Frequently Asked Questions

For private or corporate events… Weddings… Birthdays… Business… Social Occasions… Hire an open top bus with or without a LIVE guide! Why not hire a bus for a filming project? Contact us for more details. Tour can be tailored to your requirements.

Call 01865 790 522 or email info@citysightseeingoxford.com

We offer commentary notes for customers who are hard of hearing. Please ask your driver for a copy.

A 45-minute “Stepping Through Oxford” Walking Tour is included in the price of the Open Top tour ticket (subject to availability). It can also be bought as a standalone tour at £8.00 for adults and £4.00 for children. Due to popularity, we, unfortunately, cannot guarantee availability on any specific tour.

If you choose not to take the walk, the bus will continue on our normal route and a recorded commentary will be available in the Guides absence.

Find out more about our Walking Tours.

All sales are final and tickets cannot be exchanged or money refunded by City Sightseeing – please see our full T&C’s.

We endeavour to make our vehicles inclusive to all of our customers and this includes making them as accessible as we can for disabled people and those with buggies.  We are therefore working hard to ensure our entire fleet of buses meets the needs of those of our passengers who use wheelchairs or are in buggies. All of our vehicles are able to accommodate wheelchairs, approved mobility scooters, prams and buggies. Whilst we welcome these on board for travel, it is at the discretion of the driver as to whether or not there is enough space available. If you are unsure of the suitability of your wheelchair, mobility scooter or buggy, contact us and we can arrange for a test to take place at our garage.

Wheelchairs, mobility scooters, prams and buggies must not block the gangway of our buses or coaches at any time and the dimensions of any mobility scooter must be in line with the requirements according to the bus’s safety limits.  It is up to the driver to decide if there is sufficient space and his/her decision is final: Your driver has the right to, therefore, refuse access if he or she feels that there is insufficient space or that there is a risk that, by letting on board such vehicles, this may be to the detriment of the other passengers’ safety.

We would kindly ask all of our customers, where necessary, to keep the wheelchair dedicated space free and, if you board with a buggy or pram and to the extent that it is possible for you to do so, to fold and store them in the luggage space. We wish to ensure our services are as inclusive as possible and we do therefore appreciate your assistance in permitting those with wheelchairs, mobility scooters, prams and buggies to use our buses. Where it is reasonable to do so in the circumstances, the driver will require non-wheelchair users to vacate the spaces and require, for example, that such non-wheelchair users move to a different part of the bus or even refuse to drive on until space is made available for those persons in wheelchairs.

It goes without saying that we will ensure that our drivers and our vehicles comply with the laws applicable to those who are disabled or using buggies.  This includes ensuring our vehicles are equipped with appropriate bus lowering systems or the appropriate folding or retractable steps and these must not be operated by anyone other than the driver or conductor whenever they consider that a disabled person will need the system to get on or off our buses. Wheelchair users who wish to alight at the next stop can use the bell push near the wheelchair space which lets the driver know that the ramp must be lowered at the next stop.

Yes, we operate tours 7 days a week (with some seasonal exceptions)! Check our Timetable and Prices page for more information.

They will always be bright red buses with the City Sightseeing logo on the side, along with the tour location. Our tour buses seat 75 (45 upstairs and 30 downstairs). Most are wheelchair accessible and many offer half-covered upper decks – to guard against the traditional British Summer.

Yes, children of all ages will enjoy the fun of an open-top double-decker bus. We also offer a very popular “kids’ commentary” with quizzes which many adults enjoy too!

Multi-lingual (14 languages) recorded commentaries are available on all tours, with selected departures also offering live (English-speaking) guides

Multi-lingual (14 languages) recorded commentaries are available on all tours, with selected departures also offering live (English-speaking) guides. Kids’ commentary is now also available!

All of our buses are equipped with the latest contactless payment-enabled ticket machines, meaning we now accept all Visa, Mastercard and Maestro credit and debit cards with the contactless symbol, including those issued outside the UK, for transactions up to £100 in value. You can also use Google Pay or Apple Pay on your smartphone or smartwatch to make the payment.

Credit and debit cards can also be used to purchase tickets at our sales outlets at High Street Travel Shop and Carfax Tower, and at the Oxford Bus Company Travel Shop at Gloucester Green coach station.

You can also use your credit or debit card, or your PayPal account with our online booking system. To book online now please click here.

Yes, your ticket gives you unlimited hop on, hop off travel on our tours for either 24 or 48 hours from the date of issue. When re-boarding simply scan the QR code on your ticket on the bus ticket machine and wait for the green light.

Your ticket also gives you discounts!

• 10% discount on your food and drink at Fernando’s Cafe
• £1 off entry to Oxford Castle Unlocked
• 10% discount off your next City Sightseeing tour anywhere else in the world over the next 12 months.

Yes! We have 10% off all food and drink at Fernando’s Cafe-Carfax for our ticket holders.

Individual times are shown on our Bus Timetables & Prices page, but typically, our city tour lasts approximately 1 hour and departs every 10 – 15 minutes in the summer and every 20 – 30 minutes in the winter. The first tour begins at 09:30 and our last tour starts at 18:00 in the summer, 16:00 in the winter.

If you are unfamiliar with Oxford or its attractions, we recommend you take one complete circuit and listen to the commentary. You can then decide which places of interest you may want to visit, so you can Hop-off to see them up-close to then hop back on the bus. You can take as many loops on the bus as you wish within your valid ticket period!

Yes, the tour commentary is associated to the stops, so if you stay on the bus you will always hear the full commentary. The main departure point for our tour is Oxford Rail Station but customers are welcome to join and leave us at any of our 20 stops.

Yes! Because of the beauty of our Hop-on Hop-off policy, you are able to board the bus at any stop on the route to begin your tour.

Yes, although we do run a slightly reduced service between September and March.

The only dates that the City Sightseeing Oxford bus tour won’t operate on are the 25th December, 26th December and 1st January.

For full details please check our Bus Tour Timetables & Prices page.

Yes. Our city tour lasts approximately 1 hour and departs every 10 – 15 minutes in the summer and every 20 – 30 minutes in the winter, see our timetables.

City Sightseeing tour operate on fixed routes, arranged in such a way they go through key points of interest and attractions in Oxford. Our Hop-on Hop-off stops are carefully selected to enable you to visit these places of interest. You can simply Hop-on or Hop-off at any of the 20 stops on the tour – keep a hold of your ticket for reboarding!

Our city tour lasts approximately 1 hour and departs every 10 – 15 minutes in the summer and every 20 – 30 minutes in the winter, see our timetables (please be aware of potential traffic delays around the route after 4:30PM.)