We used the City Sightseeing "Hop On Hop Off" bus for a couple of days on this trip. I am usually very big on these type of busses on a trip. We have had success, and great experiences with them in Savannah, St. Augustine, New Orleans, San Antonio, and other places....For New York City....... I will say that these busses were an OK experience... for the most part.
I will start with the cons- We got on a bus at 8am, when the first ones were loading for the day. Well, that one got a flat tire before it got going. They did have another for us to get onto, and we were on the road by 8:25. Still, that's 25 minutes of vacation time.One day it was raining, and the bus was full of people on the 1st floor of the bus (these are double decker busses with open tops). The tour guide/announcer basically gave up on narrating, and stressed out about fitting people on the bus.
Speaking of guides..... the guides were hit or miss. Some were great and really made the experience pleasant. Others were straight up bad. One told a lot of jokes, and pointed out just a couple of buildings of interest.On the flip side, there were some advantages. We were able to get around VERY easily, while seeing all of the sites of New York. We drove through all of the cool neighborhoods.
AND, we had some great guides... one being Victor. Victor was a younger guide who knew a LOT of history, and was full of facts. Victor is the kind of guide I always want on a tour.
Also, even with some of the issues- this added to our New York experience. Riding in an over crowded bus with a guide who stops trying to narrate, and just starts loudly mumbling to himself, "I can't fit all these people on this bus" had some value to it.
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