London presents a large number of tourist attractions and it would be very difficult to cover even a fraction of them if a tourist tries to squeeze them in his itinerary of a few days. An easy way has been provided by the London Transport through its double-decker buses that go round specific routes with each one covering a few of the interesting places to see. You can try and get the front seat on the top deck to see these attractions rolling by, while being comfortably lodged in your vantage seat. Ten of the best routes have been identified for your use.

Bus Route no 24 – Film Locations: It is London’s oldest unchanged Bus Route that will take you from Grosvenor Terrace in Pimlico, riding along the Thames. You can see Battersea Power Station that had featured in the film Children of Men, on the south side. You will then go past Parliament Square, Horseguards and Trafalgar Square (featured in 28 Days Later). Going past Morning Crescent, you can see An Education and then it will go through Chalk Farm up to Hampstead Heath (famous for Monty Python and the Holy Grail as well as An American Werewolf in London and The Omen).

Bus Route no 74 – The Posh Areas: Starting from Baker Street or Marble Arch, this route goes down Park Lane into Knightsbridge – all posh areas. It will go from Cromwell Road to Earls Court and half an hour later it will reach Putney Bridge. Alternatively, you can get down at West Brompton station and walk around one of the city’s most gorgeous cemeteries.

Bus Route no 100 – Ancient London:  For seeing parts of ancient London, you can take this bus starting from outside Roman London at Tower Gateway and observe the Roman Wall in Wakefield Gardens and then the bus will follow the old wall all along Bevis Marks to Bishopsgate and Moorgate. You can get off at the roundabout and visit the Museum of London. Walking down Noble Street you can see an old section above ground which is the corner of a fort that was exposed during the Blitz. You can also see Barber Surgeon’s gardens, by Bastion Highwalk. You can catch the bus again at St Paul’s and cross the river at Blackfriars which is where the remains of Roman ships were found in the 1960s.

Bus Route no D3 – Old East London: On this route you can see how much east London has transformed in the last few years. You can start at Old Fort Road and move through Bethnal Green, passing by York Hall that opened in 1929 as  a public baths and boxing hall. The route will take you past the tube station that was used as an air raid shelter and was the site where the worst civilian incident of the second world war took place. Going down Bethnal Green Road, it heads into Whitechapel towards Cable Street. A mural at number 236 marks the fight against fascism in 1936. It then goes over the Highway to Wapping where huge changes in the British media took place during the 1980s. It then stops at Canary Wharf which is now privately owned and its borough faced the worst levels of pay inequality in London. You can get down here to visit the Museum of London Docklands or you can ride till the end in Crossharbour to see what remains of the old docks.

If you are visiting London, it would be best to stay at Hotel Grand Royale London Hyde Park since it is located in the heart of the city close to most of its attractions.

Bus Route no RV1 – Best for the Thames: Riding from Tower Hill to Covent Garden, you can see two Thames bridges. The route goes from Tower Bridge to London Bridge, to Blackfriars and along the back of the South Bank, crossing north again at Waterloo.

Bus Route 274 – Best for the Parks: You can take this bus from Angel, Caledonian Road or Camden Town, and go towards Primrose Hill, taking Prince Albert Road, which skirts the Regent’s Canal and ZSL London Zoo. You can alight at Albert Terrace or at Eamont Street for going to Regent’s Park. You can take the bus again by heading to Kent Passage and walking to the stop outside London Business School. Its terminus is Lancaster Gate.

Guests staying at a Hyde Park accommodation can easily avail of these bus routes to go round the city and see the various places of interest.

Bus Route no 15 – Best for Tourists: An ideal route for budget travellers, this bus will take you past Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, Monument, St Paul’s, Blackfriar’s Bridge, Fleet Street, the Royal Courts of Justice, Waterloo Bridge, the Strand and Trafalgar Square. You would have seen most of the main attractions of the city by spending for a bus ticket worth £1.50.

Bus Route no 14 – Best for Museums: This route will take you to the Grant Museum of Zoology and the Petrie Museum of Archaeology. You can then take  a short walk to John Soane’s Museum and see the Museum of Innocence or the Hunterian Museum. You can also ride from Tottenham Court Road to the Faraday Museum at the Royal Institution. You can catch the bus again at the bus stop outside the Victoria and Albert Museum. You will find the Science and Natural History Museums right behind you as well as the Royal Geographical Society.

Bus Route no 9 – Perfect Pub Crawl: It covers many pubs such as Dove, the Queen’s Arms, the Red Lion and Chandos Place.

Bus Route no 205 – The Oldest: This route is the closest modern equivalent of the first bus route in London going from Paddington to Bank via Euston Road. It starts from Paddington going down Marylebone Road, up the hill to Angel and then it goes to the East End.

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