London Buses route 9

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Route 9 is a public bus service in London.

called "the best and cheapest bus tour of London" and "the oldest operating bus route in London"- WP - the eastern section (Aldwych to Liverpool Street) now covered by the 11, which might make a good itinerary itself.

high frequency and the number of landmarks served / viewable from the bus are reasons for its popularity with tourists.

Commons gallery

TfL bus leisure routes

route 9 tourist guide (TfL)

Understand

Overview

London Buses route 9 travels roughly 5 miles (8 km) through Inner West and Central London. Crossing three boroughs - Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea, and Westminster - the complete journey takes about one hour in average traffic on an average day. Expect eastbound journeys to take longer than this during the morning rush hour, and the same for westbound journeys in the early evening. The 9 operates a service frequency of every 7-11 minutes throughout its hours of operation, from just before 6AM until just after midnight. A similarly frequent night bus, the N9, takes over the route in the wee hours, but extends west from Hammersmith as far as Heathrow Airport, essentially replacing the Piccadilly line during its weeknight shutdown.

Exiting Hammersmith Bus Station, the eastbound number 9 drives the length of Hammersmith Road, past the Olympia London exhibition centre and onto Kensington High Street, along which sit the Design Museum and the entrance to Holland Park. From the gates of Kensington Palace, the bus continues along Kensington Road, straddling the southern boundary of Kensington Gardens and northern boundary of Albertopolis. Driving between the Royal Albert Hall and Albert Memorial, the bus continues eastward onto Knightsbridge, before crossing Hyde Park Corner to gain Piccadilly. Entering Central London, number 9 affords views of Green Park, The Ritz, Fortnum & Mason and Piccadilly Circus. Turning south onto Haymarket, the bus soon reaches Trafalgar Square and the exact centre of London. Turning east once more onto the Strand, the 9 passes West End theatres and The Savoy before reaching its final destination on Aldwych. Westbound buses use crescent-shaped Aldwych as a turning circle and drive past Somerset House before making the return journey to Hammersmith.

History

Origins

London Bus Routes.net

Longer versions in the past: east (now replaced by 11) and west (impossible due to Hammersmith Bridge)

The New Routemasters are among the newest vehicles on the network. As their name suggests, they were intended to emulate the original iconic AEC Routemaster bus, which served the capital from the 1960s until the 2000s. Boris Johnson's successful 2008 mayoral campaign included a pledge to "reintroduce the Routemaster"; the design was finalised by 2011, and 1,000 buses were manufactured throughout the 2010s. The new vehicles' curvy shape is certainly reminiscent of their predecessors', although the other feature (open back platform)... over budget

Geeky details

Transport for London contracts the day-to-day running of its buses to private companies, but maintains overall control of routes, timetables, and fares. TfL also imposes a strict brand identity, seen in the uniform use of the Johnston typeface on all bus stops and information boards, and the smart red paint job of its vehicles. Route 9 is contracted to London United, and runs on a fleet of 22 New Routemasters out of Stamford Brook bus garage on Chiswick High Road, about a mile west of Hammersmith. London United is a subsidiary of RATP, which is actually TfL's equivalent number in Paris, operating the French capital's buses, trams, and famous Métro. Eagle-eyed anoraks may geek out at the sight of the iconic London roundel and the RATP logo (a representation of the River Seine's flow through Paris, stylised to look like a woman's face turned upwards) displayed on the same vehicle.

To learn more about the past, present, and future of London's buses, a visit to the London Transport Museum is essential, and incidentally is one of the last stops on this itinerary.

Prepare

fares - daily cap £7.20 / £3.60 child 11-17, free 0-10

stop spacing, service frequency (repeated from Understand)

clothing / footwear

How to use / interpret this guide

This calling point is marked in the guide as Trafalgar Square (stop B)

Take note of the stop name (Trafalgar Square) and identifying letter (B), as well as the route numbers of the buses which serve the stop, and the direction of travel. The red roundel on a white background indicates that all buses must stop here, whereas a white roundel on a red background would mean that you need to signal to the driver in order to make the bus stop.

how long should the itinerary take?

Get in

See also: London#Get around

The version of the route described in this article starts at Hammersmith Bus Station, stop F, in inner West London – see London/Hammersmith and Fulham for specific district information. If you're doing the journey in reverse, you start at Aldwych / Somerset House, stop R – see London/Holborn-Clerkenwell.

By Tube

Depending on where exactly you're travelling from, Underground journey times from Central London to Hammersmith are about 15-20 min. The neighbourhood is served by two eponymous Tube stations, which are very close to one another but physically separate:

• 1 Hammersmith (District and Piccadilly lines) ( DIS   PIC ) station is underneath the bus station, which you access via an indoor shopping centre called The Broadway.
• 2 Hammersmith (Circle and Hammersmith & City lines) ( CIR   H&C ) station is on the far side of Hammersmith Broadway (a road, not the shopping centre) from its sister station. When you exit the ticket hall, turn left and immediately cross two sets of traffic lights to enter The Broadway centre.

The nearest station to Aldwych stop R is 3 Temple ( CIR   DIS ). When you come out the station, turn left to climb the stone steps, cross at the zebra crossing and walk up Arundel Street. After 170 m, at the top of the road, turn left onto the Strand and walk a further 150 m to reach the bus stop.

Other stations within a 1-km walk of Aldwych include:

• 4 Charing Cross ( BAK   NOR ) - use exit 1 and then walk east on the Strand for 700 m.
• 5 Covent Garden ( PIC ) - walk south-east via James Street, Floral Street, and Wellington Street (500 m). Cross the Strand at the traffic lights by the junction with Aldwych and Waterloo Bridge, then walk east for 200 m.
• 6 Holborn ( CEN   PIC ) - walk south on Kingsway (500 m), cross to the south side of Aldwych and turn left. Take the next right and use Melbourne Place as a shortcut to Strand, which you'll have to cross.

Route 9 calls at numerous other stations along its journey; see #Go for details.

If you're not sure how to reach any of these stations from where you are, Transport for London's journey planner is an essential ally.

By bus

Naturally, many other London bus routes serve 7 Hammersmith Bus Station, mostly from Central and other parts of West London. TfL have a live journey planner and a "spider" route map for the station. The bus station is split in two parts, the upper and lower, connected by a covered walkway; route 9 only calls at the upper section.

Due to their central location, Aldwych and Strand are served by routes from all over town. The two roads form a one-way system, meaning that buses heading north or east stop on Aldwych, while those heading south or west stop on the Strand. This is reflected in the 9, which starts its westbound journey on the Strand and ends its eastbound journey on Aldwych. See the "spider" map for details on where each bus stops.

If you're not familiar with the layout of London or its vast bus network, TfL's journey planner has got your back.

By bike

The entirety of route 9 passes through areas covered by the Santander Cycles bike hire scheme. Use the website or download the app to find a docking station near to where you're picking up the bus. Alternatively, you can take your own folded bike on any London bus, including the 9.

Other modes

You can reach Hammersmith or Aldwych on foot or by taxi or ride-hailing app. Click the links to see more about these modes in London. It is not advisable to try and reach the start by car.

Go

The route described here is the "inbound" version of the journey, from Hammersmith to Aldwych. Doing it this way round is partly practical: the longer Tube journey out to Hammersmith is over and done with straight away; traffic driving out of central London gets worse as the day goes on. But it also works narratively: from busy, but bland, Hammersmith, through genteel Kensington and into imperious Westminster, the architecture gets grander, the landmarks more impressive, and you end your journey right in the beating heart of things.

It is obviously possible to do the journey in reverse, but some of the westbound bus stops have different names and locations to the ones described here.

Hammersmith

The western end of route 9 is the bus station in Hammersmith, which is located between the two parts of the Underground station.

Easily the least interesting area served by the route, Hammersmith is a commercial and retail hub of west London rather spoilt by the roar of traffic from its many roads, as well as the shade cast by indifferent office blocks and the ghastly Hammersmith Flyover. You'd be forgiven for wanting to start your journey immediately, as things get much better further east, and if so you can skip the next two paragraphs. However, there are a handful of sights worth seeing if you don't mind crossing several busy roads on foot.

Exit the bus station to the south and cross the main road under the flyover right two o'clock. This takes you in front of the famous 1 Hammersmith Apollo, an art deco music and comedy venue, which has hosted everybody from Buddy Holly to Kanye West. If you continue past the theatre, take a left and walk down Queen Charlotte Street for approximately 350 m, you will earn a great view of the elegant 1 Hammersmith Bridge over the River Thames. Designed by Joseph Bazalgette and built from iron and steel in the 1880s, it marks the halfway point on the famous Oxford-Cambridge university boat race. The IRA tried, and failed, to blow it up three times in the 20th century.

Join the Thames Path briefly to reach Hammersmith Bridge Road and turn right, heading north once more back under the flyover. Follow the road right past a Victorian church. Cross Hammersmith Bridge Road at its junction with Queen Charlotte Street, taking pause at the 2 Rik Mayall Memorial Bench on the noisy, yet contemplative, traffic island, to reach the 2 Irish Cultural Centre, where you may pop in to see an exhibition of art from the Emerald Isle. Virtually every week of the year, there are film screenings, literature discussions and music performances. Before you head back into the bus station, there's just time to detour north, via King Street, to see Hammersmith's other well-known venue, the 3 Lyric Theatre. To fully appreciate the Lyric, you'll need a ticket for one of its plays, as it cleverly hides its grand 1890s auditorium inside a 1970s concrete box.

Hammersmith Bridge at dusk

To properly start your journey, you need to make your way to 1 Hammersmith Bus Station (stop F) (  CIR   DIS   H&C   PIC ). The number 9 exits the station via an unusual access way which briefly sees it driving on the right with oncoming traffic passing to the left. The bus turns onto Hammersmith Road, which takes it towards Kensington, passing by 2 Latymer Court (stop G), 3 Brook Green (stop H), and 4 North End Road (stop J). The arrival at 5 Kensington Olympia Station (stop K) ( ) heralds the first landmark you can see from the bus, the art deco frontage of 4 Olympia London exhibition centre, on the left. If you do attend an event there, be sure to look up at the cavernous arched iron-and-glass ceiling.

Kensington

One of the wealthiest neighbourhoods in the world, Kensington is a broad mix of exclusive residential districts, commercial centres and tourist attractions. Route 9 will take you past three of London's most celebrated parks, within sight of Europe's greatest concentration of cultural and scientific institutions, and will afford you a good vantage point from which to window shop in some of the world's most expensive retailers.

Pulling away from Olympia, number 9 crosses a bridge over the railway tracks. If you look north (left) here, you get a brief glimpse of Olympia Station with the possibility of spotting a Class 378 Capitalstar Overground or Class 377 Southern Railway EMU, or even an S-stock District line train. Once off the bridge, the bus enters Kensington, and the road continues as Kensington High Street, which delineates North Kensington from South Kensington. En route, the shopping parades and apartment buildings become progressively more bourgeois, and there are stops at 6 Holland Road (stop L) and 7 Warwick Gardens (stop W), but the next points of interest can be found by disembarking at 8 The Design Museum (stop Y).

About 100 m further along the high street on foot is the swish white block that is the 3 Design Museum itself (a must for anyone with even a passing interest in contemporary design) and beside it the grand gated entrance to 4 Holland Park, where a ruined stately home, formal and landscape gardens await. If you're not getting off, then both the museum and park gate are visible from the bus looking left. Also in the area are two noteworthy houses. To reach these from stop Y, walk back in the direction of Hammersmith and take the first right onto Melbury Road, noting the Victorian post box on the corner that suffered bomb damage in the Blitz. The first left after this (onto Holland Park Road) will get you to 5 Leighton House, the orientalist former home of Pre-Raphaelite artist Frederic (Lord) Leighton, now a neat local museum open at weekends. Continuing a bit further along Melbury Road, you'll be able to see the 6 Tower House, a French-style neo-Gothic mansion built by William Burges in the 1870s and owned since 1972 by legendary guitarist Jimmy Page, who reportedly outbid David Bowie at auction (the seller was none other than actor Richard Harris).

Back on the bus, once the Design Museum is in the rear window, Kensington High Street becomes more of, well, a high street and traffic often slows to a crawl. Tempted to get out and walk? Practically all of the next several stops have attractions in their near vicinity, and the distance between stops is only 200 m on average. Anyway, passengers who disembark at the next stop, 9 Phillimore Gardens (stop U) can take a stroll two blocks up the eponymous street to visit (on W, Sa and Su) 7 18 Stafford Terrace, the former family home of a Punch cartoonist which has been meticulously preserved as it would have been in 1899.

10 High Street Kensington Station (stop B) (  CIR   DIS ) marks the midpoint of Kensington's shopping area. The shops are the standard UK chain experience, but as in all historical locations, you're rewarded by looking up to take in the architectural details above signage level. How many columns, porticos, ornate little balconies and coats of arms can you spot? The building occupied by H&M and Marks & Spencer and the adjacent former Barkers department store, with their fabulous windows, clean lines and white stone walls, make impressive contrasts to the overwhelmingly late-Victorian and Edwardian red brick portfolio on the High Street.

At the corner of High Street and Church Street is 8 St Mary Abbots. It was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott (more on him later), and noted for having the tallest church spire in London. Imposing and formidable, without necessarily being beautiful, it is nonetheless Grade II* listed.

It should come as no surprise to even the professional tourist that 11 Kensington Palace (stop M) is the bus stop to use for 9 Kensington Palace, though getting to the palace isn't necessarily obvious due to lack of signage. Once off the bus, you should walk in the same direction of travel, ignoring the brick gate posts with lion and unicorn figures (usually a dead giveaway of nearby royalty but in this case a red herring) and take the next footpath left just before a red phone box. This takes you into Kensington Gardens, and once you clear the trees the palace's location is evident. In order to get in you've got to go round it to the right until you reach the statue of a young-looking Queen Victoria in regnal pose, which marks the entrance. The 19th-century monarch (more on her later) grew up here, though in more modern times the palace is better known for its association with Princess Diana, and with her son and daughter-in-law the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who officially reside here. Actually, since you pay through the nose on entrance fees (plus "donation"), and there is actually quite a lot to see, it may not be the best idea to visit the inside on the same day as you're doing the number 9 tour, but a selfie in front of Vicky is certainly a touristy must.

If you prefer your wealth and privilege to be earned through "legitimate business" means rather than inherited from Granny, then Kensington Palace Gardens, the so-called 10 Billionaires' Row, might be more up your street (closed from High st end on Su 31st). From stop M, turn around in the direction the bus just came from, and take the first right through the police sentry-guarded gate. You can enter free of charge and walk the length of the street (about 800 m), but are not supposed to take photos. This is essentially a street of mansions, where the average sale price was £35 million in 2018, although private homes are losing ground to diplomatic missions: the Israeli and Russian embassies are up here and a number of other countries have their official ambassadorial residences on or around the row. Interestingly, KPG is also the last fully gaslit street in London (insert your own joke about money and power here).

Kensington Gardens to Knightsbridge

Back on route 9, the bus leaves the centre of Kensington behind to travel along the south side of Kensington Gardens which, together with Hyde Park, forms the largest area of greenspace in Central London. Kensington Gardens is the more formal of the two, with a couple of large ponds, fountains, and several statues and monuments. It's highly recommended to visit, though most of the highlights, such as the Diana Memorial Playground and the Italian Gardens, are at the far (northern) end of the park, so may be better saved for another day. However, 12 Palace Gate (stop RH) and 13 Queen's Gate (stop RK) offer ways in to the gardens. On your right are mostly posh apartment blocks and the kind of hotels where the doormen wear top hats, though do look out for the Dutch Embassy, which is housed in a rather handsome seven-storey mansion block. While the bus is paused at stop RK look ahead and right to see an 11 equestrian statue of Sir Robert Napier, an important officer in Colonial India, particularly during the Anglo-Sikh Wars and 1857 Indian Rebellion. Or you could disembark, cross the road to walk down a short cul-de-sac called 12 Hyde Park Gate, and search for blue plaques marking the houses where Virginia Woolf was born and Sir Winston Churchill died.

Quite suddenly on the right looms a domed rotunda, and in case you don't recognise it, Emma helpfully announces the 9's arrival at 14 Royal Albert Hall (stop RL). Alight here for the heart of the twin parks and for Albertopolis. About 100 metres' walk up the road, a left turn takes you onto West Carriage Drive, a slightly winding road and bike path which separates Kensington Gardens to the west from Hyde Park to the east. Most of Hyde Park is too far from the bus route to practically explore while on this itinerary, but in 500 m or less, you can reach the 13 Serpentine Gallery, a small free modern art gallery that is constantly reinventing itself, the 14 Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain, and the 15 Serpentine itself, a long, thin artificial lake popular with swimmers and rowers. If you're in need of bladder relief, then you'll be glad to make the acquaintance of the 1 public toilets just off West Carriage Drive.

South of stop RL is Albertopolis, the multidisciplinary complex of museums, universities, conservatoires and performance spaces. The area takes its name from Prince Albert, consort to Queen Victoria, who was passionate about both culture and scientific discovery, and wanted his wife's capital to boast such institutions as would contribute "to the furtherance of the industrial pursuits of all nations." The complex's focus was to be a "central hall of arts and sciences".

When Albert died from illness at the age of 42, his as-yet-unfinished plans were modified by the devastated Queen to include a physical epitaph. George Gilbert Scott, of Kensington church fame, was commissioned to design a memorial to the late prince. What he came up with is certainly impressive: a statue of Albert, entirely coated in gold leaf, enthroned on a kind-of church altar beneath a Gothic ciborium or tabernacle, atop which a tower decorated with the Christian virtues and angels rises in a pinnacle to a golden cross. Around this strange and ostentatious structure are eight marble sculptures: personifications of agriculture, commerce, engineering, and manufacturing; and four friezes representing the continents of Africa, America, Asia, and Europe. Although the 16 Albert Memorial delighted Victoria (she knighted Scott following its completion), its design has always divided public and critical opinion. Not so for the central hall, renamed the 5 Royal Albert Hall upon its opening, which despite a rocky debut season when it quickly became apparent the acoustics needed fixing, has become one of the United Kingdom's most beloved national treasures. Music of all genres is performed here, though it remains best known for its classical concerts, particularly the summer season of Proms. Even if you don't have tickets, it is well worth walking the entire circuit of the hall's exterior in order to take in the 800-foot-long terracotta mosaic frieze, The Triumph of Arts and Sciences.

Surrounding the Royal Albert Hall on three sides are four venerable academic institutions, which together offer a packed programme of public events, lectures, exhibitions and concerts related to their respective disciplines. Anticlockwise from west, you'll find the 17 Royal College of Art, the 18 Royal College of Music, the main campus of 19 Imperial College London (a specialist in science and technology), and the 20 Royal Geographical Society. There's not much to admire about most the buildings these institutions are housed in, though the view from the Albert Hall down several flights of steps to the chateauesque College of Music is quite lovely. The surprisingly pokey Geog Soc headquarters reserves its northeastern corner (Kensington Gore / Exhibition Road) for statues of two of its greatest member explorers, 21 Dr David Livingstone, who hoped to end the East African slave trade by finding the source of the Nile, and 22 Sir Ernest Shackleton, who led the "worst journey in the world" across the Southern Ocean to rescue his stricken crew trapped in the Antarctic sea ice.

From Shackleton, a walk due south on Exhibition Road for 500 m will get you to Albertopolis' trio of hugely popular collections, the 23 Natural History Museum, the 24 Science Museum, and the 25 Victoria and Albert Museum, but since fully exploring just one of these will take at least a day, you're best heading back to bus stop RL to pick up the next number 9.

The next two stops on the route are each handy for a site of religious interest. From 15 Prince of Wales Gate (stop RM), London's 26 Russian Orthodox Cathedral is a 200 m walk south down Ennismore Gardens. Unless it's Sunday afternoon, you can't visit inside, but the Tuscan-style exterior, particularly the façade, is worth seeing. Meanwhile, 16 Rutland Gardens (stop KP) is the place to alight for a fascinating Jewish museum, by appointment only. Walk through the gate and past Westminster Synagogue (itself of no great architectural interest and not open to tourists), to visit the 27 Memorial Scrolls Trust which, by prior appointment only, tells the story of over a thousand Torah scrolls which were rescued from destruction at the hands of Nazis and communists in Prague, and painstakingly restored by hand in London.

Back on the bus, Hyde Park becomes impossible to see from the road, but it is still there, just behind the nondescript barracks of the Household Cavalry, those famous horseback royal guards who stand sentry at Whitehall and escort the Queen when she opens Parliament. Number 9 is now entering Knightsbridge, which is known above all for its money-no-object shopping: 1 Harvey Nichols, which you can see from the bus on the right immediately after 17 Knightsbridge Station (stop KH) (  PIC ), and 2 Harrods, which you'll only be able to see if you get off. From stop KH, cross the road to where the rhino is (this will make sense when you're there) and take the pedestrian passage through to Brompton Road; the dome, flags and white lights of the most expensive tourist trap in London are unmistakable on the opposite side of the road to the right. Be warned that if you look as though you've just stepped off a bus, the green-suited top-hatted doormen may not let you pass.

Hyde Park Corner to Piccadilly Circus

After the bus passes by Harvey Nicks and a succession of luxury hotels on both sides of the road, including the cylindrical brutalist Park Tower, it is only a matter of seconds before 18 Hyde Park Corner Station (stop T) (  PIC ) (2 public toilets) is announced. This is another bus stop where the myriad sights should entice you to get off, though it's worth mentioning that navigating the 'corner' on foot can be a hassle due to the number of roads converging here. If you choose to stay on board, then you'll need to emulate a meerkat if you want catch sight of a few landmarks as the bus rumbles around Hyde Park Corner. First, glance left to see 28 Apsley Gate, a grand entrance to the park constructed from Portland stone. You'll next have to be extremely quick to look right one o'clock if you are to glimpse the 29 Wellington Arch, and then left once again to gaze upon its namesake's golden neoclassical home, 30 Apsley House. Turn your head right again to get a longer, side-on view of the Wellington Arch, followed by the rather peachy derriere of a dark stone David on a regimental memorial. The bus then continues its journey, so if you're going with it skip ahead three paragraphs.

Joining the southeastern extremity of Hyde Park to the northwestern edge of Green Park, Hyde Park Corner is the convergence point of six major roads. At its centre is a plaza of lawn and trees, the setting for several military monuments. The main focus is of course the Wellington Arch which, if you're familiar with British history, you'll know is named for Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington, who defeated Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, and subsequently served two terms as prime minister. You may have seen more impressive triumphal arches in Paris or Berlin, but this one is crowned by a bronze statue depicting the Angel of Peace descending on a quadriga of war horses. A separate 31 equestrian statue of Wellington faces Apsley House, which is still the London residence of the Dukes of Wellington, but now acts as a museum for the inaugural and most famous holder of the title. Other monuments at the site include the 32 Machine Gun Corps Memorial, featuring the youthful David mentioned earlier who represents the tender age of most of the corps' fallen members. At the northeastern corner of the plaza is the striking 33 New Zealand War Memorial: dark bronze monoliths clustered in the formation of a haka, the Māori war dance.

To explore nearby parts of Hyde Park accessible from stop T, enter through Apsley Gate, pausing to notice the frieze over the central archway, modelled after a design on the Elgin marbles; when you're done, turn left. You shortly reach a 34 rose garden, which is planted in a more contemporary style than, say, the one in Regent's Park, mixing roses with herbaceous flowering plants and spring bulbs to offer year-round interest. From the garden, do an about-turn and either head straight back to the bus stop or do a slight detour via yet another monument to Wellington, this time depicted as an 18 ft (5.5 m) 35 statue of Achilles.

Hyde Park Corner is often thought of as being just a stone's throw from Buckingham Palace, but while it is true that the corner's south side borders the palace gardens, you have to walk 750 m up Constitution Hill alongside traffic and through steadily thickening crowds of tourists before you can see anything of the Queen's residence. A better way to access is from Green Park Station, later in the tour.

After crossing Hyde Park Corner, number 9 continues onto Piccadilly, the grand avenue that will take you into the heart of the West End. The road's unusual name derives from the piccadill, a broad lace collar that was fashionable during the Elizabethan era. A tailor made his fortune from manufacturing the collars and subsequently built a large house on the road called Pickadilly Hall. The hall is long gone, as is the area's residential nature, but its name stuck.

Immediately to your right, on the far side of the road, is the 36 RAF Bomber Command Memorial, which commemorates the aircrews of Allied nations under Bomber Command during World War II. This is one of the few points of interest which is best accessed on the westbound version of route 9, as there isn't a convenient way of getting to the memorial from the north side of Piccadilly. No such problem for the 37 Hard Rock Cafe, which is visible on the left. The original cafe that spawned the franchise is best known for its vault of memorabilia which you can enter free of charge to see Elvis Presley's coat, John Lennon's glasses, an antique chair owned by Freddie Mercury, and more famous guitars than Guns 'n' Roses has had members. If you're visiting, get down at 19 Old Park Lane / Hard Rock Cafe (stop C)

Depending on the season, Green Park may not look so green, but the Athenaeum Hotel's 11-storey vertical garden is always verdant. It's just after stop C, on the left. A couple of minutes later, and you're at 20 Green Park Station (stop J) (  JUB   PIC   VIC ), which is the preferable disembarkation point for 38 Buckingham Palace. A chance to peer through the famous black and gold-tipped railings in the vain hope of spotting that lady with the famous corgis is at the other end of a 650-m stroll through Green Park.

The first building on the right after Green Park station is 1 The Ritz, possibly the most famous luxury hotel in the world. Since you're travelling with the hoi polloi on a London bus, it's probably fair to say you've not got a room booked tonight, or any other night, but you should consider reserving for afternoon tea in its opulently-decorated Palm Court - though much like Harrods, there's a smart dress code. More glamour follows on your right with the grand doric columns of The Wolseley, a notable café-restaurant. At this point the road curves slightly and you get a fabulous view right down Piccadilly.

Shopaholics with deep pockets really need to get off at 21 Old Bond Street / Royal Academy (stop L). On the side of the road you disembark, you'll find 3 Burlington Arcade, an indoor Regency-era shopping centre home to luxury fashion and jewellery boutiques. Running parallel one block to the west, Old Bond Street, better known with its "New" twin as just 4 Bond Street has half a mile of designer retail. Add the famous auction houses Bonhams and Sotherby's, and you could get some serious bling on Bond Street. If your tastes are more traditional but no less expensive, cross over to Piccadilly's south side. The redbrick department store with the elegant clock and royal coat of arms (a clue to the identity of its most loyal customers) is 5 Fortnum & Mason, which has been keeping London's larders stocked with caviar, foie gras, and other store cupboard essentials since 1707. Aspiring dandies may take a stroll around the right side of Fortnum's via Duke Street to buy a shirt or hat on 6 Jermyn Street.

Rejoin Piccadilly via Sir Christopher Wren's 39 St James's Church, known for the Corinthian columns in its nave and its carved marble font depicting Adam and Eve under the Tree of Knowledge. Six days a week, the churchyard hosts 7 Piccadilly Market, selling street food Monday and Tuesday and arts and crafts Wednesday to Saturday. Now, you have a choice: walk back west on Piccadilly for the Royal Academy, or continue east for a date with Eros.

40 Burlington House is the palladian mansion the Royal Academy of Arts and five learned societies from disciplines such as astronomy and chemistry call home. The building is set around a handsome central courtyard which is open to the public during the day. The societies are private, but the 41 Royal Academy always has at least one art exhibition worth seeing. Since these are always very popular, you should buy tickets as soon as you know what's on.

If ever there were a place best enjoyed from the top deck of a bus, it would be 42 Piccadilly Circus. At all hours of the day and most of the night, it's like... well, Piccadilly Circus: great hordes of tourists, mostly milling around in large groups, posing for selfies and shouting at each other in a hundred different languages. This place's enduring appeal is all a bit mystifying, because there's nothing much to see: a huge electronic billboard display of those quintessentially British brands Coca-Cola and Samsung, a statue of a Greek god that isn't the one you think it is, and hordes of tourists taking selfies and shouting. So unless you really want that selfie, you're best crossing the road from St James's Church, sticking your arm out at 22 Piccadilly Circus (stop B) (  BAK   PIC ) and letting the 9 take you to the human circus without becoming part of it.

Trafalgar Square and Theatreland (?)

Route 9 now nears the heart of the West End, London's premier entertainment district. From Piccadilly, it bears south down Haymarket, a one-way avenue of restaurants, bars and theatres. If you're feeling hedonistic, then you might want to end your journey at 23 Haymarket / Jermyn Street (stop R), where the bright lights of 43 Leicester Square are a hop, skip, and a jump (about 100 m for you pedants) along Panton Street. Before the night takes you, check out the unofficial home of British cinema, where if you're not lucky enough to catch a premiere, you'll still meet legends from the silver screen cast in bronze: Chaplin's Tramp sways on his cane, while Gene Kelly sings in the rain; Harry Potter and Mary Poppins take to the air by broom and brolly; Paddington wisely settles down with marmalade sandwiches on the bench furthest away from nosy Mr Bean; heads up, for Laurel and Hardy are sure to slip and fall from that roof. If the square's statues put you in touch with your inner child, then you'll be dying to have a peek inside the world's largest 8 Lego Store, and even more thrilled to discover it's next door to the world's largest sweet shop, 9 M&Ms World. Don't fancy eating your weight in chocolate? Swerve clockwise around M&Ms World, skirting the 44 glockenspiel, and pass through Wardour Street's paifang to enter 45 Chinatown, beyond which is boozy, jazzy, sexy Soho.

The bus continues down Haymarket, past John Nash's white neoclassical 6 Theatre Royal Haymarket (left), where the first ever scheduled matinée performances débuted in 1873, and 7 Her Majesty's Theatre (right), home to Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera since 1986. At the bottom of the road, as the bus swings left, look front right to see the Kazakhstani-Brazilian "border"; the two countries' embassies are in adjoining stone offices.

Onto Cockspur Street, where the bus stops at 24 Trafalgar Square (stop B), alongside the impressive Portland-stone Canada House - note the maple tree on the corner. London's main meeting place, a focus for celebrations and protests alike, is Trafalgar Square. The main draw is, of course, the 169-ft (52-m) 46 Nelson's Column, guarded by its four lions. Number 9 crosses to the square's south side, almost at the column's foot (on the left); if you're sat on the right hand side of the bus, you'll be better looking down Whitehall for a brief glimpse of the Elizabeth Tower ("Big Ben"). Unless the bus is stuck in traffic, you're unlikely to see much more than this, so if you want to explore you should get down at stop B or soon after at 25 Charing Cross Station (stop E) (  BAK   NOR ).

Arranged around the inner corners of the square are four plinths; one is an equestrian statue of George IV, two are of once-prominent, now largely forgotten, generals in the Conquest of India, while the 47 fourth plinth features works of modern art on a rotating basis. In December and January, a large Christmas tree graces the square. The tree is an annual gift from the people of Oslo to the people of London, and is a focus of carolling throughout the festive period.

At the northern end of the square stand two of Britain's best art museums, the 48 National Gallery and 49 National Portrait Gallery. You haven't got time to go in, so turn right to spy some more doric columns on one of the capital's most-photographed churches, 50 St Martin-in-the-Fields. Known as the "Church of the Ever Open Door" due to its status as refuge for Westminster's homeless, St Martin's is also the parish church for Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street. The southern edge of the square, over which the bus rumbles, the Charing Cross roundabout around an equestrian statue of Charles I (he who lost his head) marks the 51 centre of London, the "point zero" from which all distances to the capital are measured.

With only ½ mile (800 m) left on the route, number 9 pulls away from stop E and heads east on the Strand, once the main thoroughfare between the cities of Westminster and London, and now a hotchpotch of high street chains and West End theatres. As you pass Charing Cross Station on the right, look to see the 52 Queen Eleanor Memorial Cross, a fanciful Victorian reconstruction of a now-destroyed medieval cross for Eleanor of Castile (wife of Edward I), which stood at the Charing Cross intersection.

Soon after, you reach 26 Southampton Street / Covent Garden (stop A). As you might guess, you can use Southampton Street (first left after the bus stop) as a cut-through to 53 Covent Garden, where high-end cosmetics and jewellery jostle for space with handicrafts and slightly shit, if crowd-pleasing, street performers. Covent Garden is also world famous for the 8 Royal Opera House, but a more appropriate visit might be the 54 London Transport Museum. Unusually, the LT Museum is not free (in fact it's quite expensive), but it's worth setting aside several hours for a proper visit. If you want to save Covent Garden for the "official" end of the bus tour, it's readily accessible from the final stop.

Almost immediately after stop A, the 2 Savoy Hotel is on the right. Opened in 1889, it was an early pioneer of luxuries that are now considered hospitality basics: electric lighting, en-suites with hot and cold running water in every room, and lifts between floors. Throughout the 20th century the Savoy was the first choice of the visiting rich and famous, and is still without doubt one of London's best hotels, with its own internal ecosystem of restaurants, bars, a theatre, even a private chapel.

A fine view down the road culminating in the elegant 55 St Mary le Strand Church signals your journey is almost at an end. The 9 bears left onto Aldwych, the tree-lined crescent-shaped one-way street home to the Australian and Indian high commissions, and comes to rest almost beside the Waldorf Hotel, at 27 Aldwych / Drury Lane (stop E). London Buses route 9 ends here.

From here, there are plenty of places you could explore next: back to Covent Garden, via Catherine Street and Russell Street; eastwards around Aldwych to the Royal Courts of Justice and the rest of London's legal quarter. But the most satisfying way to end your tour may be to walk down to the river, perhaps via Somerset House. To do this, you'll need to go back to where the bus turned onto Aldwych, but then cross the Strand; the way onto Waterloo Bridge is opposite, past the Boots pharmacy. For a detour to 56 Somerset House, where depending on the season the courtyard is filled with ever-shifting fountains or an outdoor ice rink, walk east on the Strand for approximately 100 m. Otherwise, follow the pavement onto 57 Waterloo Bridge, where you have panoramic views along the Thames in both directions and, at the right time of day, may get to see your very own Waterloo sunset.

Eat and drink

generalities - what neighbourhoods are known for, typical costs etc. Listings should be in district articles. This should also focus on eating and drinking on the bus - mostly this is a respect issue, but it's illegal to drink alcohol on TfL services.