Which HoHo bus in London

I've read about two different HoHo busses:

The original tour

and

Big Bus tour

Confused about which is better/more convenient. We have only two days in London and want to make the most of it....neither of us has ever been before..

Thanks for any help:) Edited March 24, 2015 by Gracie115

I will be interested in the answer too!

There are aficionados of both, and they score very evenly on TripAdvisor.

There's little to choose between them on the important matters of price, frequency, and main routes. Crowding varies, but I don't think there's a big difference overall. Both include the same cruise. Original also offers walks, not sure about Big Bus. I see that Big Bus now has a live commentary on one route, same as Original's yellow route. And that's what happens - one will give themselves an edge, and the other will follow-suit. The competition is good for the customer & there's plenty of business for both.

Secondary routes are a little different - these are mainly used as feeders from hotels, stations, etc to the main routes. Your hotel may be convenient for one, but not the other.

Big Bus is international & every one of their buses I've seen around the world has been in muddy brown livery. Original is a UK operator, born out of London Transport.
London buses should be red, not brown.
But that's hardly a deal-breaker. :rolleyes:

There's also a new kid on the block. Golden Tours. Well-experienced in excursions, but struggling to establish themselves in hop-on. Few customers, hence limited service & very poor frequency. Limited service & very poor frequency, hence few customers. A real catch-22. No worries if you want to book an excursion or a set London tour with them, but best stick with one of the other two for ho-hos.

[B][COLOR="Red"]JB [/COLOR][/B]:) Edited March 24, 2015 by John Bull