cab Night Tour with Hotel Pick-up
A licensed cabbie collects you from your hotel and drives the lit-up sights for two to three hours, stopping for photos. Around £248 per cab, so it’s competitive for four or five people.
5.0★ · 23from £248 GetYourGuide →
Skip it if
You're visiting in June or July
It stays light until well after 9pm in midsummer, so an evening tour sees the city at dusk, not at night. A sunset river cruise is the better bet.
What is the best London night tour?
For most people the best London night tour is a live-guided open-top bus loop: 75 to 90 minutes, from about £23, past Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, St Paul’s, the Tower and Tower Bridge when they’re floodlit. The bus is the easiest way to see the most in one evening; the river and a private black cab are the two serious alternatives.
| Option | Length | From | Commentary | Departs | Good to know |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| See London By Night (yellow open-top) | 90 min | ~£25 | Live | Green Park, by the Ritz | Most-reviewed: 4.5★, 6,000+ |
| Vintage Routemaster night tour | 75 min | ~£23 | Live | See listing | Guaranteed top-deck seat |
| Big Bus Evening Tour | 75 min | ~£30 | Live, plus recorded in 7 languages | London Eye, 19:30 & 21:00 | Top deck not guaranteed |
| The Original Tour Night Tour | 90 min | ~£35 on Headout | Check listing | Coventry Street, 18:30 | Runs until 13 Nov, then lights tour |
| Illuminated River boat | 40 min | ~£20 | Guided | Thames pier | Under the lit bridges |
| Evening cruise with bubbly | 2 h | ~£40 | Live music | Thames pier | Drinks and canapés |
| Private black cab | 2–3 h | ~£248 per cab | Your driver | Your hotel | Photo stops anywhere |
Prices are “from” prices in our partner feed today, per person except the cab. The Original Tour sells its night tour from £25 on its own site.
Night tours you can book now
London: London by Night Sightseeing Open-Top Bus Tour
from £25
See on GetYourGuide
London: River Thames Evening Cruise with Bubbly and Canapés
from £40
See on GetYourGuide
Tootbus: London Night Bus Tour
from £35per person
See on Headout
London: Vintage Open-Top Bus Night Tour with Live Guide
from £23
See on GetYourGuide
London By Night: Illuminated River Official Boat Tour
from £20
See on GetYourGuide
Big Bus: London Evening Bus Tour
from £30per person
See on Headout
London: Private Black Cab Night Tour with Hotel Pick-up
from £248
See on GetYourGuidePrices and ratings checked 21 Oct 2026; they change daily.
Bus, boat or black cab?
The bus wins on coverage. A 90-minute loop takes in Westminster, Piccadilly, Knightsbridge, the City and the Tower in one go, and an open top gives you the floodlit domes and towers without a window in the way. See London By Night’s route list includes Harrods and the Royal Albert Hall as well as the river sights.
The boat wins on atmosphere. The Illuminated River tour is 40 minutes beneath the lit bridges — the art installation that turned nine central London bridges into a light show. The two-hour evening cruise adds a glass of fizz and canapés; compare more in our dinner and evening cruises guide.
The black cab wins on comfort. A cabbie collects you, drives the lit-up landmarks and parks for photos at Tower Bridge or the Embankment. It’s the best answer for anyone who can’t sit on an open deck in November, and our black cab guide compares the daytime versions too.
Big Bus and The Original Tour after dark
Both hop-on hop-off operators run a non-stop evening loop:
- Big Bus Evening Tour — 75 minutes from Stop 12 (London Eye) at 19:30 and 21:00, with live English-speaking guides. On Big Bus’s own site it’s £29.99 for adults and £19.99 for children aged 4–15. It’s not hop-on hop-off, and Big Bus says passengers may sometimes have to sit downstairs.
- The Original Tour Night Tour — 90 minutes from Coventry Street at 18:30, once a day, with guaranteed top-deck seating. It runs until 13 November, when the company switches to its Christmas lights tour. This is the tour still listed as “Tootbus” on some booking sites — the Tootbus review explains the name change.
Golden Tours also runs a 90-minute London by Night open-top tour with a live guide, from £29 on its own site.
Which night tour for which traveller
- Couples: the vintage Routemaster night tour for the bus, or the evening cruise with bubbly and canapés if you’d rather sit down with a drink.
- Families: the earliest departure from October to February. Big Bus’s 19:30 Evening Tour costs £19.99 for children aged 4–15 on its own site, and it’s done in 75 minutes.
- Photographers: an open top and a front seat upstairs; for the bridges themselves, the 40-minute Illuminated River boat gets you underneath them.
- Groups of four to six: a private black cab, at roughly £50–£62 each for four or five people.
- Already holding a Big Bus ticket? The Evening Tour is a separate ticket, and Big Bus says it must be used within your ticket’s validity.
When is it dark enough?
From October to March, any evening departure works — by late October it’s dark before 6pm. In May, June and July the GetYourGuide listing for See London By Night warns it may still be light on early departures; in midsummer, sunset is after 9pm. Book the last bus of the night, or swap the bus for a sunset cruise.
Want something darker?
Night tours are about lights and landmarks. If you want stories, try a Jack the Ripper walk in Whitechapel or the comedy-horror Ghost Bus. For the Tower of London itself, the only after-hours access is the Ceremony of the Keys at 21:30; tickets go on sale monthly from Historic Royal Palaces and sell out quickly. Daytime options are on our Tower of London tours page.
Questions people ask
What is the best night tour in London?
How long does a London night bus tour take?
Is the London night tour worth it in summer?
Can you tour the Tower of London at night?
Is a black cab night tour better than the bus?
Is the top deck cold at night?
Sources
- GetYourGuide — night tours in London (partner feed)
- See London By Night — tours and route (checked 21 Oct 2026)
- Big Bus Tours — London Evening Tour (checked 21 Oct 2026)
- The Original Tour — Night Tour route (checked 21 Oct 2026)
- Golden Tours — London by Night and live-guided tours (checked 21 Oct 2026)
- Historic Royal Palaces — Ceremony of the Keys (checked 21 Oct 2026)
- Uber Boat by Thames Clippers — prices (checked 21 Oct 2026)
Written and checked by the Private Tours London desk