Double decker bus

Pack a picnic and go on a 'mystery tour'. Doesn't need to be far - Willen lake maybe or somewhere along the Grand Union canal? Pack some bread for the ducklings too!

Aren't there any ordinary service buses near you? Does it have to be a tourist bus? Your granddaughter won't care if it just goes from the library to the supermarket so long as she can climb the stairs.

We had visitors from the States who were thrilled to ride a British bus. The icing on the cake was a snowstorm that threatened to stop all traffic and leave us stranded twenty miles from home. We were worried sick about how to get back, but they were thrilled to be in a real double decker in real snow!

Could you get a cheap day return from MK, and go on a London bus?

I agree with Elegran your GD will be none the wiser where you go, she'll have climbed upstairs, hopefully be able to sit at the front and will love seeing shops and traffic from a different height.

She is 3 and not 13. A local double-decker will be fine. If you have none locally find out the nearest town which has them. You do not need to spend much money if any as you will have a free pass and she will also not need a ticket.

You could as Zonne suggests get the train from MK to Harrow and Wealdstone and get on a double decker London bus there.

I took my 2 year old on a bus into town and back while grandma watched his brand new baby brother between feeds. He got to sit upstairs at the front.
It was the highlight of the year for him.

A 3 year old will have no knowledge of a tourist bus she won’t understand the running speech or anything about architecture or history Just take her on an ordinary double decker and point things out to her
She ll love it

Any bus - bus to town, bus to shops, bus to swimming - it's being on a bus not the destination. DGS2 was very excited to get bus in bad snow as car was snowed in to Granny's then later back to Mummy. Granny was petrified as bus was sliding all over the road! But it was the bus that made his day not where it went.

There are no double deckers in, or near, MK as far as I know. Hence the need to go elsewhere for one.

We look after DGS (nearly three) once a week and the last two times we have taken him into town on a double decker bus. He absolutely loves it and chatters away about all the thing he can see. We have walked to various places (near the sea) and watched the boats, ate an ice cream then got the bus back. We even waved to his daddy, who was at work in a building we could see. (I rang him and he could see us waving.) The only tears we had were when we got off the return bus as he wanted to stay on. He would happily have just stayed on the bus all day.

A trip to London is totally unnecessary for a 3 year old. Just any double decker will do, any journey. Just find a local one. Surely there are double deckers going to nearby towns from Milton Keynes? Not the town buses but the ones going to other towns like Bedford, Northampton, Aylesbury, Buckingham. Phone up and ask. It will cost you nothing if you have a bus pass as the child is free. Take a picnic for the other end. She will love it.

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202207/medium-474307-red-routemaster-bus-on-merry-go-round-at-the-hyde-park-winter-funfare-amr81p.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202207/medium-51212-merry-go-round.jpg

Little children love rides. As Londoners our DGCs were lucky and rode on the tube and buses most weeks, and they remember it fondly.
I was just thinking - does a summer fayre rock up near you? Your 3 year old would have the time of their life on these rules and it's not too expensive either. These roundabouts often come to shopping centres.

* rides not rules

Or a tram ride perhaps?

www.arrivabus.co.uk/find-a-service/150-250-aylesbury-to-milton-keynes

This service is on YouTube from a month ago. It's obviously a double decker. I found it by simply googling "Milton Keynes double decker".
It's an Aviva service and pretty regular. I'd just call the company and ask if they are still double-decker.
Half an hour to somewhere, maybe get off for a drink or ice-cream and half an hour home.
Sorted.

There is a double decker bus that runs on the Luton/Dunstable busway, which isn't too far from you. It's the "C" bus I think, and the company is Grant Palmer

The long distance buses are more likely to be double deckers. You could check and see if the X5 still goes towards Oxford via Buckingham and Bicester or the other way to Bedford.

It’s worth persevering as I’m sure your granddaughter would love sitting so high. I can remember the excitement of our two when aged 4 and 7 they rode the top deck with us rather than sitting in the back of a car where they could see little. The younger one was full of questions including wanting to know why people at stops waved at the bus. Of course they both had to ring the bell when we were ready to get off, we apologised to the driver who simply laughed. It was fun, definitely worth persevering with. Good luck with your search CBT61.

Almost always single decker buses where I live, out in the country, but plenty of double deckers in Newton Abbot .It's easy to go to Plymouth or Exeter, or Torquay etc. There are some nice scenic rides along the coast.

I have to confess that I and an eighty year old friend always go on the top deck, front seat when ever we go anywhere by bus. And we have to move pretty sharply to beat the other elderly couples to get there!

Anybody remember the days when the top deck was just a fug of cigarette smoke with a soundtrack of hacking coughs?

The 150 to Aylesbury is not showing as a double decker. The simplest way is to phone Milton Keynes bus station and ask about double decker routes as there is no way of knowing otherwise.

Perhaps too far away, but there are lots of double decker routes in Birmingham, the hillier route the more exciting it is as we found with two of our granddaughters. If you get on the Outercircle route you can get off where you started, with perhaps a stop for lunch on the way (it takes about 2 hours?)

lixy

Pack a picnic and go on a 'mystery tour'. Doesn't need to be far - Willen lake maybe or somewhere along the Grand Union canal? Pack some bread for the ducklings too!

Please don't feed bread to ducklings, or any other birds for that matter ?

CBT61 - Since your granddaughter has never been on a bus wouldn’t a single decker fine for a first trip? A ride on a double decker can come later.
We are lucky in Birmingham to have the Number 11 Outer Circle service. It is the longest urban bus route in Europe at 27 miles and passes many places of interest. My mother used to go round every year, one time she took with her a delighted small boy whom she minded.