These are the most famous New York tourist attractions & sight tours which sees thousands and millions of visitors each year:
A bus tour is a great way to see the sights of New York City. It is not only a convenient way to get between them, a bus tour also offers a great vantage point to view this amazing city.
Three companies offer bus tours in New York(Big Bus Hop-On Hop-Off, Gray Line Bus NYC, City sights Bus tour New York), and we give you all the details of the tours, routes and prices here. They all offer similar routing and are competitively priced. Big Bus Tours is the most highly rated and justifiable popular. Take note though that they focus on the central areas, but the other two companies offer better options in Brooklyn and the Bronx too if you want to see these areas. Another important consideration is that Bug Bus Tours and CitySights Buses are included with different New York City discount attraction passes. This can represent a great economical way to save on your stay in the city, check out our guide to such discount passes.
Big Bus Tours |
Gray Line Bus |
CitySights Bus |
Bus Tour + World Observatory |
|
---|---|---|---|---|
4.0 (8,300 Reviews) | 3.5 (5,250 Reviews) | 3.0 (1,083 Reviews) | 4.5 (16 Reviews) | |
Bus Routes Map | ||||
What is it? |
Big Bus Tours go through 4 routes covering all the major attractions in New York. It is rated the best hop-on hop-off sightseeing bus tour in New York by TripAdvisor, Tours offers live commentary, free mobile app, and restaurant, shopping, and tour discounts. The 2 Day and 3 Day also include a complimentary Hornblower River Cruise and free entry to the Museum of the City of New York with 3 Day ticket. |
Gray Line buses, which are also known as City Sightseeing buses are red in colour and run in 5 different routes. These 5 routes cover all the major attractions of New York and you can hop on and hop unlimited times with live audio commentary. It also offers complimentary hop on hop off ferry rides, Museum of the City of New York, and "Eat and Play" discount card with the 2 Day and 3 Day ticket. |
CitySights Buses also allow unlimited hop on hop off - similar to the other sightseeing bus tours of New York. It also has 5 routes with live audio commentary. The complementary offers with 2 Day and 3 day ticket includes hop-on hop-off ferry, a choice of 2 museums, "Eat and Play" discount card, and 2 free car sharing rides. |
Discover New York City aboard the city sightseeing bus with a 1-day New York Bus Tour ticket. Hop-on the open-top double-decker bus and see sights in 360-degree panoramic views and listen to the audio guide in different languages. The professional tour guide makes sure you never miss a thing while travelling through Downtown Manhattan and its top attractions such as Central Park, Rockefeller Center, Radio City, 9/11 Memorial and Flat Iron, South Street Seaport, Financial districts, Empire State Building, Times Square, the United Nations, Fifth Avenue, Greenwich Village, Little Italy, and many more. Get on a ferry cruise and see New York's skyline from the water's point of view with 4 stops in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Hop-off the ferry and explore on foot and walk through the Brooklyn Bridge Park, Wall Street, Theatre District, Times Square and many more and enjoy skip-the-line access at the One World Observatory where you will get up more than 100 stories in less than a minute. See New York in 360-degrees from the 102nd floor of the One World Observatory, then visit the 9/11 Tribute Centre just close by and listen to the stories and how the city rebuilt after the terror attack from the tour guide. |
Ticket Cost |
Classic 1 Day Ticket: (Only includes Uptown and Downtown loops) Deluxe 2 Day Ticket: (All routes + Hornblower River Cruise) Big Apple 3 Day Ticket: (All routes + Hornblower River Cruise + Free entry to the Museum of the City of New York) |
1 Day Single Route Ticket: (Choose only one of the four routes) 2 Day All Routes Ticket: (All routes + hop-on hop-off ferry + free entry to the Museum of the City of New York + 'Eat and Play" card) 2 Day Ticket: (All routes + hop-on hop-off ferry + free entry to the Museum of the City of New York + 'Eat and Play" card) |
1 Day Single Route Ticket: (Choose only one of the four routes) 2 Day All Routes Ticket: (All routes + hop-on hop-off ferry + free entry to New York Historical Society or the Museum of the City of New York + "Eat and Play" card + 2 free Via car sharing cards) 2 Day VIP Ticket- Skip the line priority boarding: (All routes + hop-on hop-off ferry + free entry to New York Historical Society or the Museum of the City of New York + "Eat and Play" card + 2 free Via car sharing cards) 3 Day Ticket: (All routes + hop-on hop-off ferry + free entry to New York Historical Society or the Museum of the City of New York + "Eat and Play" card + 2 free Via car sharing cards + Free entry to Ripley's Believe it or not- Limited period offer) |
New York Bus Tour with One World Observatory
Adult (13-99) - €116.97 |
Ticket Validity |
1/2/3 consecutive days |
1/2/3 consecutive days |
1/2/3 consecutive days |
24 hours |
Routes and Time |
1. Downtown Loop (Red) First Tour: 8.00 A.M. Last Tour: 5.00 P.M. 2. Uptown Loop (Blue) First Tour: 9.00 A.M. Last Tour: 5.00 P.M. 3. Brooklyn Loop (Green) First Tour: 10.00 A.M. Last Tour: 3.00 P.M. 4. Night Tour (Yellow) First Tour: 6.00 A.M. Last Tour: 8.00 P.M. |
1. Downtown Loop First Tour: 8.30 A.M. Last Tour: 5.00 P.M. 2. Uptown Loop First Tour: 9.00 A.M. Last Tour: 4.00 P.M. 3. Brooklyn Loop First Tour: 10.30 A.M. Last Tour: 3.00 P.M. 4. Bronx Loop First Tour: 10.00 A.M. Last Tour: 3.00 P.M. 5. Night Tour First Tour: 6.00 A.M. Last Tour: 9.00 P.M. |
1. Downtown Loop First Tour: 8.00 A.M. Last Tour: 6.00 P.M. 2. Uptown Loop First Tour: 9.00 A.M. Last Tour: 5.00 P.M. 3. Brooklyn Loop First Tour: 10.00 A.M. Last Tour: 3.00 P.M. 4. Bronx Loop First Tour: 10.00 A.M. Last Tour: 3.00 P.M. 5. Night Tour First Tour: 6.30 A.M. Last Tour: 8.00 P.M. |
Hop-On, Hop-Off Tour: Buses run from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm. City Sightseeing New York Hop-On, Hop-Off Ferry: Daily 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. One World Observatory: from 9:00am until 8:00pm 9/11 Tribute Center: From 10am to 6pm & 5pm on Sundays. |
Tour Duration |
Downtown Loop: 2 hours Uptown Loop: 2 hours Brooklyn Loop: 1.5 hours Night Tour: 1.45 hours |
Downtown Loop: 2 hours Uptown Loop: 2 hours Brooklyn Loop: 2 hours Bronx Loop: 1 hours Night Tour: 2.5 hours |
Downtown Loop: 2.5 hours Uptown Loop: 2 hours Brooklyn Loop: 1.5 hours Bronx Loop: 1.5 hours Night Tour: 2 hours |
6-hours |
Departure Point |
Downtown Loop: Times Square 48th Uptown Loop: Times Square 48th Brooklyn Loop: Battery Park Night Tour: Times Square 48th |
Downtown Loop: Times Square 48th Uptown Loop: Times Square 48th Brooklyn Loop: Brooklyn Promenade Bronx Loop: Grant's Tomb Night Tour: Times Square 48th |
Downtown Loop: Times Square 48th Uptown Loop: Times Square 42nd Brooklyn Loop: City Hall/ Brooklyn Bridge Bronx Loop: Grant's Tomb Night Tour: Times Square 48th |
The tour starts in front of Le Parker Meridien Hotel |
Bus Stops/Attractions |
Downtown Loop
Uptown Loop
Brooklyn Loop
Night TourPanoramic Tour |
Downtown Loop
Uptown Loop
Brooklyn Loop
Bronx Loop
Night TourPanoramic Tour |
Downtown Loop
Uptown Loop
Brooklyn Loop
Bronx Loop
Night TourPanoramic Tour |
|
Frequency |
Downtown Loop: 15 minutes Uptown Loop: 15 minutes Brooklyn Loop: 1 hour Night Tour: 30 minutes |
Downtown Loop: 30 minutes Uptown Loop: 30 minutes Brooklyn Loop: 30 minutes Bronx Loop: 1 hour Night Tour: 30 minutes |
Downtown Loop: 30 minutes Uptown Loop: 30 minutes Brooklyn Loop: 30 minutes Bronx Loop: 30 minutes Night Tour: 30 minutes |
Hop-On, Hop-Off Tour: every 25-30 minutes New York Hop-On, Hop-Off City Sightseeing Ferry: It takes 90 minutes for the ferry cruise |
Audio commentary |
Yes (in 11 languages) |
Yes (in 11 languages) |
Yes (in 11 languages) |
Yes (11 languages) English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, Mandarin, Russian, Japanese, Korean or Hebrew. |
Complimentary tours and cruises | ||||
Heading |
Hornblower River Cruise ( Only with 2-day Deluxe and 3-day Big Apple Ticket) Free entry to the Museum of the City of New York (Only with 3-day Big Apple Ticket) Optional tours to Madam Tussauds Museum, Empire State building, Statue of Liberty, and One World Observatory at an additional price. |
Hop-on hop-off ferry ( Only with 2-day and 3-day Ticket) Free entry to the Museum of the City of New York ( Only with 2-day and 3-day Ticket) "Eat and Play" card (Only with 2-day and 3-day Ticket) |
Hop-on hop-off ferry ( Only with 2-day and 3-day Ticket) Free entry to the Museum of the City of New York OR New York Historical Society ( Only with 2-day and 3-day Ticket) "Eat and Play" card (Only with 2-day and 3-day Ticket) 2 free Via car sharing cards |
|
Other amenities |
Live guide on bus (English) |
Live guide on bus (English) |
Live guide on bus (English) |
A live professional tour guide in English on the bus Panoramic windows Double-decker open-top bus Free Wi-Fi Wheelchair accessible |
City Pass which includes this tour |
Big Adventure Pass |
None |
N/A | |
Other information |
No bus service on 1st January Free for children below 5 years |
No bus service on 25th December and 1st January Buses operate only between 9:00 A.M. and 12 P.M. on Christmas eve and New Year eve Free for children below 3 years |
Buses operate only between 9:00 A.M. and 3 P.M. on New Year eve Free for children below 3 years |
You get Eat and Play Card Cancel your ticket at least 24-hours in advance to get a full refund. Printed vouchers are required for this tour Cancellation must be 24 hours before the actual tour date |
How to use |
Print the voucher in your mail and exchange it near Stop 1, Times Square 48th Street. |
Print the voucher in your mail and exchange it at Gray Line Visitor Centre on Times Square. |
Print the voucher in your mail and exchange it near Stop 1, Times Square 48th Street. |
You are required to present the paper printed voucher to the driver who will exchange it into a ticket at the departure point. |
Big Bus Tours |
Gray Line Bus |
CitySights Buses |
Bus Tour + World Observatory |
City Sights New York Bus Tours is a handy service for tourists to familiarize themselves with the popular Big Apple. This bus service has 4 hop-on hop-off lines and a panoramic Night Tour. This offers you a convenience of organizing the sightseeing the way you are comfortable with. In addition to bus rides, City Sights NYC Bus Tours bestows its users with extras, such as a hop-on hop-off ferry ride, discount cards and more.
TripAdvisor: This hop-on hop-off sightseeing tour has an average rate of 3 on TripAdvisor by over 1800 reviewers. Albeit the rate isn't very impressive, travelers that used this company's services agree that they enjoyed the experience very much. Most of the complaints relate to questionable performances of the guides. Also, a number of negative reviews underlines long waiting times. But, the traffic in New York tends to be heavy, so little is in the hands of the company in this regard.
These are a few original reviews of the bus tour on TripAdvisor:
Ricardo L
Great choice to learn about NY places
Getting the full package for only 10USD extra is the best choice. You can use the 4 routes and the boat to brooklyn hoping off and on in all the places you must see at NY
Viator: Tourists that booked the sightseeing tour via Viator have a good opinion of the service. The average rate by 180 reviewers is 4.
Get Your Guide: With an average rate of 4.1 by 79 reviewers, this service is pretty popular with people who booked the tour via Get Your Guide.
The Big Bus is a bus sightseeing provider in the city of New York. The service on offer allow you to explore the Big Apple in a manner most convenient for you. With interconnected bus routes, you can travel around the city with high efficiency. More so, strategically deployed stops allow you to take off the bus and resume the ride anytime you wish. In addition, you benefit of complimentary tours and visits to attractions with specific passes.
Young children don't pay for a ride.
Note:
Premium ticket adds a choice between the Panoramic Night Tour or the 1-hour Cruise.
Deluxe ticket offers you two additional choices. A choice between the Panoramic Night Tour or the 1-hour Cruise is the 1st one. The 2nd option includes choices between the Empire State Building or the Statue of Liberty tours.
TripAdvisor: The Big Bus Hop on Hop off Sightseeing Tour has an excellent rate of 4 by around 8300 users on TripAdvisor. The percentage of extremely satisfied customers is stunning 54% while very satisfied travelers participate with 23%. The number of disappointed customers is within usual limits, which is several percent.
In the following, you can read a few reviews from past users of this bus service.
Oliver V
Great Advice & Sightseeing
Me, my girlfriend and her parents all took a trip on the BIG BUS NYC last week while visiting. We had tour guide John Harkins who was excellent. Not only was he very knowledgable he was also very funny and entertaining! We all loved every second of it. Keep up the good work Johnny!
Viator: Some 875 reviewers on this booking website have beaten TripAdvisor's users in complimenting the provider. They rated the New York Big Bus Tour with the 4.5 rate.
Get Your Guide: Some 130 commentators on the Get Your Guide booking portal rated Big Bus Hop-On Hop-Off Tours with the average rate of 4.4.
Gray Line is the bus sightseeing provider that covers downtown, Brooklyn and Bronx areas of New York. The service disposes of stops next to major attractions of the Big Apple, so you can alight from the vehicle at any point. Consequently, you are free to choose where and when to resume your ride. Besides, Gray Line Hop-On Hop-Off Tour offers additional amenities, such as a river cruise, museum ticket and a discount card.
Children under 3 don't pay.
TripAdvisor: Users of the New York Gray Line Bus Sightseeing have rated this service with an average rate of 3.5 on TripAdvisor (around 5250 reviewers). The percentage of extremely satisfied to extremely displeased travelers is 29% to 20% respectively. However, we have to point out that most complaints relate to long waiting times. Which, with the Big Apple's traffic jams, may not be the company's sole responsibility. The percentage of satisfied users is 24%.
Read some reviews from the service's past users on TripAdvisor in their original forms: Marion 06810 Grayline Great Tours and Travel First, their employees wear bright red jackets so they're easy to find at the bus tour stops. You can hop on an off all day, see all kinds of museums and buildings and walk in between tour stops to grab food and drink. Then there is Leon, the best looking tour guide who channels Dustin Hoffman in the film Rain Man with his exhaustive knowledge of how many steps there are in the Empire State Building. So in addition to learning the reason and street sighs being four different colors and lots of facts about bridges, buildings and things about NYC, you are sitting with a clear view of all of it. Thank you to Leon (best looking tour guide in NYC) for informing and entertaining.
Viator: Travelers that booked Gray Line Tours NYC via Viator have rated the overall experience with the 4 rate (around 100 reviewers).
Explore New York City on a double-decker open-top bus with panoramic views of the city's skyline and its top attractions. Use a 24-hour pass to enjoy free Wi-Fi onboard the city sightseeing bus and free headphones to listen to the audio commentary in 11 different languages. The bus also includes a live licensed tour guide who gives the history of all the top attractions from Downtown to Uptown Manhattan (Brooklyn to the Bronx). Travel past top attractions such as Central Park, Rockefeller Center, Radio City,9/11 Memorial and Flat Iron, South Street Seaport,Financial districts, Empire State Building,Times Square,the United Nations,Fifth Avenue, Greenwich Village,Little Italy, and many more.
Enjoy express admission onto the city sightseeing ferry and see New York's skyline from the water. Get off the ferry and explore on your own places like Brooklyn Bridge Park, Wall Street, Theatre District, Times Square and many more. Go up over 100 stories in less than 60 seconds and get a different view from atop the 102nd floor of the One World Observatory. Also, visit the 911/ Tribute Centre nearby and listen to the stories and how New York rebuilt after the terror attack on the city from the tour guide.
There are no complimentary tours included in the New York Bus Tour with One World Observatory.
This hop-on-hop-off bus pass includes an Eat and Play Card and other discounts.
The following are prices for theNew York Bus Tour with One World Observatory pass:
New York Bus Tour with One World Observatory
Adult (13-99) - €116.97
Child (2-12) - €107.91
Infant (0-1) - FREE
NOTE: Children from 0-1 years ride the New York Bus Tour with One World Observatoryfor free and must be in the company of adults.
Hop-On, Hop-Off Tour: Buses run from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm.
City Sightseeing New York Hop-On, Hop-Off Ferry: Daily 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.
One World Observatory: from 9:00am until 8:00pm
9/11 Tribute Center: From 10am to 6pm & 5pm on Sundays.
Top Attractions include:
Empire State Building, Greenwich Village, SoHo, Little Italy, Chinatown, The World Trade Center site, Battery Park, South Street Seaport, Times Square, Rockefeller Plaza, Radio City, the United Nation, Fifth Avenue, Times Square, the Theatre District, Wall Street and Brooklyn Bridge Park, Pier 78, World Financial Center, One World Observatory, 9/11 Tribute Center and many more.
Departure Point: The tour starts in front of Le Parker Meridien Hotel
Tripindicator's experts taken greater care in comparing prices for New York sighseeing bus tours from the ratings and leading tickets websites so that you don’t have to. See below the FAQs about New York open bus tour and answers.
New York city has many routes leading to a diverse range of attractions, meaning that the time it takes on a New York bus tour will vary depending on where you’d like to go.