Exploring New York City With Big Bus Tours
Anyone who has read any of travel posts will know how much I love a good hop on hop off bus tour in new cities, I even did a post on five reasons why they’re great. So when planning my latest trip to New York I was thinking about what to fit within our tight four-day itinerary. Bearing in mind it was my boyfriend’s very first trip to America and knowing how big New York was I wanted to show him as much of the huge city as I could. As we had a super early flight on our first day I knew we’d be a bit tired but would still want to do some exploring so getting a hop on hop off bus tour seemed like the perfect compromise; see a lot of the city and get our bearings while being sat down in a bus. Win, win.
We picked up our tickets from the Big Bus tours main office which is just off Time Square next to M&M world and it’s such a good location as it’s the first stop for both the Red Downtown Line but also one of the stops for the Blue Uptown Line. The classic ticket for the two lines are priced at $54 when booked in advance which is about £39, and this might seem a lot of money for a bus tour but each route is between 2 and 3 hours in length and you cover so much more ground than you would in pretty much any European city you may visit. You can also purchase combo tickets to include Harlem/ Brooklyn tours, Night tours, a Sightseeing cruise or tickets including attractions such as the Empire State Building, 9/11 museum and the One World Observatory.
Our downtown route took just under 3 hours and benefited from a live onboard English speaking guide which was so much more interesting than the pre-recorded audio you get on some tours. There were 29 different stops all located conveniently near major landmarks and attractions such as Battery Park for the Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge/ City Hall, Midtown West for the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum and so much more.
Much like all of these types of bus tours you can hop off at any point to explore and jump back on the bus later in the day at the same stop or another stop you may be near. As we weren’t all that energetic over the day we decided to just sit on the bus and take in all the sites for the whole journey and it was so enjoyable seeing the city from another viewpoint as it was something I’d never done before.
Have you ever done a hop on hop off bus tour?
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20 responses to “Exploring New York City With Big Bus Tours”
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All About Me
Rhian Westbury
Travels and Destinations
Nothing currently planned
The 1st few times I totally relied on the hop on/off to get around last visit I took the subway a few times but found it really confusing! Am going to try again tho but definitely missed being able to see sites on the journey. Have got the bus to Woodbury Common a couple of times but for my 5th visit in November would love to see if there is another big outlet shopping mall I can try if you know any please let me know!?!
Lisa
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I love touring buses, they do them in London aswell. So must be even better in New York, how exciting
OMgosh this brought back so many funny memories for me. The first time I visited New York (about 20 years ago! :D) we decided to do an open top bus tour to Harlem which probably wasn’t as visitor friendly back then. Our bus turned up, it was bright pink and covered in dinosaur pics and it was a bitterly cold day. We ended up wearing all the clothes we had bought that day, including socks on our hands to keep warm! 😀
I totally love the big apple. While we do live here in the East Coast and hubby being originally from New York, we still have yet to explore a lot in the city. We did try the bus tours and it is worth every penny. I agree that it can get quite cold and not weather friendly at times.
Now this sounds like a good way to see the city and get to know a little about it. I like you had a real tour guide, it is definitely more fun when you have someone who will interact with you rather than just an audio description.
I have been new York a lot but never heard of big bus tours before. Looks like a good idea to me x
3 hours is quite lengthy for a tour! I’m not sure I could sit still for that long hahah! I would love to go on the tour and see the different areas though.
I absolutely love bus tours, especially when travelling with kids who tire easily. It’s been a few years since I was in New York but it’s firmly on the list to take the children asap and this looks like the perfect way to cover a huge amount with an expert on board.
I did in London once my friend worked for last minutedotcom so we got to do loads of tourist stuff. Enjoy the rest of your trip
A hop on hop off tour does sound perfect as you can see everything at your own pace and my little boy would love the adventure
Ive never been to New York but this sounds like the ideal way to see it! Definitely on my bucket list!
I love a tour bus, it’s such a great way to see a place, especially in a city! Would love to go to New York!
We love hop on and hop off bus and think that that is the best way to see a new city, we will use big bus tours the next time we head to New York for sure.
Hop on hop off busses are the very best! I also did one in NYC. It was the best way to see the entire city. Glad you had a great time!
I love the hop on hop off bus tours! We’ve done them in lots of cities now. I would love to go to New York – it’s on the bucket list!
I love a hop on bus tour. We always do one when we go somewhere new just to get our bearings and work out where we want to go back to. For some reason I didn’t do the NY one though. Next time.,, #bloggersuj
I love tours like this – I recently did one in Bath, UK. I like how this was 3 hours so a good time but not too long. What a lot of cool sights you get to see too!
I didn’t even know this type of tour existed, I’ve never been in one. They sound like the PERFECT way to cover a lot of ground and explore, without completely knackering yourself out.
This sounds like something I would do if I got to go back to New York. There is so much to see and it’s impossible to do it all on foot.
I’m a huge tour bus fan, it’s great to sit and relax for a few hours whilst seeing so much of the city you’re in. I’ll be doing a tour if I go to New York.