Tootbus – City guide

We decided to try the Toot Bus In London opposed to the more well known ones. Huge mistake. The buses did NOT follow any of the maps or app routes. The drivers kept making the same small routes. Which means the audio on the bus was useless. Zero explanation of anything. We finally had to insist they take us to St. Paul’s (not sure why the yellow line skipped it twice). We picked up the yellow line in the morning at Marble Arch and wanted to take it back after visiting Westminster Abby. We boarded the yellow line again ending up back at Westminster Abby after looping back after passing Buckingham Palace. Another smaller loop. We were told that they yellow bus doesn’t go to Marble Arch- even though the map and app shows it on the route. We had to pay for the underground again. Plus the bus drivers and the workers at the stops would talk so much at all of the stops the app and the times were useless. Side note- we are in out 50’s our kids in their 20’s … it wasn’t user error. Take Public Transportation… more reliable. Plus we had no guided tour anyway. Save your time and money

My wife left her phone on the bus and we didn’t realize it until the bus had pulled away. We walked over to a wonderful young man named Julian in a Tootbus uniform and asked for his help in retrieving the phone. He immediately called around on the radio and on his phone to try to locate the cell phone. We weren’t very confident that we’d get it back. Through Julian’s diligence, he was able to track it down and get the phone back to us while still doing his job selling tickets. What an amazing young man! Thank you Julian! You saved the day, my friend.

So as far as apps go this one is fine. The app shows you where you are in relation to their route/stops and shows where the busses are so you can gauge timing for pickup. Those are about the only good thing I can say about our experience with Toot. The tour itself was lousy! Usually the recording just played music, hardly any history, etc. Speaker quality wasn’t great. When they did have a little bit to say about a landmark it was typically not when the landmark was in sight, and gave no direction (on your left, just ahead on the right, etc) so you’re left trying to figure it out on your own. Sometimes there was no information at all, just the driver yelling out something indistinguishable. And we never did meet one nice driver. Honestly, just stay away. We purchased a 2-day ticket but the first day was so bad we won’t go back for the 2nd. Will be asked for a refund of the 2nd day for sure!