Sightseeing Buses In Britain

A boom in overseas tourists visiting Britain’s towns and cities and the advent of cheap long and short-haul flights, and the opening of the Channel Tunnel has meant sightseeing tour buses have become very popular. Bus companies started to offer tours of popular towns and cities, often using open-top buses. Edinburgh Corporation Transport had a long tradition of sightseeing tours using coaches and later open-top buses. Elsewhere, sightseeing tours took off in locations like Stratford-upon-Avon, York and Cambridge. As tourists came all year round it became viable to operate separate vehicles and invest in new buses. Deregulation of coach services from 1980 and bus services from 1985 allowed new operators to compete and also innovate. They added hop-on-hop-off tours, and taped commentaries in a variety of languages. Guide Friday started in a small way in Stratford-upon-Avon and spread nationwide. They were replaced by the City Sightseeing brand started by Ensignbus which operates internationally.