The Ghost Bus Tours – Review – ★★★★
History lessons don’t come much more irreverent than The Ghost Bus Tours – perfect family fun on a dark night in the capital.
The Ghost Bus Tours | Daily Departures from 8 Northumberland Avenue | £24 (Family & Discount Tickets Available)
Several years ago, probably mid-dash across a wet and windy Trafalgar Square, several family members spotted the odd sight of an old, black, Routemaster bus rounding the corner from Northumberland Avenue onto the Strand, velvet window curtains swinging and miniature lamps tipping backwards and forwards. In place of the expected advertising for a new cinema release or some such, the side of the bus declared itself as host to The Ghost Bus Tours of London.
Fast-forward to Betwixtmas 2021, at the end of a year resolutely lacking in much fun and frivolity (though, arguable, not as bad as 2020…), and we finally took a trip aboard the Ghost Bus with aforementioned family hoping for little more than some comic relief.
Reader, The Ghost Bus Tours are that rare mainstream tourist experience – they deliver! Our host/conductor for the evening, Charlie Ballentine, gamely and enthusiastically led us on a gruesome yet merry tour of some of central London’s haunted hot-spots, with the bus itself playing the second half of a thoroughly entertaining double act. Entertaining, yes: jokes (mostly puerile, all funny), moments of the finest hammy drama, and even some impromptu improv ‘magic’. But also – brace yourselves – informative. You’ll learn something with Ghost Bus Tours: interesting facts about grizzly deaths and ensuing ghostly apparitions which you can pass off as your own knowledge when next you have occasion to show off.
The Ghost Bus Tours experience is ideal for anyone who feels like they’ve done it all in London – or, for those with out-of-towners to entertain for an hour or so. Take your best sense of humour, and leave any distaste for ill-fitting curtains or toilet humour at home for the night. Oh, and keep an eye and ear out for mysterious happenings – there might be more passengers aboard than you think…
I am Joint Editor at To Do List. I like: nice pubs, film marathons, not doing real marathons, bad comedy, plays/musicals with shorter second halves, and the Oxford comma.
