London Duck Tours

Booked this with a few friends and had a blast! The tour guide was quite entertaining and it was a great way to see many of the «sites» in London. My only gripe is that the tickets are a bit pricey.

Better than any other tour I took. Fun, informative and funny. Our guide was a treat and the boat itself was full of history. I would suggest this over any other tour including double-​decker etc.

My boyfriend and I took the duck tour in late August on the first full day of our UK vacation. It was my first time in the city. My boyfriend is from England and spent many years working in London, but had never done the Duck tours.
Nathan was our guide and Steve was our driver. They were both excellent. We sat up front (tip– arrive early, as the seats are first come/​first serve based on arrival) and both Nathan and Steve were very chatty with us. When the duck was on the Thames, Nathan walked around the boat and greeted all of the passengers, answering questions and taking pictures.
The tour was extremely informative, with loads of facts, History and quirky stories. We learned a lot and got a great overview of many of the major tourist sites. I’m glad to have done this early in our vacation, as I felt it gave me a good idea as to the layout of the city and helped me plan the things that I wanted to see later on.
One big negative was the driver for the Thames portion of the trip. Steve switched out with a guy who was certified to take the duck on the water. This driver was miserable. He didn’t say a word to any of us, never smiled. it brought down the tone of the outing and made the portion on the Thames, a lot less fun. We were happy to get off the water and have Steve back!
The vehicles are super cute and it’s a fun tour. It was well worth our time and money.

A unique way of having a tour around the big smoke. This yellow vehicle chauffeurs you around the streets, whilst you take in the sights and smells of London learning lots of facts along the way.
The tour then takes a new turn with the amphibian vehicle plunging into the River Thames where the tour continues.
Booking in advance on their website is advisable, as you can rarely rock up on the day and get on.
A fun few hours for the whole family.

I learnt some new info about london and saw buildings i hadnt noticed before, despite born n grown in london i have never been on a tourist tour so this was very iformative for me and i would definetly recommend this as you spend 45 mins on land and 30 mins in the thames. Yes this is a bus boat from the 1940s. The commentary is in english so could be a problem for non english speaking tourists.
my sons absolutely loved this trip as they are rather quirky modes of transport and a novel way for them to learn history, look out for any deals

Within a minute of the bus setting off I was regretting taking the trip. The tour guide was so irritating, I wish I’d taken my mp3 player with me. The speaker system was also so loud that I could hardly speak to my 5yr old who felt so overwhelmed by the din that he covered his ears; the tour guide never shut up. Hugely overpriced, £40 for an adult and small child! Rubbish commentary with bad jokes, I would not recommend.

Within a minute of the bus setting off I was regretting taking the trip. The tour guide was so irritating, I wish I’d taken my mp3 player with me. The speaker system was also so loud that I could hardly speak to my 5yr old who felt so overwhelmed by the din that he covered his ears; the tour guide never shut up. The circuit itself is merely a peek at Westminster and the water experience OK but brief and uninspired. Hugely overpriced, £40 for an adult and small child! Rubbish commentary with bad jokes, I would not recommend.

Der Preis war es wert. Allein die Einfahrt in die Themse macht riesig Spaß! Ein wunderbares Erlebnis, vor allem für Kinder. Mag sein, dass man bei anderen Sightseeing-​Touren mehr sieht, aber darum geht es hier ja nicht. Der Weg ist bei den Duck Tours das Ziel! Noch ein Tipp: Man sollte sich eine Pullover mitnehmen. Es ist mitunter etwas zugig, wenn alle Rollos hochgebunden sind.

took my 72 year old mum and she loved it. Massive cheer as we entered the water. Bit scary when you see the Thames cm’s away from the side of the DUCK. Great fun

We had a great time on this tour. No, it’s not high culture or even a great bus tour. It’s just fun. A must for families. Yes, it’s pricey, but do the British Museum and a park the next day (plenty of free stuff, but for the most part everything touristy in London is going to have a steep price tag when taking a family.)
The operation is well-​managed. Bookings made online, clear queue points, departures on time. The departure location next to the London Eye made it easy to do both in one fun afternoon.
Book this with your kids and have fun!

I was seriously left trying to swim by the duck!
We took the Duck Tour excited to be a «tourist» in London! We missed half of the actually London tourist spots (Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, etc!!!). There were roads closed and were weren’t informed until we were driving away from the starting point.
THEN, when we made our not-so-«dramatic» entrance in to the River Thames… it became dramatic! Our duck didn’t work! We ended up having to be rescued by Fire & Rescue and the British Coast Guard.
Make sure you check to see if you’ll see the 12 sights listed on the brochure because we only saw 4! Thankfully, we did get half of our money back.

What a way to see London!
The Duck Tour leaves from Chicheley Street behind the London Eye. The Ducks are refurbished original WWII amphibious vehicles, made by the American military to transport troops for the D-​Day landings in 1942. We were surprised that it held up so well– especially when we entered the water with a splash!
The tour was much better than a standard bus tour although we could have spent more time on the water and less time in traffic. Even if you have seen the sights before, this is an experience you cannot miss!

I had a wonderful time with the qype team on this yesterday. It was a fantastic experience and i learnt some new information about london. I would highly recommend this tour

I was lucky enough to go on a qype event to try this out and i am so glad to have been picked, I had a great time.
I learnt some new info about london and saw buildings i hadnt noticed before, despite born n grown in london i have never been on a tourist tour so this was very iformative for me and i would definetly recommend this as you spend 45 mins on land and 30 mins in the thames. Yes this is a bus boat from the 1940s. The commentary is in english so could be a problem for non english speaking tourists.

Da ich schon seit Jahren in London wohne, ueben Stadtouren normalerweise keinen Reiz auf mich aus. Aber die Duck Tours sind anders und ich war schon eine Weile neugierig. Wie schoen also, dass das Event-​Team von Qype gestern zu einer Probefahrt einlud — ich hatte Glueck und durfte mit!
Unsere Fahrt hat 1.5 Stunden gedauert, was zum Teil am Feierabendverkehr auf der Rueckfahrt lag, aber eine gute Stunde dauert die Fahrt auf jeden Fall!
Ich wuerde die Tour Besuchern jederzeit empfehlen, da sie die wichtigsten Sehenswuerdigkeiten mitnimmt und es einfach witzig ist, mit dem Duck in die Themse zu plantschen. Der Start– und Endpunkt direkt hinter dem London Eye ist fuer Touristen ebenfalls ideal.
Der Tour Guide war auch gestern schlecht zu verstehen, was aber hauptsaechlich am gammeligen Mikro lag. Allerdings hat auch Bob wenig «Ruecksicht» auf Auslaender genommen und typsich-​englische Witze gerissen und traditionelle Lieder gesungen. Wirkte genauso urig wie das Gefaehrt selber und hat scheinbar niemandem wirklich die Freude genommen.

It’s my first event with QYPE Duck Tour. It’s was a wonderful experience a bus and a boat two in one. tours around many interesting landmark big ben and MI5 building and british historic empire building. then into the river thames once the duck into the river then the duck feets puddle us up the river if you can see in at the bottom of the duck bus/​boat lol. No sure thing it’s meika joke
we see london in different view.
i would say everyone should experience it’s at less once.
and many thank to kristian offer me a free place and the group is nice and friendly. at last a wonderful mexican meal and Beer Tasting at Tortilla.

I had a lovely afternoon out recently to see a very different side to London touring. The London Ducks are WWII amphibious vehicles that offer hardened tourists that elusive ‘something different’. These happy yellow bus /​boats cruise the capital and give an insight and photo ops of some of the best landmarks.
The tour starts at Waterloo behind the London Eye and sets off toward Westminster. The driver and guide perch at the front dispensing factual nuggets about the history of the city, and some of the outrageous, amusing and down-​right hard-​to-​believe historical happenings. Over Westminster Bridge and around Parliament Square, the ducks chug north up Whitehall to Trafalgar Square. Through St James via the ancient palace, bypassing Saville row and up Piccadillly to Hyde Park Corner. Around Buckingham Palace and back through Westminster and along Millbank, we pootled over Vauxhall Bridge taking in the MIs 5 and 6. Here the vehichle descends a ramp into the Thames. Surprisingly, the water level comes up really high against the sides and is slightly unnerving at first. The duck paddles slowly, its wheels still turnig deep underwater to propel it two bridges east to get a close-​up view of The Houses of Parliament. From here it’s a 180 degree turn and back to the ramp to leave the water and return to Waterloo to set down the passengers. The whole tour takes around 1 hour and is a much more exciting and interactive way to see the West End.
Along the way we heard stories of royals and prime ministers, villains and plotters. I’d certainly recommend this as a great add-​on or fun activiity for visitors or Londoners alike — I guarantee you’ll learn something new!

Following the good reviews that I read here about the Duck Tour I decided to give it a try. I went on my boyfriend’s birthday as I wanted to show him London from a different perspective.
The tour start near to the London Eye, the vehicles, are really funny: They were used in the second World Wide and are amphibious!
The first part of the tour (about 40 minutes) visits part of the city. The good point for me was that it doesn’t go to all the typical places, it is focused on St. James’ Park.
The second part of the tour (about 20 minutes) is in the Thames! It is really funny when the vehicle enter in the water.
The tour is very interesting as the tour guide explains small details of the places visited and make funny comments and jokes.
I think that the duck tour is a good way to see the city from a different point of view.

I didn’t believe it for a second. No way could a duck support me on a tour of London. They are not known for their strong backs.
The notion that I would be getting shown around by, or transported by an actual duck were soon put to rest when I saw that we would be getting shown around in an odd looking little yellow bus thing. Imagine my surprise when after driving around for a short while the driver decided to drive straight into the Thames River. Luckily, the odd little yellow bus thing actually turns into a boat, of sorts.
The reason this tour is so popular, I’d imagine, is because of exactly that; it’s a road vehicle that can turn into a boat. That novelty alone would compel almost anyone to shell out £19.
If you’re a tourist; then why not. If you’re going to do the bus tours, why not get on a weird yellow thing that also turns into a boat. But if you’re a local — then think twice. Because it wasn’t long into this tour that I realised I had just done what I promised myself I would never do; get an atypical tourist ride around London.
The novelty of being on the water wears off in about nine seconds. Especially when you have a really annoying know-​it-​all tour guide. And as the dude hogging the microphone with his really weird moustache tells you «and this is Westminster…» you can’t help but feel you would have been better off at home.
It’s not that there is anything fundamentally wrong with this tour, or my disgust that historic World War 2 boats have been turned into yellow tourist fodder — but simply, it just isn’t really all that good or worthy of your money.
Which brings me to my final point — which is certainly interesting. It turns out that these little yellow boat things are actually converted vehicles from the 1940’s that were used during World War 2. In fact, it’s entirely possible that this yellow thing that is showing you around London was a part of the D-​Day invasions on Normandy. As someone who World War 2 is very important to; I would much rather see these in museums in their original state than painted yellow and showing tourists around; but that’s just personal opinion.

At first I thought it would be a tourist trap and I did have my reservations about this tour. However once the tour started I was pleasantly surprised. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and entertaining with a good balance of history, trivia facts and jokes. But the real fun begins when the bus get into the water. Very enjoyable and will recommend for both tourists visiting and even locals.

Great fun and an interesting way to see the city.
Our guide was really funny and gave lots of funny and insightful information about London. It was great to take a trip down the Thames as you really do get a different perspective on the Palaces of Westminster and London.
I would like the tour to be a little longer but to be honest it’s much better than a double decker bus.

Having lived in London for some years, I find it hard to get excited about most tourist tours of the city any more. However, the Duck Tour offers something very different: an amphibious vehicle. This adds to the experience in two ways. First, you’re travelling around in a historic vehicle used in the World War II D-​Day landings. Its windows roll up in fine weather, it only seats about 30 people so tours are smaller and more personal, and the bright yellow vehicles are really eye-​catching so children can have fun waving at passers-​by.
Second, your tour combines land and water travel — in the same vehicle. First, you take a tour around the major landmarks in the conventional way; then you drive down a ramp alongside the MI6 building and into the water for a boat trip along the Thames. Driving straight into the river like that is somehow ridiculously exciting!
I’ve taken the tour twice, and found the guides to be really entertaining: they do their best to ensure that the trip is enjoyable even if you get stuck in the traffic or have to make a detour. People of all ages seem to have a lot of fun, making it particularly good if you are entertaining a mixed age group. Do make sure to book though: the tours can fill up well in advance.
Each tour lasts around an hour and a quarter, and takes in Westminster’s main sights such as the Houses of Parliament and Trafalgar Square. The booking office and departure point are, conveniently, just behind the London Eye.