The Christmas Day Hop-on Hop-off Bus Tour is the only public transport running in London on 25 December 2026. Buses run every 30 minutes from 10:00am to 4:00pm and you may board and alight at any Golden Tours hop-on hop-off stop. Commentary is by audio guide in 12 languages, English and French included — there is no live guide. An optional Christmas lunch at Browns in Covent Garden can be added at booking, served from 12:00pm. From £59 per adult, free cancellation up to 24 hours before.
The day the city has no transport at all
On 25 December the Underground does not run, and neither do the scheduled buses. For one day a year London has no public transport, and this tour is the exception: an open network of stops you can get on and off all day, which is why it exists and why it sells out.
Buses run every half hour between 10:00am and 4:00pm. Get off at Westminster, walk the empty streets, and pick up the next one.
Two things it does not include
⚠ This is not the standard Golden Tours hop-on hop-off ticket. The Christmas Day version does not include the river cruise, and does not include the walking tour that the ordinary ticket carries. If you have compared prices with the regular product, this is where the difference lies.
⚠ There is also no live guide. Commentary comes from an audio guide available in 12 languages — English and French among them, with a separate children's commentary in English. It is the only tour in our Christmas range that offers commentary in French.
The optional lunch
A Christmas lunch can be added when you book, served from 12:00pm at Browns, 82-84 St Martin's Lane, Covent Garden WC2N 4AG. It is an option, not part of the base ticket. Dietary requirements must be notified 72 hours in advance. The lunch menu and the route map are published below.
View the Christmas lunch menu · View the hop-on hop-off route map
The alternative if you want to be taken somewhere
This tour gives you total freedom and no accompaniment. If you would rather have a fixed itinerary with a guide and a meal, the Christmas Day Lunch Cruise and Guided Tour is an organised day from £228: a morning coach tour of the empty city followed by a Thames lunch cruise.
