This post provides details about the 2-for-1 London bus tour tickets, sponsored by National Rail.
We cover how to take advantage of the deal, which bus tours participate, and how much you could save.
- Overview
- Big Bus Hop-On Hop-Off Tour
- Night Bus Tour
- Ghost Bus Tour
- The Classic Tour
- Harry Potter Tour
- Afternoon Tea Bus Tour
- London Bus Tours Discounts
There are a lot of interesting bus tours in London, and some of them are actually included in the 2-for-1 deal from National Rail.
This discount program allows travelers who are using the National Rail for transportation to get two tickets for the price of one.
Considering that most bus tours cost at least £20 - £40 per person, the 2-for-1 deal can actually save you quite a bit of money.
In the case of the Big Bus tour, you’d save over £36 off the price of two tickets!
In order to take advantage of this deal, you’ll need to get a specific type of train ticket, and you must purchase them from an official National Rail station.
The train tickets you get also need to be used to travel to the departure point of your London bus tour.
There are other rules you must follow, and you can learn more about how to get this discount by reading our post covering the 2-for-1 deal in London.
You can also check the discounts section of our London Bus Tours post for even more opportunities to save money on this type of activity.
We also have a post covering Hop-on Hop-off bus tour discounts.
If you are looking for comparable deals, we recommend looking into London tourist passes, as you can typically save 50% or more using these services.
Discount sites such as Groupon can also save you anywhere from 20% - 40% off on average.
Big Bus Hop-on Hop-off Tour
This service is offered by one of the biggest names in the industry, and it is a very highly rated open-top bus tour.
Big Bus allows you to hop off at any stop to spend some time looking around the area.
When you’re done exploring one notable location, you can hop back on and continue the tour!
Although they offer tickets that are valid for up to 3 days, the 2-for-1 deal is only available for their Classic Tour.
The Classic Tour is a 1-day ticket that includes free walking tours and a cruise down the river Thames.
After a 10% discount, which they offer when you purchase tickets directly from their website, you can usually expect to pay the following prices for this hop-on hop-off bus tour:
- Adult – £36.90
- Child – £27.90
- Family – £101.70
- Purchase tickets or learn more.
NOTE: You must purchase tickets through the National Rail site to get the 2-for-1 deal.
Using the National Rail 2 for 1 deal, you’d only pay the price for one ticket, which means you’d be saving as much as £36.90.
Check our overview section for details on how to take advantage of this discount.
For more details about this service, make sure to read our full post covering hop-on hop-off bus tours in London.
London by Night Bus Tour
If you're interested in seeing what London looks like after dark, this bus tour will take you to some of the most notable attractions in the city at night.
Unlike a hop-on hop-off bus tour, this outing will not allow you to jump off at every stop, but they do use open-top buses to give you the best possible view of London.
Here's what you can expect to pay for tickets before any discount is applied:
- Adult (16+) – £29
- Child (under 16) – £16
- Family (2 adults + 2 children) – £78
- Purchase tickets or learn more.
NOTE: You must purchase your tickets through the National Rail website to take advantage of the 2-for-1 deal.
Using this discount, you'd pay only £29 for 2 tickets, which is £14.50 per person.
Considering the family discount is essentially 4 tickets for £78, a family of 4 could save more using the 2-for-1 discount, as the final price would be £58 instead – a full £20 less!
Check our overview section for more details about how to take advantage of this deal.
You can also find even more details about this and similar services on our post covering London night bus tours.
And be sure to check out our array of pay-what-you-wish London night tours.
London Ghost Bus Tour
If you’re interested in the supernatural, this bus tour will probably be more appealing than others.
While on board, you can expect to learn all about the haunted history of London, including grizzly details about disturbing crimes and reported ghost sightings.
Unlike some of their competitors, this service does not allow you to hop on or off at your own leisure.
The entire tour takes about 60-75 minutes to complete, and it typically starts either at dusk or after dark.
Here are the prices you would typically pay before factoring in the 2-for-1 deal:
- Adult (16+) – £28
- Child (6-15) – £19
- Child under 6 – Free
- Student/Concession – £21
- Family – £61
- Purchase tickets or learn more.
You must purchase tickets through the National Rail site to get the 2-for-1 deal.
With the National Rail 2 for 1 deal, you’ll pay only the price of one ticket, which means you’ll save approximately £28.
Please read our overview section for more information about how to use this discount.
You can find out more about this outing on our post covering London bus tours.
We also offer pay-what-you-wish London ghost tours.
NOTE: This offer is not currently available as of February 2023, but there's a good chance it will return later in the year.
The Classic Tour
If you're looking for a quick and simple bus tour, this option only takes about 75-90 minutes to enjoy. Sadly, they don't let you hop on and off at your leisure, but you will see all of the most noteworthy landmarks in London.
Another nice thing about this tour is that they use open top buses, which means you'll have an opportunity to get great views of the city!
Here are the prices you can expect to pay without a discount:
- £24 per person
- Purchase tickets or learn more.
- Not currently included with 2 for 1 as of February 2023.
NOTE: You will need to get tickets through the 2 for 1 website in order to get the discount.
Using the 2 for 1 deal, you'll pay just £24 for two tickets, which is £12 per person.
Check our overview section for even more information about how to take advantage of this deal.
You can also learn more about services like this on our post covering London bus tours.
Harry Potter London Bus Tour
Fans of the Wizarding World won’t want to miss out on this opportunity to learn about and see some of the London sites that inspired the fantasy universe of Harry Potter on this themed bus tour.
Much like the Ghost Bus Tour, this isn’t a hop-on hop-off service, but you will likely be given some opportunities to get off the bus and take pictures at notable landmarks on this 3-hour outing.
The prices below reflect what you would pay if you weren’t taking advantage of the 2-for-1 deal:
- Adult (16+) – £30
- Child (under 16) – £21
- Purchase tickets or learn more.
NOTE: You must purchase tickets through the National Rail site to get the 2-for-1 deal.
If you plan to use the National Rail 2 for 1 deal, the price for two tickets will be just £30, which is a significant saving.
For more information about how to get this deal, please read our overview section.
We provide even more details about this service in our post covering London bus tours.
We also offer our own, pay-what-you-wish Harry Potter London walking tour.
Afternoon Tea Bus Tours
If you're looking for something fun to do with the kids, there are actually two services that combine a bus tour with an afternoon tea. These outings are themed after either Peppa Pig or Paddington Bear!
These Afternoon Tea Bus Tours are offered by Brigit's Bakery, and they include a variety of food options including vegan, vegetarian, halal, and gluten-free choices.
This deal is a limited offering and will only be available during the early spring of 2023 (February 20th - April 5th).
Here's what you would pay for these tours before the 2-for-1 discount:
- Adult (16+) – £45
- Child (under 16) – £35
- Purchase tickets or learn more about Paddington Afternoon Tea Bus Tours.
- Purchase tickets or learn more about Peppa Pig Afternoon Tea Bus Tours.
When using the London 2 For 1 deal, the final price for 2 tickets would be £45. This would make each ticket £22.50, which is far less than you'd pay for the full price.
For additional details on how the discount works, make sure to read our overview section above.
And check out our post on other family-friendly afternoon teas as well as affordable afternoon tea options.
DISCOUNTS AND DEALS
The following section will provide information about all the different ways to save money on bus tours in London.
We will include details about tourist attraction passes and other discount opportunities.
If you’re interested, we also have a detailed discount section for hop-on-hop-off bus tours as well.
Tourist Attraction Discount Passes
Most London tourist passes include a hop-on-hop-off tour, but there is currently only one pass that offers any other type of bus tour.
The London Sightseeing Pass includes the Ghost Bus Tour which covers the paranormal history behind notable landmarks such as the Houses of Parliament, Downing Street, the Tower of London, and more.
This service also includes access to several day trips from London such as Stonehenge, Oxford, Canterbury, Bath, and the Cliffs of Dover.
This tourist pass allows you to pick 3, 5, 7, or 10 different attractions for one flat price.
Depending on how you use the card, you could save 50% or more off general admission prices.
If you’re interested in going on a self-guided bus tour, it’s worth noting that the London Turbo Pass includes an Oyster Card which you can use for public transport.
Big Bus Tours (24-hour ticket)
Golden Tours (24-hour ticket)
For more information about these services, make sure to read our full post covering London tourist attraction passes.
Discount Sites
In addition to the other opportunities to save money, you can also use a site such as Groupon or Discount London.
Both of these services include various London bus tours at lower prices.
These sites often provide coupon codes that you can use to increase your discount by an extra 20% off or more.
Make sure to check the top and bottom of each page for a banner with a special code to use at checkout.
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