Brigits Bakery Bus Tour Guide + Review

One of the most popular experiences among those exploring London is to take a sightseeing bus of the main tourist sites. And another is to tuck into a sumptuous afternoon tea – it’s a must for foodies and also a quintessentially British tradition. So why not combine the two by booking your seat on board the Brigits Bakery bus tour of London?

This complete guide to the Brigit’s Bakery afternoon tea bus tour covers all you should know before booking your spot. Included here is the full lowdown on the classic B Bakery bus tour, as well as the themed trips you can take.

Spoiler alert – the options include a gin lovers’ tour that’s strictly for grown-ups, and a Monopoly tour. There’s also Peppa Pig or Paddington afternoon tea bus tour options, which are suitable for kids of all ages. Plus a range of pop-up seasonal tours.

This article also includes information on issues such as accessibility, which special diets can be catered for, the routes, where buses depart from, and more. By (or before) the end, you’ll be able to book your perfect trip aboard Brigit’s afternoon tea bus in London!

Brigits Bakery Bus Tour two ladies on the bus.

Book a Brigits Bakery Bus Tour [+ Alternative Options]

Brigits Bakery Bus Tours

First up, let’s take a look at the bus tour options offered by Brigit’s Bakery in London. There are five main options available, as well as seasonal specials.

Classic London Sightseeing Tour

Best for first-timers

Days and times: Daily at midday, 12.30pm, 2.30pm, 3pm, and 5pm
Duration: 1.5 hours
Departs from: Victoria Coach Station (closest tube Victoria)
Food: Sandwiches, savouries, cakes, pastries, and scones
Drinks: Water, selection of teas and coffees, or hot chocolate
Ages: 5+

The classic afternoon tea tour is the one we first tried and tested ourselves. As we did, you’ll board a vintage 1960s Routemaster double decker bus for a 90-minute tour including essential city sights such as the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Marble Arch, Nelson’s Column, Downing Street, and St James’s and Hyde Parks.

A range of traditional and contemporary savoury and sweet treats are served, including the likes of savoury muffin, seasonal quiche, lemon meringue tart, chocolate cupcake, and of course freshly baked scones with jam and clotted cream.

Click here to book the classic London B Bakery bus tour

Monopoly Tour

Best for board-gamers

Days and times: Thursday to Sunday at 1pm, 4pm, and 7pm
Duration: 1.5 hours
Departs from: Somerset House (closest tube Embankment)
Food: Sandwiches, savouries, and scones; plus Monopoly-themed cakes and pastries
Drinks: Water, selection of teas and coffees, or hot chocolate; plus optional sparkling wine or champagne (extra cost)
Ages: 5+

Take this twist on the classic tour and you can play a digital version of the much-loved board game while you travel. And tuck into an array of sweet and savoury delights, of course. Some – like the Pass GOlden brownie or Fleet Street red macaron – have a Monopoly theme.

The tour also brings the Monopoly board to life by passing places from the game, in addition to the usual London sights. These include Fleet Street, Mayfair, Pall Mall, Piccadilly Circus, The Strand, and Trafalgar Square.

Click here to book the Monopoly B Bakery bus tour of London

Bombay Sapphire Gin Lovers’ Tour

Best for G&T drinkers

Days and times: Friday or Saturday at 5.30pm or 6.30pm
Duration: 1.5 hours
Departs from: Victoria Coach Station (closest tube Victoria) or Trafalgar Square (closest tube Charing Cross)
Food: Sandwiches, savouries, and scones; plus gin-infused cakes and pastries
Drinks: Water, selection of teas and coffees, or hot chocolate; plus gin and tonic
Ages: 18+

Book the gin lovers’ tour and you’ll board a historic Routemaster bus to tour the streets of London in style. Following a similar 90-minute route to the classic tour, this one’s available on weekends, and of course is for adults only!

The menu offers gin-infused sweet treats, such as fruit tart with gin cream on the side, and cakes made with lemon curd or lime jelly with added gin.

Click here to book the gin B Bakery bus tour of London

Paddington Tour

Best for bear fans

Days and times: Daily at 12.30pm, 3pm or 5.30pm
Duration: 1.5 hours
Departs from: Trafalgar Square (closest tube Charing Cross)
Food: Sandwiches, savouries, cakes, pastries, scones – and a marmalade sandwich
Drinks: Water, selection of teas and coffees, or hot chocolate
Ages: 5+

Sample the best marmalade sandwich ever by booking your seat on the Paddington afternoon tea tour. There’s also plenty of other delicious goodies for those aged five plus to scoff. An animated guide to London, led by everyone’s favourite bear, is provided on each table, too.

Between early November and early January, you can also see the sparkling Regent Street Christmas Lights by choosing the 5.30 departure slot.

Click here to book the Paddington B Bakery bus tour of London

Peppa Pig Tour

Best for little ones

Days and times: Daily at 12.15pm or 2.45pm (and sometimes 5.30pm)
Duration: 1.5 hours
Departs from: Somerset House (closest tube Embankment)
Food: Peppa Pig themed sandwiches, savouries, cakes, pastries, and scones
Drinks: Water, selection of teas and coffees, or hot chocolate
Ages: 2+

Young fans will love seeing the sights of London in 90 minutes while tucking into an assortment of Peppa Pig themed goodies. There’s the likes of Daddy Pig’s margherita pizza as well as sandwiches and other savouries. For dessert, expect child-friendly treats such as Mummy Pig’s Strawberry Macaron or Suzy Sheep’s Chocolate Truffle.

Every table has a tablet showing a Peppa Pig animation, guiding kids around the city sights. Children also get to take away a Peppa Pig travel mug and activity book.

Click here to book the Peppa Pig London B Bakery bus tour

Seasonal specials

If the five options listed above aren’t enough, there’s also pop up tours that run at different times of the year. Such as Valentine’s, St Patrick’s Day, Mother’s Day, Easter, Father’s Day, 4th July, Halloween, Christmas, and Grinchmas tours.

Brigit’s Bakery Bus Tour Practical Pointers

To help you decide whether or not this London bus tour and afternoon tea combo is for you, here’s some practical information on how it all works.

Route

The classic and gin lovers’ route will take you past the following places of interest.

Albert Memorial
Big Ben
Buckingham Palace
10 Downing Street
Green Park
Harrods
Horse Guards Parade
Houses of Parliament
Hyde Park
Kensington Palace
National History Museum
Nelson’s Column
Royal Albert Hall
Science Museum
Notting Hill
Marble Arch
Mayfair
The Ritz
St James Palace
Trafalgar Square
V&A Museum
Westminster Abbey
Whitehall

The exact routes for other tours can vary. Monopoly tours include Fleet Street, Pall Mall, and The Strand, for example.

Paddington and Peppa Pig tours, meanwhile, might take in Borough Market, St Paul’s Cathedral, and Tower Bridge.

Click here to book the classic B Bakery bus tour of London

Special diets

Brigit’s Bakery bus tours can cater for a range of dietary requirements, summarised as follows.

Can be catered for:

Vegan
Vegetarian
Gluten-free
Halal

Cannot be catered for:

Nut-free
Peanut-free
Coeliacs
Combination of vegan & gluten-free
Combination of dairy and gluten-free

Please note:

The gluten-free menu may contain traces of gluten
Gluten free and vegan teas cost extra
Email all allergies to info@b-bakery.com and await confirmation

Good to know

Here are some general, good-to-know nuggets of information to help you plan your tour.

Advance booking is required to avoid disappointment
Arrive 20 minutes before departure to board and so that the bus leaves on time
There are no toilets on board, except for emergency use on the Peppa Pig bus only
One wheelchair-accessible bus is available; call 020 3026 1188 to book
Children aged under 5 are not allowed, except over 2s on the Peppa Pig bus only
Personal items are carried at your own risk
Lids should always be kept on hot drinks for safety reasons
Smoking in not permitted on board
There is a Brigit’s Bakery on Chandos Place in Covent Garden
Afternoon tea pick-up and delivery is available from the Covent Garden bakery
Private hire is available for the buses and at the party room in Covent Garden

DID YOU KNOW? Brigit’s Bakery also supplies catering for hotels and restaurants in the London area!

Brigit’s Bakery Bus Tour – Our Experience

It was a warm, but not sweltering, day in sunny June when two of the London Travel Planning team boarded the B Bakery bus. Bound for the classic sightseeing tour, we joined our fellow travellers at Victoria Coach station, an easy 300-metre stroll from the tube station.

Dressed up or dressed down, anything goes on Brigit’s buses, and the passengers were a mixed bunch of locals, Brits on a big day out, and foreign tourists. We were glad to have arrived 20 minutes early, as advised, as the red Routemaster pulled away right on time.

There was plenty of space for the two of us at the table. Service was efficient and friendly, and the assortment of savoury edibles, sweet treats, and scones clearly freshly-prepared. No stale or curling crusts here, thank you very much. The only omission was the tinkling of cutlery on china: for safety reasons drinks must be consumed from the lidded cups provided.

As you might expect, there were almost too many cakes and scones to count, let alone scoff. But these were very nicely balanced indeed by a great selection of savoury goodies, which included mini quiches, pretzels, and savoury muffins, as well as the obligatory finger sandwiches. The pretty cakes and pastries, meanwhile, tasted every bit as good as they looked.

With lots to catch up on, we London-lovers barely needed to glance out of the window, but were duly entertained by foreigners’ gasping and gawping at the likes of Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Harrods, and Hyde Park.

The 90 minutes passed by in the blink of an eye, or so it seemed. What couldn’t be devoured – and we certainly did our best – was duly packed into takeaway cartons to sustain us later that day. Or shared with our families, if they were really lucky.

Do we recommend Brigit’s Bakery Bus? Heck yes. Combining afternoon tea and the city sights with a ride on a Routemaster was a stroke of pure genius – and nobody does it better than Brigit’s.

Which Brigit’s Bakery Bus Tour will you take?

So which will it be – the classic, Bombay Sapphire, Monopoly, Paddington, or Peppa Pig tour? Or perhaps you’d prefer a seasonal special?

Whatever you want from an afternoon tea and a sightseeing bus tour of London, we guarantee you will be left smiling after taking any of the Brigit’s Bakery tours. Not to mention very, very full indeed…

Click here to book the classic Brigits Bakery bus tour of London

Read next

Best places in London for afternoon tea (not on a bus!)
15 Best Bus Tours of London Reviewed (Ultimate guide)
18 Best food tours in London

Brigits Bakery Bus Tour Guide & Review | Afternoon Tea on Board a London Bus

Book a Brigits Bakery Bus Tour [+ Alternative Options]