Top Deck, Slow City: Five London Bus Lines Worth the Whole Route

London buses are not a compromise. They are the city's cheapest moving viewpoint: a top-deck seat with no booking fee, no commentary track and no obligation to pretend you are going anywhere important. The trick is to ride the right line all the way, not just use it to bridge two Tube stations. Choose a route that crosses several versions of London, sit upstairs at the front, and let the city unspool.

These five routes reward the long way round. They are not secret, but they are under-used as sightseeing. Ride end to end if you can, and break the journey where the neighbourhood changes character.

Before you board

Aim for off-peak: weekdays between 10am and 3pm, or early on a Sunday. Avoid 3-4.30pm, when school and commuter traffic collide, and avoid the first hour after dark if you want a window seat. In November, the sweet spot is early afternoon: enough light to see the terraces, roofs and parks, then a dusk finish. Pay with contactless. The Hopper fare means a bus change within the hour will not cost extra, so a broken journey is not a penalty.

Sit upstairs at the front if you can. If the front seats are taken, the front row of the side bench is the next best thing. Keep an eye on TfL for diversions. London's roads are never finished, and a route's charm is not improved by a replacement bus.

24: Hampstead Heath to Pimlico

This is the route for a London of steep streets and sudden skylines. From South End Green, the 24 climbs past the Heath's edge, drops into Camden's market crush, then runs straight through the West End and down to Westminster. You get Camden's brick and noise, Warren Street's quiet Georgian blocks, the theatre-land scrum around Tottenham Court Road, and then the full ceremonial hit of Trafalgar Square, Whitehall and Parliament Square.

Sit on the left heading south for the best river glimpses around Whitehall. Break at Tottenham Court Road for a coffee and a look at the Fitzrovia side streets, or stay on until Westminster and walk down to the river. The end at Pimlico is not glamorous, but it puts you near Tate Britain and the quiet Pimlico grid. Time it for late morning: the West End is awake but not yet heaving.

88: Clapham Common to Parliament Hill Fields

The 88 is a social cross-section in bus form. It starts by Clapham Common, runs through Stockwell and Vauxhall, crosses the river at Vauxhall, then heads via Pimlico, Westminster, Trafalgar Square and Oxford Circus before climbing to Camden and Parliament Hill Fields. In one ride you get suburb, riverside, government, shopping and Heath.

Stay upstairs and keep your eyes open after Vauxhall: the river appears quickly, then disappears behind buildings, then returns. Break at Vauxhall for a short riverside walk, or at Westminster if you want the bridge and the Abbey in one go. The northern end is the reward: Camden's canal-side bustle gives way to the quiet rise towards Parliament Hill. Get off at the top for one of London's best free views. Avoid the school-run hour; this route carries plenty of everyday life as well as sightseers.

38: Clapton Pond to Victoria

The 38 is a high-street route with a Georgian finish. From Clapton Pond it runs through Hackney and Dalston, then along Essex Road into Islington, past Angel, through Bloomsbury's squares and down through Piccadilly Circus to Victoria. It is a good route for seeing how London's inner north works: market streets, new-build blocks, old pubs, bus-stop bakeries and sudden pockets of money.

Break at Dalston for lunch, or at Angel for a canal-side wander. The Bloomsbury stretch is the quiet pleasure: townhouses, plane trees and the British Museum within a few minutes' walk. Sit on the left heading south for the best of the Bloomsbury facades. The final run into Victoria is not pretty, but it is useful. Ride it on a weekday early afternoon and you get the route at its most ordinary, which is exactly the point.

25: Ilford to Oxford Circus

This is the long one. The 25 runs from Ilford through Stratford, Bow, Mile End, Whitechapel, Aldgate and the City, then on to Holborn and Oxford Circus. It is not a scenic route in the postcard sense. It is a route through the machinery of London: suburbs, arterial roads, markets, hospitals, finance and law. That is why it is worth riding.

Allow around 90 minutes end to end, more at peak times. Break at Whitechapel for the market and the hospital streets, or at St Paul's for the cathedral and a walk down to the river. The City on a Sunday morning is empty and strange in the best way. Sit at the top front and watch the street names change from Essex to London proper. This is the route for anyone who wants to understand how the east end stitches into the centre.

159: Streatham to Paddington

The 159 is a river-and-pomp route disguised as an everyday bus. From Streatham it runs through Brixton, Kennington and Elephant and Castle, crosses Westminster Bridge, then passes Whitehall, Trafalgar Square, Oxford Circus, Marble Arch and on to Paddington. It gives you Brixton's market energy, the Imperial War Museum end of Kennington, the sudden grandeur of Westminster, and the green edge of Hyde Park.

Sit on the left heading north for the best river view as you cross Westminster Bridge. Break at Brixton for lunch, at Westminster for the bridge and the Abbey, or at Marble Arch for a walk into Hyde Park. The route is long enough to feel like a journey but short enough to do in an afternoon. Ride it in winter light and the final stretch along Edgware Road has a proper city-at-dusk glow.

The long way home

None of these routes needs a special occasion. That is the pleasure of them. A bus ride end to end gives you the city at street level and roof level at once: the shopfronts, the upstairs windows, the parks between buildings, the river appearing where you did not expect it. Pick one, take the front seat upstairs, and get off somewhere you have never had a reason to visit. The long way home is usually the better one.