Private Layover Tour of London with Pickup from Heathrow Airport

Effecient

Efficiently saw the major landmarks in London. Our family kept dry why hearing some great stories about the history of enlgand.

via Tripadvisor

Just ok

Just ok. A good way to see the city really fast. Nice vehicle. Hard to find Driver and he could have been more engaging. It was just ok.

via Viator

Layover Tour - do not do

While the tour operator picked us up and dropped us off as arranged, most of us in vehicle could not hear what the driver was saying. Additionally, near the end of the layover tour the driver told us we had to pay him more money directly in cash. Viator did reimburse us promptly. But overall the “tour” was not worth what we paid.

Response from the operator: Hi Rebecca, We sincerely apologies for the conduct of our driver. We never instructed him to charge you the extra money. He misunderstood that because you were being dropped off at Gatwick Airport. However soon as Viator informed us that you have been charged, we authorised Viator to give that money back, which viator did immediately. Please accept our apology, we are responsible for the conduct of our driver. Apart from that incident the rest of your tour went very well, which we have been told.

via Viator

Expensive

Super expensive for what we got. Driver was nice. Two hours round trip to/from Heathrow. Stuck in traffic jam most of the tour.

via Viator

Not worth $400/person

We booked this tour expecting to see the major highlights of London, such as Big Ben and Buckingham Palace, but were thoroughly disappointed with the experience. Despite our clear request to focus on these photo-worthy landmarks, we only drove past them quickly without the chance to stop for photos, which was a key part of the experience we were looking forward to. The driver claimed it would be difficult to find parking at these spots, which seemed like an odd excuse considering these are top tourist attractions. Instead, we spent an excessive amount of time at less relevant stops like the Natural History Museum and the Albert Memorial, neither of which we had asked to visit. We felt this was a complete waste of time, given the price we paid and the limited time we had to see the actual highlights of London. To make matters worse, the guide’s behavior was highly condescending, especially when discussing British history, which felt more like a lecture or quiz than a fun and informative tour. He also made uncomfortable political remarks, such as asking my political affiliation after we mentioned our profession, which was completely out of place. Additionally, he made derogatory comments about certain ethnicities, which was highly offensive and unprofessional. On top of all this, we were told during the tour that we would need to pay an additional fee to continue the tour — something we were not informed about upfront. For a tour that cost $800, this was completely unacceptable. Overall, the tour was not worth the price. It didn’t meet the expectations set by the itinerary, and the guide’s attitude and unprofessional comments made the experience uncomfortable. When raising my concerns with Viator, they were not helpful and felt it acceptable for the company to lie about the driver’s behavior and commentary. I would not recommend this tour to others.

Response from the operator: Our driver Mr Mike Picked you up from the airport, for the Layover London tour. During the journey to London, Mike discussed the whole itinerary with you. You where fully briefed, about all the sites you will be visiting, and the time scale. Mike informed you the first stop he will make is Buckingham palace, their you will have opportunity to have closer look and take pictures. While driving to Buckingham palace mike showed you the natural history museum. Soon as Mike showed you the natural history museum, you decided that you wanted have a closer look, so mike stopped the car and you got off. You spent 30 minutes inside the natural history museum, then Mike showed you the Victoria and Albert museum, again you asked mike to stop the car, and you went in to the museum, spent another 30 minutes. Mike did not asked you, do you want to go in to these museums, it was you, who decided to go into the museum. So we cannot understand why you are saying that you wasted your time visiting the museum. This is a private tour, and customer has the choice to customize however way they want. after the visit to the museum, Mike told you, that now he will take you to Buckingham palace and other important sites to visit, at this point you decided that you wanted to have lunch, and you wanted fish and chips, so Mike took you to a very old restaurant which served very good fish and chips, after you arrived at the restaurant, you decided, you did not want to eat their, so Mike took you to Covent garden and their you went to a restaurant to have fish and chips. After lunch Mike took you to see the Big Ben and Westminster abbey, Once you arrived there, Mike said that he will stop so that you can take pictures, but you declined, you said to mike, "we have taken enough pictures from inside the car" and you did not wanted to get out of the car as, you were tired after the lunch. So mike took you to see other sites including the St Paul's cathedral. Once you finished St Paul's cathedral, Mike informed you that, He will take you towards Tower of London, at this point you told Mike that, you were very tired after the long journey you had on the plane and you wanted to go back to the airport and rest before your next flight. So Mike drove you back to the airport. You thanked Mike for his service and told him that he had done an excellent tour for you. In terms of the political discussion, you asked Mike about the political situation in UK because you where worried that Trump might come back, Mike gave his views on that. His View was just as normal as you can get. Mike was born and brought up in UK, and he has been working for us for nearly 3 years now, and this definitely was not his first tour. All these negative comments is totally unfair towards Mike. you had been given a tour according to your choice. It was you who decided to see the 2 museums and spend an hour inside those museum. It was you who instead of visiting Buckingham palace you spent driving around 1 hour looking for a restaurant to eat fish and chips, even after Mike, suggested to you some restaurant which would have taken less time, this way you would have more time visiting the sites. Just to get a refund, it is not right to give inaccurate statements. We are very disappointed at you. This Layover tour has an excellent badge because of the service we provided, and incorrect comment really hurt us.

via Viator