Vintage double-decker ‘doubles up' on classic tours

The Classic Tour is operated by The Ghost Bus Tours, which runs the largest fleet of vintage Routemaster buses in London, York and Edinburgh has reported an unprecedented boom in tour sales as more and more Brits opt to take a ‘staycation’ rather than travel abroad in the run-up to Brexit.

The Classic Tour takes visitors to some of the UK’s most popular tourist hotspots and will double its London service from April 2019 in order to keep up with demand. It will offer twice as many tours per day with a traditional guide accompanying guests to various locations around the city on a vintage Routemaster bus for a 75 minute tour.

The lovingly maintained classic 1960s Double Decker Routemaster buses give visitors an open-top ride past the best attractions in the city including Buckingham Palace, the Shard, St. Paul’s Cathedral and the site of much media attention recently, No. 10 Downing Street.

This unique experience has become increasingly popular with Brits taking a break to the nation’s capital city rather than jetting off abroad – meaning the domestic tourism market is booming. This boom is thought to have been caused by the fluctuating British Pound and predicted delays to airports, Eurostar services and seaports during a period of considerable uncertainty for travellers.

Although the number of international tourists has fallen slightly to major cities where the Classic Tour and sister Ghost Bus Tour service operates, the gap has more than been filled with British visitors looking to discover more about the history and heritage of their home nation.

Not only does this uptake in domestic tourism help homegrown visitors appreciate some of the UK’s best-loved cities, but it is also helping to create more jobs for Brits working in the bus tour industry.

Ed Salter, Director from The Classic Tour said, “The demand for our classic bus tour in London has been nothing short of overwhelming in the past few months, so with this increase in popularity from visitors travelling to London for a break from all over the UK, we’d decided to double up on our current offering and add an additional bus to help more visitors discover more about some of London’s most popular sites and landmarks.

“Because of this, we’ve been able to bring another of our Routemaster fleet into regular use and helped create more employment opportunities which is great news for the business and London’s tourist economy as a whole too.”

To find out more about The Classic Tour and the attractions visited on the 75-minute tour route, visit https://www.theclassictour.com/