NYC Bus Tour: Explore at Your Own Pace
3.5
4,785 Ratings

Experience the best of New York City with the Big Bus open-top hop-on hop-off tour. Explore downtown attractions, visit Times Square and Wall Street, and catch a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty. Then, discover uptown highlights like the Apollo Theater, The Metropolitan Museum, and Central Park. Choose from 1 or 2-day options and explore at your own pace.

Duration: 2 days
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights

Downtown Loop - Red Route (Route)

Operating Schedule: 9:00 AM - 4:30 PM (starting from Stop #1 - M&M’S World)
Buses run every 30 minutes, with the entire route taking 90 minutes.
Download the free Big Bus app or visit the website for route details, customer support, and live bus tracking.
1. M&M’S New York
Stop 1 - 7th Ave & W 48th St…

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What's Included
  • Open-top double decker bus
  • Unlimited hop-on hop-off access during ticket validity
  • Two Routes - Downtown & Uptown Loops
  • Live bus tracking through Big Bus app
  • Self-guided Vox Walking Tours with 4 tour options (if option selected)
  • Brooklyn & DUMBO Bus & Walking Tour (if option selected)
What's Not Included
  • Hotel pickup and drop-off
Additional Information

Explore New York City at your leisure with the Big Bus Hop-On Hop-Off Tour — the most adaptable and enjoyable way to see the city that never sleeps. Delight in sweeping views from an open-top bus, informative audio commentary, and the liberty to visit renowned landmarks at your convenience.
Downtown Loop
Discover NYC’s most famous neighborhoods,…

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Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
3.5
(4785 Ratings)
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1 star
Ronald_h
Jan 23, 2023
Great way to visit popular City sites - As usual hop on/hop off bus most convenient/easy way for city travel around, to see major site areas...Generally use in cities visited as avail....not disappointed....Viator always stands behind purchases.
Review provided by Viator
Justalittlebitocd
Jul 1, 2023
Do this the day you arrive - We really enjoyed our hop on hop off tour . We never hopped off and went the whole way around the downtown route. It’s hot up top so make sure you put on some sunscreen and take a hat and water IMO do this bus tour in your first day as it really helps give you a layout of the land and will help you navigate around the city We didn’t pay anything as it was included in our New York Pass. Just scanned our pass at stop #1 the M&M centre time square
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Bendy37
Jan 2, 2023
Really enjoyed the bus - We had a day pass on here as part of the Sightseeing pass and couldn’t fault it. We caught the bus outside M&M world and the buzz in Times Square was palpable. There were loads of stops for you to hop off and back on and the guide was informative and fun. Really glad we did this.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Cfarley1
Nov 16, 2022
Easy way to see the city - A great way to see some key sights and get your bearings in the city. The Red Line was very good, not to far between stops, lots of options, runs frequently. The commentary cuts out frequently, often cutting off the "fun fact" you're about to learn. All-in-all, recommended though. The blue line however is a different story. Very few stops, huge distances in between them, you will spend a lot of time sitting on a bus, stuck in traffic, to not really see anything. Skip it! Stick to the Red Line!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Lawlovetraveler
Jun 24, 2024
Not a fan. Walk & use the subway and save yourself a ton of money - I would not suggest this ticket. We did the downtown loop because we felt that everything we wanted to see in the uptown loop was in walking distance. Turns out most of the stuff in the downtown loop was walkable and anything that wasn't, it wouldve been more efficient to just take a subway there instead. We took the bus between two stops just because we had the ticket but still had to walk a bunch to get to our ultimate destination. The bus was packed, people were standing, there wasn't any AC so everyone was dripping. They have some tint covers over the windows which probably helped with the temp but made it feel more cramped than it was. The cord for the audio portion plugged in at the ceiling so there was this cord just dangling in front of my face. One ear bud didn't even work. I was listening to crappy music more than actual guide information. The information that they did share wasn't that exciting. Maybe we weren't in a great part of the tour. The driver (and various drivers that were hopping on/off) weren't overly friendly either. There were a few spots (Whitehall Station in particular) wasn't even on the route but the bus drove within a few blocks of it without stopping. Then another two other stops were like 1-2 blocks away from each other. Bright side: I needed to communicate with customer service for a change in our ticket prior to our visit and they were helpful and friendly.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Danny_b
Dec 26, 2022
Very slick and efficient... - Very slick and efficient timetable. Unfortunately sound system was a bit hit and miss which detracted from the journey
Review provided by Viator
Glasgowtraveller_8
May 23, 2024
Quite a let down sadly. - We recently did the Uptown Big Bis uptown tour and it was really disappointing. It's hop.on hop off but buses aren't too frequent and when one does turn up there will be no seats upstairs to see anything. Also the uptown tour was very short and didn't go very far Uptown. Got as far as one of the museums on the east side of Central Park and then down to Colombia Circle then back to where we started. Way too short. Never took in Harlem for example. We didn't think this was much of a tour at all.ssdly and if we hadn't got off for a walk at Central Park it would have been done in a flash. I'd do something else instead or certainty avoid the uptown tour.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Geeta
May 21, 2024
DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY! - Do not waste your time and money on this poorly managed “tour” company. We waited more than 30 minutes at each stop and at the Statue of Liberty stop close to an hour. The stops were not even close to any of the attractions. We had to beg the driver to let us on after waiting for close to one hour ( he had to leave behind several frustrated people). We started at stop number 4 on the red tour, hopped off only twice- 9/11 memorial and Statue of Liberty and barely made it back to the last stop at 6pm. We were unable to do the blue tour as planned. The ground staff was mostly absent throughout the tour. Audio narration very basic. Have done a hop on hop off tour in more than 10 countries around the world. New York city tour is the most disappointing. Feeling sorry for recommending and dragging 3 other friends to waste their time money and energy today ( May 21, 2024). The mobile app reflected inaccurate wait time and kept fluctuating between 14to 17 minutes wait, then 6-8 minutes, then 8-10 minutes and then back to 13-14 minutes etc.etc DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jwbird46342
May 4, 2024
Don't waste your time, sanity or patience! - Horrible! From the ticket agent's lack of customer service, being very aggressive as a salesman to a potential customer (tried several times to grab his credit card out of his hand), bad driving and overall lack of caring, it was a hot mess. I've done these bus tours in three other cities and had great experiences. I'm not sure what's going on in NY.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Pudibear
Apr 16, 2023
Cringe - The narration was incredibly irritating - childish, minimally informative -there is so much history here and the commentary focused on trivial rubbish on the whole. The jokey style between the male and female narrators was super cringeworthy. You could learn a lot from the bus tour in Washington which was, by contrast, excellent
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).
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