"We're all going on a summer holiday..."
Line up some Cliff on your Spotify playlist — on Saturday 14 September 2024 you can ride on vintage Routemaster buses all day — and there's not even a fare to pay.
As part of Heritage Open Days — England's largest festival of history and culture — open-platform Routemasters and RT-types from the 1950s/60s (manned by conductors, though you don't need a ticket) will ply two TfL routes: the 61 between Bromley and Chislehurst, and the 261 between Lewisham and Locksbottom in Bromley.
Buses will run in both directions between 10am and 5pm, arriving at stops along the routes roughly every 15 minutes. No need to book — just flag down a bus and hop aboard. Full timetables will be posted on the London Bus Museum website closer to the time.
Meanwhile, Bromley Common Bus Garage — which lies on both the 61 and 261 routes — hosts an open day on the same day, just in case you haven't had your fill of buses. There's a small fee to enter.
And that's not all your veteran vroom-vroom action for the summer: you can take your pick of dozens of old double-deckers to ride on, at this year's Imberbus event, taking place on Saturday 17 August.
Heritage bus rides, Saturday 14 September 2024, 10am-5pm, free
