London Christmas Eve Illuminations Guided Tour by Night

DON'T BOTHER - BOOK SOMEWHERE ELSE

The whole experience was a shambles run by kids who didn't show any enthusiasm or care for the entire bus ride. After joining a long queue we were pointed to the relevant bus, no greeting - no smiles. On the bus we were pointed to where our table was with no further interaction. There was no safety briefing by staff - this resulted in a male trying to walk around the bus to take photos - staff didn't immediately intervene until other passengers raised a cause for concern. This tour provided 2 x drinks, shortbread biscuit and a mince pie - at no point was anyone asked if they had any food allergies, which I found very concerning. A family of 7 tourists (not from the UK) asked the staff if the food had meat in it - was informed no. The family then asked if the food had egg in it - the first staff replied that she didn't know but wanted to serve the food anyway - family refused. Second member of staff came up to the family and said all English food has egg in it and that's all across the UK!! I've never heard of anything so ridiculous. But again the staff didn't ask if this was an allergy or preference. The staff sat and hid at the rear of the bus - no interaction. The atmosphere on the bus was awful with non UK tourist finding the whole experience confusing. We were served drinks pre ordered as part of the package - when it came to the second drink I was promptly told I had to have the same drink and not allowed to change to other drink selection - this I do not understand, therefore no second drink was provided, however was paid for! We left the bus station 25 minutes late as staff were waiting for late comers - we arrived back 20 minutes early - there was heavy traffic in London due to the time year - so work that one out !! There are far better companies that operate tours around London - Bridgit's Bakery for one - Staff from this company are warm and welcoming and look happy to be there. They make the whole experience special and everyone is in high spirits. This tour you could tell the staff just wanted to get it over with and to be honest I couldn't wait to get off the bus. I have complained to the company direct and had to chase replies - 2 x tickets were £72.00 (the trip I was booked on was not on the trip advisor drop down so I have selected another tour) I was offered and given a 10% refund of £7.20 !!! what an absolute joke. The refund was agreed as I wasn't happy with the service provided but the offered amount is a joke and an embarrassment. This company doesn't see health and safety as priority or think food allergens is of their concern - BOOK WITH ANY OTHER TOUR COMPANY THAN THIS ONE!! London is a beautiful city to visit - don't let this company ruin it for you - as if you do have a complaint they will reply that you are lying and offer poor customer service. I requested a full refund but was refused being told that 10% was the max they would ever refund. DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY AND GO WITH ANOTHER BUS COMPANY THAT HAS GOOD CUSTOMER CARE AND VALUES YOU AS A CUSTOMER, AND NOT HERDED ONTO BUSES BY STAFF THAT WOULD RATHER BE ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD

Response from the operator: We’re sorry to hear you were disappointed with your experience. The tour was slightly delayed as we were waiting to accommodate a wheelchair passenger. Our guide provided a safety briefing and promptly addressed a passenger who stood up, ensuring all safety protocols were followed, and even went above and beyond by taking photos for them. While we did not receive any allergy queries from your table, our team handled all other passenger inquiries with no further issues. Our staff always strive to provide a fun, engaging, and memorable tour, and we regret that you felt otherwise. As a gesture of goodwill, we offered a partial refund. While we are sorry you did not enjoy the experience, we are grateful for your feedback, which helps us continue to improve. We wish you all the best.

via Tripadvisor

Great tour

Fantastic tour and the guide Emma was so amazing, all our family really liked her. The tour was great even though it was raining.

via Tripadvisor

Great tour guide, rubbish tour

The tour guide Brennan was incredible he kept everyone entertained he was funny and he knew so much about London it was incredible he even Managed to entertain children in traffic jams of London however the tour itself was pointless. I really think golden tours should have communicated just how bad the tour would be and see if you even wanted to do it anymore, all the good roads were pedestrianised and the diversion didn’t take you past any Christmas lights so other than winter wonderrland and Oxford street we didn’t see any.

via Tripadvisor

A fun tour despite the English weather!

Always a lottery booking something outside with the English weather. We took a chance and booked tickets for the upper deck of the open topped bus tour of the Christmas lights in London. Of course it poured with rain, and despite some very classy ponchos handed out by the tour guide, we had to bail out and go downstairs to avoid being completely drenched. If we’d booked this to start with we’d have saved ourselves several pounds each. We did notice that there were two separate individuals upstairs under the covered area who were each taking up a double seat. Rather selfish considering the situation. However our guide Jay was excellent! Despite being a native of the USA, he gave us interesting information about what we were seeing. He engaged with the children upstairs. We even enjoyed his American pronunciation of Belgravia! Alan, our driver drove the bus deftly in the very busy Saturday traffic. We did enjoy the tour, and will certainly remember it! Just a shame about the weather ☔️.

via Tripadvisor

Make unforgettable memories on a Christmas night, in London Town

My friend and I are born and bred Londoners. So we thought we knew everything about our home city, but I wanted to see the Christmas Lights, and I know the best way to do this is on top of a double decker bus. It was a wonderful adventure. All the other passengers were tourists. They were all a lovely group of people, really interesting. I felt quite honoured that they had chosen to visit my home City. Now, the best thing was the Golden Tours guide. She was really knowledgeable and very friendly. I actually learned some things about London I didn’t know. At the end of the tour she even offered to walk some guests to the underground station, which I thought was really kind and above and beyond.

via Tripadvisor