Win a Family Ticket for London Duck Tours (scroll down for details)
‘Hold on folks, it’s going to get bumpy,’ cries the tour guide on London Duck Tours as we cling to the seats in front of us and go down, down into the Thames. It’s a strange feeling descending into water, having just spent the last 45 minutes on land, and the lower we get the bigger my boys’ eyes become.
Before we start belting out ‘Yellow Submarine’, our bright yellow vehicle finds its groove and begins chugging along at a respectable pace along the Thames. Our guide informs us we’re going against the tide and we’ll be doing double the speed on our way back.
We were invited to London Duck Tours seasonal ‘A Quackmas Carol’ tour, with a guide in Victorian costume describing himself as Mr Duckins and sharing Charles Dickens trivia along the way. The London Duck Tours experience starts on land, boarding at the pier and taking a scenic route past major attractions like Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Regent St Christmas lights, Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament.
The entry point for the water is right by MI6 headquarters, which seems apt given its James Bond-style transformation from road vehicle to riverboat. I’ve been curious about the London Duck Tours for years, and it was fascinating to discover more about them. The Ducks (officially DUKWS) were built by American allies during World War 2, to help transport supplies from ships to points of land across heavily guarded areas. Each of the 9 surviving Ducks took part in the D-Day landings.
On the Quackmas Carol Tour, we also learned many interesting and fun facts about London and Christmas:
Did you Know?
The statue of Winston Churchill has been electrified to stop pigeons landing on him
Big Ben is the name of the bell, not the clock or the tower and the tower is leaning slightly (thanks to underground train works) and will topple over in about 100 years if not made more secure
Oliver Cromwell was a proper Scrooge who banned Christmas and called mince pies ‘the devil’s food’.
It’s still illegal in the UK to eat mince pies on Christmas day!
London Duck Tours was a quirky and informative way to spend a Sunday morning (the journey lasts around 75 minutes). My 14-year-old nephew was a bit underwhelmed by the ride (he’d probably prefer the high-octane Thames RIB Speedboats), but the babes had a great time. It’s a fun, family friendly activity worth ticking off your London Bucket List.
London Duck Tours depart from DUCK STOP, Belvedere Road, Waterloo, London, SE1, near the London Eye (between Jubilee Gardens and The Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall). Classic tours run daily from 10am, except Dec 24, 25, 26th, 31 and Jan 1. Adult from £24/child age 1-17 from £16/family of 4 ticket from £70
NB: London Duck Tours can be hired privately with special tours for birthdays and other celebrations. A Quackmas Carol Tour (Dec 19, 20, 21, 22, 23) is suitable for ages 3+ and kids ages 3-17 receive a free gift (tour and gift not suitable for children under 3). Visit www.londonducktours.com
Win London Duck Tours Family Ticket worth £70 (Classic Sightseeing Tour)
We’re super excited to have The London Duck Tours taking part in our 12 Days of Xmas 2015 mega giveaway. They’re offering a family ticket for 4 (2 adults + 2 kids or 1 adult + 3 kids) on their Classic Sightseeing Tour that takes you past landmarks like Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, both on land and on river! Entry is simple via Rafflecopter below, with lots of chances to win. Best of duck… ahem… luck!
12 Days of Xmas 2015
Every day from now until Christmas Eve, I’ll be giving away a fantastic new prize so don’t forget to subscribe, follow Babes about Town on Bloglovin or just keep coming back!
The pirate adventure my daughter is pirate crazy
Definitely the Pirate Adventure, my children love pirates.
Classic sightseeing tour
Probably the classic one or the James Bond one as they sound the most interesting
My boys love pirates so the pirate treasure hunt
We would love the Classic Sightseeing Tour x
We would love the pirate adventure but my son is not old enough so the classic tour as he has never been to london
I think the classic sightseeing tour would be amazing to show the kids London!
The Classic Sightseeing tour as a tour of the beating heart of London would be great for our daughter & her friend
The D-Day Duck tour. Sounds very interesting and would be fun and educational.
the pirate treasure hunt as the kids love pirates
The classic sight seeing tour as my daughter would love to see the sights and hear about some of the history
Either of the Pirate tours as my daughter is crazy about pirates.
I reckon my little ones would love the pirate adventure!
Classic site seeing tour looks good
Classic one. A great way to start our first trio to London
Me and my girls are visiting London in February so the classic sight seeing tour would be amazing xx
The classic tour so I could show my children all the sights and sounds of London instead of them hearing all about them from me!
The Pirate adventure as my nephew is pirate mad
the classic sightseeing tour kids would love it
The James Bond route sounds fun and hubby and son-in-law are big fans so this would be the icing on the cake for my son-in-laws birthday :-)
The pirate adventure as my son is crazy abour pirates.x
we did a viking one in Dublin which was fab – In London would love to do the quackmas carol tour – will need to remember this for christmas!
We would love to do the Classic Sightseeing Tour we always travel around London by tube but lots of sights get missed out travelling underground it would be lovely to learn about Londons History and the unseen sights above ground for a change
The Classic Tour or the Bond tour, but it is so hard to choose they all sound interesting and good fun. Happy New Year :0)
I’d love the James Bond tour – I’ve always loved the films, and I always find it fascinating to see where films were filmed :)
The James Bond tour- we all love James Bond
Classic sightseeing tour as evening living in london you miss so much!
The D Day Duck Tour – it’s good to teach everybody about what happened in the war.
My two are quite young so I think I would go for the classic sight seeing tour. They’ve never been to London before so we’d all get a lot out of it.
Classic sightseeing tour
i would love the code breaker tour
I’d love to take my little boy on the Pirate Adventure – he’s a big fan of ‘Swashbuckle’ on Cbeebies so I know he’d really enjoy it.
The Pirate Treasure Hunt looks fun!
we would love the D Day Duck we are history buffs! x
Classic Sightseeing Tour would be best to take in all the important sights from a different perspective
My little girl would love the Pirate Treasure Hunt.
The James Bond tour as my partner is a huge fan
The Pirate Adventure tour would be perfect for my family who are ‘land lubbers’ and ‘scallywags’!!
Classic sightseeing tour
the prize sound great but also Classic Sightseeing Tour would include all the highlights of London in one go
My two youngest girls would love the Pirates Treasure hunt! Thanks for the chance! x
We would love the Classic Sightseeing Tour my kids would love so much as never get out much for trips would be nice treat
I think we would like the city tour – My niece has learnt about many of the spots at school now and I have taken her to a few of them in London – We were actually going to go on a duck tour last time I took her but we just ran out of time – Luckily I hadn’t pre booked.
I think it would have to be the pirate treasure hunt… i think though they all look fun!!!
The Quackmas Carol Tour because it sounds like a lot of fun
The pirate treasure hunt looks fab!
We’d love to go on a duck tour the children…and we…would really enjoy it. Thanks for the opportunity and happy new year
The Pirate Adventure because my boys love pirates.
The classic tour sounds great, i’d love the kids to be able to combine history with something fun!
we’d love the James Bond tour :)
Classic Sightseeing Tour
The classic sightseeing tour would be perfect for us and our 5 year old son. His never visited London before and we would love him to see the famous sights.
My 3 year old daughter loves ducks. Her first word was a duck.
We would love the Classic Sightseeing Tour. We are going to London for a week in August for the first time and would love this to show our little girl all the amazing sights and sounds of London!
The pirate treasure hunt because the kids would love it x
I would really love to win this , an amazing prize that i would really enjoy.
Classic one, my daughters love history :)
I would love to go on the James Bond tour, we would love the excitement
Classic sightseeing tour
classic sightseeing tour cos it be great for all the family. xx
The D-Day duck tour looks fab – my girls both have an interest in History so they’d love it
My boys would love the pirate treasure hunt :D
Loved the Liverpool duck tour a couple of years ago
The Pirate adventure sounds great…have always wanted to go on a duck tour but sadly out of my price range as are most London sightseeing venues…nethertheless it is a great tour and my boys would love to be pirates for the day!!
The pirate treasure hunt sound like something my boys would really enjoy
they all sound great but would definitely go for the pirate adventure as my kids would love it
Classic Sightseeing Tour