Looking for a unique London experience? We checked out Brigit’s Tea Bus Tour! This delightful tour provides you with delicious tea and food while you ride around the city listening to an audio guide with highlights for each area. It’s such a unique way to sightsee around London!
Coming from the Lakenheath area we had to get to London for the tour. We went to Epping Station where we parked and took the train into London. Parking was fairly easy and you can pay by app. The drive was about an hour. The round trip train tickets were £6.20 per person for our destination. One of the great things about Epping Station is that it is the end of the line so there are plenty of seats as you get on, it does get more crowded as you get near/into London. We only had to change trains once and it was about a 50 min train ride.
We got off at Tottenham Court Road, and walked down to Trafalgar Square. The pick up location for the bus is about a 5 min walk from there so we decided to go sightsee for a bit since we got to the city a little early. The last time I was in London was 11 years ago so I was thrilled to be back and checking out some of the sights again.
Also note there are public restrooms here so we used those before headed the pick up area. There are no restrooms at the pick up area so make sure you’ve taken care of that before arriving, and there are none on the 1 hour and 20 min bus ride as well. Have change for the public restrooms, it was 20 pence at Trafalgar Square. Thankfully I remembered we often paid in Germany so I had snagged some change from hubby before we had left.
We walked to the pick up location and waited for the bus to arrive. After it did we took some photos with the outside of the bus while they were preparing it for our trip. Once they are ready you show them your reservation and they let you board and get seated.
As you enter the bus the tables are decorated nicely with the lovely food, there are menu cards with the drink options as well as the bus route map on the back. The elderberry mix tea was delicious! Note it’s HOT so don’t burn your tongue like a few of us did, LOL!
The food was good, although I wasn’t a fan of the cucumber sandwich. Each person gets 4 mini sandwiches, and 4 mini pastries, as well as pizza muffin, and a scone. If you can’t eat it all they offer take away boxes as well. Our group managed to eat all ours during the bus ride so it’s not hard to do 😉
The bus ride does provide audio highlights throughout the area, although we were talking so we didn’t hear it all. But it is nice that it’s included so you can try to figure out where you are and what is around the area as your driving along. Also the cups are adorable and you get to take them home!
The only downside of the trip is that we happened to go on a freakishly hot day for London, it was 86 that day. And while out walking the streets with the shade and breeze it wasn’t too bad. However on the bus it was a bit toasty. There was no AC and the windows didn’t really open to allow a breeze. So it made it a little less fun to drink hot tea as you sitting on a toasty bus. So I’d just recommend going when the weather is a bit cooler. The servers also offered water as well so that was helpful.
If afternoon tea is not your thing they offer other bus tours as well, I just seen a sneak peek on their Facebook page of a Chef bus!?!
The tour was £65 per person for the lower part of the bus when we booked. This is a great way to explore London while nibbling on some delicious food and drinking yummy tea. Hopefully you’ll get the chance to try it!
Great posts and ideas. I always keep coming back when looking for a place to travel.