Black Cab Tours of London — Frequently Asked Questions
Everything travellers ask before they hire a cab and its driver for an afternoon, answered from the operators' own listings and, where the question is about the trade rather than a product, from Transport for London. Where a figure moves, the answer says so and names who publishes it.
What it is, and what it costs
What is a black cab tour of London, exactly?
You hire a licensed London taxi and its driver for a set number of hours, and the driver guides. There is no coach, no group of strangers and no fixed departure time — the cab comes to you, works a route you can change as you go, and takes you back. Every driver holds a Transport for London taxi licence, which means they have passed the Knowledge of London.
How much does a black cab tour of London cost?
Fares start at $304 for a two-hour run and reach $1,286 for a nine-hour day out in the Cotswolds. Most of the three- and four-hour tours sit between $420 and $700. Those are prices for the whole cab, not per person, on every listing here except one.
Is the price per person or for the whole cab?
For the whole cab, on all but one of the tours listed here. A fare of $430 divided between five travellers is $86 each, which is the arithmetic that makes this format work for families and groups and makes it expensive for a solo traveller. The Cotswolds day tour is the exception and is quoted per person.
How many people fit in a London black cab?
Six on most of these tours, five on a handful. The cap is set by the vehicle and by the operator, and it is published on each listing, so check it before you book for a party of five or more. A wheelchair user aboard may reduce the number of other seats.
Do I need to tip the driver?
It is not included and it is not expected. Gratuities are excluded on almost every tour here, and one of them adds that a tip is always at your discretion. If your driver has rearranged the route twice and taken your photographs, most travellers round the fare up.
Are there hidden extras?
Not on the fare itself, but plan for three things that are never included: entry to anything you go inside, food and drink, and gratuities. Two of these tours add a surcharge for pickup outside central London, and one names Heathrow and Gatwick in particular. Fuel and parking are inside the fare on several of them, which is worth checking when you compare two similar tours.
Booking and cancelling
How far ahead should I book?
A week is comfortable for most of the year, and Christmas is not most of the year. The lights tours run for about seven weeks and the good evening slots go first, so book those in October if you can. One operator confirms within 48 hours rather than instantly, so leave a margin if your dates are fixed.
Can I cancel if my plans change?
Yes. Every tour listed here refunds in full if you cancel at least 24 hours before the start time, which is the operators' own policy and is stated on every one of them. Inside 24 hours the terms are the operator's, so read them at the point of booking.
What happens if my flight is delayed?
Tell the operator as early as you can — most will move the start time if the cab is not already committed. If it is, the 24-hour cancellation window is what protects you, so a delay you know about the day before costs nothing. Only one listing here collects at an airport, which is the one to choose if your day starts at a terminal.
Is there a minimum number of passengers?
No. Because the fare hires the cab rather than a seat, one traveller can book any of these tours — it simply costs the same as it would for six. If you are travelling alone and want the price to make sense, the two-hour run is the one to look at.
Pickup, routes and the day itself
Where does a black cab tour pick me up?
At an address you choose in central London, on all but one of them. Four operators publish the postcodes they cover — E1, E2, EC1 to EC4, N1, NW1, NW8, SE1, SE11, SE16, SE17, SW1, SW3 to SW7, SW10, W1, W2, W8 to W11, W14, WC1 and WC2. One tour has no pickup at all and meets you at Sloane Square Underground station instead.
Can the cab collect me at Heathrow?
One of these tours will: it lists sixteen pickup points including Heathrow, Heathrow Terminal 5, Terminals 2 and 3, and London City. Two others say in terms that they do not collect at any London airport. Two more will quote for an airport or a port on request, usually with a surcharge.
Can the tour start and end at different addresses?
On several of them, yes, and two say so outright. It is worth asking for: a tour that finishes near your dinner reservation rather than back at your hotel buys you an extra hour of the evening. Say where you want to end when you book, not on the day.
Can I choose where we go?
Yes, on almost all of them. Most of these tours publish a route and then treat it as a starting point — you can hand the driver a list, ask to swap a stop, or leave the whole thing to them. The exceptions are the themed tours, where the route is the product.
How long should I book for?
Two hours places the main landmarks and settles where everything is. Three to four hours adds time out of the cab at the stops that hold you. Six hours covers the city end to end with a lunch stop, and nine takes you out of London altogether.
What happens if it rains?
Very little. You are in a heated vehicle for most of the time and the photo stops are optional, which is the single biggest advantage this format has over a walking tour or an open-top bus. Bring a coat for the stops you do want to make, and carry on.
What happens if we are late for the pickup?
One tour here publishes the answer: the driver waits twenty minutes past the start time and calls you before leaving. The others do not publish a figure, so treat twenty minutes as the working assumption and message the operator if you are running behind. The clock starts at the booked time, not when you get in.
Will we see the Changing of the Guard?
Possibly, and only with an early start. The King's Guard changes at Buckingham Palace on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 11am, with the soldiers gathering from about 10am, and one these tours sells a 9am pickup specifically to be in place for it. The schedule changes at short notice, so check it on the day and tell your driver it matters to you.
Can we get out of the cab at the stops?
Yes — that is what a stop is. The published itineraries set aside anything from five minutes at a passing landmark to ninety at Windsor Castle, and the driver waits. Some stops on some routes are drive-pasts rather than stops, and the listings mark which.
Can we eat or drink in the cab?
Ask your driver first. On one of these tours nothing may be eaten or drunk in the vehicle without prior agreement, another includes coffee and comfort breaks in the run, and a third welcomes you to bring your own drinks and snacks aboard. Bottled water is included on about half of them.
Is the driver a qualified guide?
Every driver is a licensed London taxi driver, which means they have passed the Knowledge of London. Some hold a separate tourist-guiding badge on top of that, and one tour here names the badges it employs: Blue Badge, City of London, City of Westminster and Clerkenwell and Islington. The rest guide as licensed cabbies, which is what the trade has always done.
The cab and the driver
What is the Knowledge of London and does my driver have it?
It is the examination every London taxi driver has to pass, and yes. Transport for London sets 320 routes in a book that candidates must learn, along with the streets and landmarks within a quarter-mile of each end of every one, across a six-mile radius of Charing Cross. TfL says it typically takes three to four years.
What is the difference between a black cab and a minicab?
A black cab is a hackney carriage: it can be hailed on the street, it runs on a meter, and its driver has passed the Knowledge. A minicab has to be booked in advance through a licensed operator and its driver has not. Every tour listed here uses a licensed hackney carriage.
Are black cab tours wheelchair accessible?
Every licensed London taxi is. Transport for London requires it: "All taxis licensed by us are required to be wheelchair accessible." One operator goes further and publishes a hearing induction loop and a microphone system between the passenger compartment and the driver, and notes that a wheelchair aboard may reduce the number of other passengers.
Are there child seats or boosters in a London taxi?
No. There are no booster seats in London taxis, and the law does not require them in a licensed hackney carriage. A couple of them add that infants must travel on a lap, and one offers infant seats. Ask when you book if this decides the tour for you.
Can I bring a pushchair?
Yes on most of them. Most of these tours are listed as stroller accessible, and the shape of a London taxi means a folded pushchair travels easily. A couple say nothing either way, so ask rather than assume.
Are London black cabs electric now?
Increasingly. Since 1 January 2018 every taxi presented for licensing in London for the first time has had to be Zero Emission Capable, and older diesel cabs come off the road at 12 or 15 years depending on their engine. One tour here sells the electric cab, with its panoramic glass roof, as the point of the product.
Do these tours include entry to anything?
Not to anything in London. Not one of these tours includes admission to the Tower, St Paul's, Westminster Abbey or anywhere else, and one says so in its own exclusions block: this is external sightseeing. Two of the day trips do include entry to a Cotswolds farm.
Inclusions, tickets and the destinations
Is Windsor Castle admission included?
No. Windsor Castle entry is excluded, and that exclusion is stated twice on the booking page. Buy your entry from the Royal Collection Trust before you travel, because timed slots sell out and the cab's six hours do not stretch to a queue. The published route allows ninety minutes at Windsor Castle and ninety at St George's Chapel.
Is lunch included on the Cotswolds day?
No. The itinerary sets aside an hour at a village pub in Swinbrook and the highlights block describes a traditional pub lunch, but the meal is not in the includes block and refreshments are excluded. Carry the price of lunch, and tell your guide if anyone in the party needs a specific kind of menu.
When do the Christmas lights tours run?
Between the November switch-on and early January, which is about seven weeks. The displays on Oxford Street, Regent Street, Bond Street and Carnaby Street are the fixed points of every route, and both tours run after dark, when London is dark by four in the afternoon. Book early: the good evening slots go first.
What should I bring?
A coat for the stops, a card for lunch and entry fees, and a camera you actually like using. Bottled water is included on about half the tours and snacks on one. If you are travelling with small children, bring what you would carry in a car, because the cab carries no booster seats.
Still deciding?
What each landmark gives you from the kerb is on what a tour stops at. What travellers made of the drivers is on the reviews page.
Most of the rest comes back to one pair: how many hours, and whether you want a theme. Each gets a page of its own. Which tour to book settles the format, and what one costs does the arithmetic that makes a per-group fare make sense.
Before you book, the planning page covers what the fare buys and the pickup page covers where a cab may collect you. If you would rather just look, the private black cab tours of London are set out with their hours, their caps and their fares on Black Cab London Tours.
Got your answer?
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead, on every tour listed here.
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