Seeing London’s Christmas lights on foot in December means weaving through the crowds on Regent Street and Oxford Street. The Christmas lights bus tours in London take you past the decorations in 75 to 90 minutes, and on most of the tours below you watch from the open top deck of a double-decker.
Most of these tours are run by the companies behind London’s hop-on hop-off buses. The light tours themselves are non-stop, though. You board, stay on for the whole loop and get off where you started.
Below are the seven London Christmas lights bus tour tickets sold on Hop On Hop Off Bus’s for the 2026 season. Read the guide to know about how they differ, what they cost, and which suits which kind of trip.
Image credit: Igor Sporynin for Unsplash
Can you hop on and off a Christmas lights tour?
No. Each one is a single loop with no stops along the way, so you can’t hop off at Oxford Street and catch the next bus.
If you want a hop-on hop-off ticket as well, look at the City Sightseeing combo below. It bundles an ordinary sightseeing pass, used in daylight, with an evening lights tour on a date you pick. The Original Tour’s ticket also includes a Thames cruise, which you can take before your evening tour.
[product_card="39541,40039,40160"]
The Christmas Lights Bus Tours London in Detail
The routes overlap a lot around Regent Street and Oxford Street. Where the tours differ is the start point, the length and what comes with the ticket.
City Sightseeing London: Hop-On, Hop-Off with Christmas Lights Tour
This City Sightseeing London Hop-On Hop-Off plus Christmas lights tour combo is for people who want to sightsee by day and see the lights at night without buying two tickets. You choose a bus pass (one day, or 24, 48 or 72 hours) and a slot for the 90-minute lights tour.
Longer passes add more value. From 24 hours you get a Thames cruise, and the 72-hour pass includes a night tour. Your booking date only applies to the lights tour. The bus pass is valid for 12 months, and its buses run from 8:50am to 5pm.
The lights tour leaves from Stop 22 on Haymarket, outside Tiger Tiger. Prices start at around £53, and the ticket can’t be refunded, so book once your dates are fixed.
Image credit: Fas Khan for Unsplash
Big Bus London Christmas Lights Night Tour
Big Bus London Christmas Light night tour runs for 90-minute. This Christmas lights open-bus tour in London is available every day from 12 November to 30 December. Priced at around £40, every ticket comes with a guaranteed seat on the open-top upper deck, and an English-speaking guide gives festive commentary while Christmas music plays on board.
You can start at Stop #1 by the entrance to Green Park station, next to the Ritz, at Stop #12 on Westminster Bridge Road, by the Lion statue outside the London Marriott County Hall, or at Marble Arch. You pick a departure time when you book, and the tour ends where it started. Arrive 15 minutes before departure.
Image credit: Igor Sporynin for Unsplash
Golden Tours: London Christmas Lights Tour with Live Guide
Golden Tours London Night tour with Christmas lights runs every day from 8 November to 3 January. It lasts 90 minutes on an open-top bus, with a guide on board.
Besides Regent Street’s lights and window displays, the route takes in Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, the Strand, Aldwych, the London Eye and Tower Bridge. You can join at the London Eye (Belvedere Road, two minutes from Waterloo station), at Golden Tours Stop 8 on Buckingham Palace Road in Victoria, or outside Green Park station.
Golden Tours warns that Christmas traffic can stretch the loop to two hours, so leave room in your evening. Children aged 0 to 4 ride free but don’t get their own seat, and cancellation is free up to 48 hours before. The price of the tour starts from around £25.
Image credit: Maksim Shutov for Unsplash
The Original Tour London: Christmas Lights Tour
The Original Tour Christmas Lights Tour runs for 75 minutes on the open top deck of a double-decker, past the Regent Street angels, the Oxford Street stars and the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree.
This Christmas lights London by night bus tour leaves from 1–5 Coventry Street. The guide speaks English, and recorded commentary is available in nine other languages.
The ticket, from about £30, also covers a Thames cruise and six self-guided walking tours. Take the cruise before your bus tour, then use the walks afterwards for the Christmas market, Leicester Square, Trafalgar Square and Covent Garden. There are no light tours on 24, 25 or 31 December.
Image credit: George Ciobra for Unsplash
City Sightseeing London Christmas Lights Tour
This is the same lights tour as in the combo above, sold on its own from around £28. Santa joins the commentary for this City Sightseeing London Christmas lights tour and the bus plays Christmas classics for everyone to sing along to.
It starts from Stop 22 on Haymarket and runs 14 November to 3 January, passing Oxford Circus, Piccadilly Circus and Westminster Bridge. Cancellation is free up to seven days before the tour date.
Image credit: Rumman Amin for Unsplash
Christmas Lights Tour by Vintage Bus
Londoner Buses Ltd runs this Christmas Lights Tour by Vintage Bus on a restored 1950s or 1960s open-top double-decker. A professional guide points out the lights, holiday music plays, and at the end you can get off at Trafalgar Square for the Christmas market instead of riding back.
Tours leave daily from Bus stop 40B on the Embankment, next to Embankment station, from 14 November to 3 January and the price of this tour starts from £24.
The older buses have limits. There’s no wheelchair access and no storage for luggage, buggies or prams. Seats go first come, first served, and the operator asks you to arrive 15 minutes before departure.
Image credit: Marc Kleen for Unsplash
Christmas Lights & Bites Tour
Lights & Bites Christmas Tour runs for 90 minutes on a restored 1960s Routemaster, with sweet and savoury snacks, tea, coffee or hot chocolate, and André Rieu’s Christmas music on board.
It runs 13 November to 3 January from the same Embankment stop, but not on Tuesdays or Wednesdays. The price starts from £40. No alcohol is served, the tour can’t cater for dietary requirements, and there’s no wheelchair access.
Image credit: Tyler Delgado for Unsplash
Which Christmas lights tour suits your trip?
It depends on what else you want from the day. If you also plan to sightsee in daylight, the City Sightseeing combo adds a hop-on hop-off pass, and The Original Tour adds a Thames cruise and six walking tours. If you only want the lights with a live guide, Golden Tours and Big Bus both give you three start points, and Big Bus also guarantees a seat on the open upper deck.
With children, City Sightseeing’s Santa commentary and singalong songs are built for families, and The Original Tour is the shortest loop at 75 minutes. For something different, the vintage bus runs on a restored 1950s or 1960s open-topper, and Lights & Bites adds snacks and hot drinks.
[product_card="40864,40171,41652"]
Before you go
Dress warmly, in comfortable clothes and shoes. You’ll be sitting on an open deck on a December evening for up to an hour and a half, and longer if the traffic is heavy.
Get to the stop 15 minutes before departure, as per the instructions. On the vintage bus and Lights & Bites, seats go first come, first served. Golden Tours’ stops are also used by its hop-on hop-off buses, so check with the driver that you’re boarding the lights tour. If you are still interested in getting a combo tour or a hop-on hop-off tour in London you can learn details on this guide: which bus tour is best in London with routes, prices and benefits.
