Reply from BigBusTours Philadelphia
[REPLY]
- Reviews (69)
- Allison L.
- 1 Review
Anniversary Tour
I've always wanted to ride on one of the tour buses. We finally booked tickets and had a great open air tour of sights we've passed many times before but never knew the history. Great time.
- Melody Medley
- 1 Review
Best way to view Philly!
Great experience. The pick up spot was one of many, but it was in walking distance of my hotel. Tour guide was very informational and funny. The driver was great, I couldn't believe some of the spaces she got inbewteen. I learned so much! The stops were great and the fact that you can ride all day was perfect. It was by the far the best way to view philly. So glad I went.
- Jonathan Mason
- 1 Review
Learned a lot about the Philadelphia!
This was our first bus tour of philly and we had Ginger as our tour guide and Dennis as our driver. We took our three children and had a great time and learning experience on our tour. We understand that the tour guides make these trips on a repetitive basis. That being said, Ginger was very dynamic, humorous and informative throughout our tour. We would definitely take the tour again and would recommend it to our friends! Well done!!!
- David B
- 1 Review
Fun tour and our tour guide was enthusiatic and entertaining!
Went on this tour with my mother in May of 2013. Would definitely do it again!
- Susan Parker
- 1 Review
This was a wonderful experience covering lots of territory and letting us know where we wanted to go back and see on our own.
Lots of sites in a short period of time. Our driver was amazing! It was great to be up top with the honeysuckle in bloom - but watch out for those branches - even from the middle of the bus - branches attack!
- Barbara
- 1 Review
Loved the 90 minute bus tour!!!
Loved the Bus tour but please stay away from the Christ Church Bus Stop!
The Bus stop needs to be changed. We stood under the bus stop pole for 45 minutes
& called the office twice. Finally the bus came past & never stopped.
We were told with the subway entrance at the stop the bus driver did not see us!
Change the stop to a different location! Thank you!
- JANIS REMBERT
- 1 Review
Fun way to learn history of Philly.
The tour guides were amazing you could tell they loved their jobs. Pointing out the historical facts as well as throwing in some fun facts. It showered on us half way thru the tour but the guide was so professional keeping focused on the job yet apologizing for Mother Nature as we were all getting soaked. Would recommend this tour to anyone visiting Philadelphia. Great way to see the city and loved being able to hop on and off at any point to do in-depth site seeing. FUN!
- Karen Nikolin
- 1 Review
Very dissatisfied.
My husband and I were in DC on business and planned a day trip to Philly. Unfortunately we had to return home because my husband became ill. I had no trouble cancelling our Amtrak travel but when I attempted, by phne, to get a refund on Big Bus I ws given the total run around! I was told that the online reservatios are handled by a thrd party booking company and to email them. I did and still no refund!
- hadley harris bohn
- 1 Review
Extremely long wait times between stops
We were very disappointed with this tour. We always do bus tours in ever city we visit domestically and abroad, as we feel it gives a good overview of the town and allows to easily see and explore the city. However, the wait times between stops was ridiculous (we waited almost 50 minutes for our first pick-up). We kept having to call the office to check on the status of the bus. Also, there were road closures that they hadn't accounted for so they had to send a shuttle to pick us up from one of the stops. The microphone and speaker was very low so it was difficult to hear and understand what the guides were saying. Overall, it was very disappointing.
- Alison Fuller
- 1 Review
Really fun tour with engaging guides
My husband and I had a great time on the BigBus Tour of Philly. The tour guides were very interesting and engaging, and made it very enjoyable! It was convenient to get off at any stop and have the ability to get back on and have transportation around the city. It would have been nice if the busses could have come more often, since we often decided to walk to the next stop instead of waiting a half hour for the next bus, but for the most part it was a great experience!
- Elayne Recupero
- 1 Review
We waited over an hour for the bus and had to cut our visit short.
We had a great time when we were on the bus, but waited over an hour at the zoo for our first pick up, only to be taken to the museum and waited almost an hour for another bus. At that point it was super crowded and we had to sit on the bottom and couldn't see much - much to the dismay of our kids. There was a lot of traffic that day (roads blocked in the city) so it took forever. We didn't get off the bus to site see because we were afraid of waiting another hour for the next bus. When we got back to the museum my husband took a cab to the zoo to get our car because the bus took so long and we were afraid the zoo parking facility would close before we got there. It sounded like a great idea - but took almost 4 hours we barely got the full tour.
- Daniel Caplan
- 1 Review
Comprehensive tour of Philly with a funny and knowledgeable guide
Comprehensive tour of Philly with a funny and knowledgeable guide
- carlos gambirazio
- 1 Review
Great!!!
It was our first time in Philadelphia and we really enjoyed the tour . The guide and the driver , don't remember their names, were very friendly.
- Dael Angelico
- 1 Review
The guide was great but the sunscreen on the windows made it very difficult to see.
There was a kinds of sun screen on the windows which made it very difficult to see out. The guide was very good, though.
- Niko
- 1 Review
Very knowledgeable tour guide, but wish the open top deck bus would run during the raining day.
I wish we wouldn't have to wait for an hour to get on the bus. It was raining and cold. We did not have clear direction that told us the open top deck bus does not operate during a raining day. Luckily, the customer service staff at visitor center knew that we had been waiting for the tour bus and directed us what bus to get on after at least an hour wait.
- Claudio Buffa
- 1 Review
- Anthony Pawlowski
- 1 Review
Benjamin Franklin would be proud.
We really enjoyed the tour of Philadelphia. Our guides were very knowledgeable and friendly. The microphones were a bit crackly at times, but the guides got them to work quickly. The route was much more extensive and informative than we had expected. Philadelphia is a wonderful city full of impressive art, science, and historical pride.
- LeeAnn Hart
- 1 Review
Wish we'd had enough time to enjoy the whole tour
It was very easy to buy our tickets online for our brief stay in Philadelphia. We rode from the Franklin Institute to Independence Hall, and really enjoyed the commentary from our guide, Ginger. Our time ran short, so we weren't able to ride the entire circuit. It was a lot of fun to ride on an old London double-decker. I have just one quibble -- it was hard to find the bus stop at the Franklin Institute. It's not where the map shows it. I can't speak to any of the other stops.
- Karen Shilling
- 1 Review
Rip Off
I had to reschedule my trip because of the forecast for inclement weather. I tried for several days to contact the company to find out if I could reschedule. Their phone numbers were either wrong or disconnected and they didn't respond to my emails. They finally sent me an email during the day I was in Philadelphia which I didn't see until I was on my way home. Meanwhile, I had to figure out public transportation to get around the city. Now I'm out $27.00.
- Tim Lister
- 1 Review
I will not use y'all again...
My wife and I have used Hop on hop off several times in other cities in the past without issues. However, when we arrived in Philadelphia for the day of our tour the weather really was not cooperating. It was snowing and extremely cold. I understand that you cannot control the weather of course but what really set us off was that you only had a few (if any more than one that is) buses running that day so any stop we took would mean that we would have to wait for an hour at least for the next bus. Given the weather situation this was not acceptable. I asked the tour folks about getting a refund and was told that all we had to do was send in an email requesting it and it would be taken care of in about 2-3 days. It has now been 11 days since I made the request and I have not received a response yet.
- Phuong Nguyen
- 1 Review
Good tours, some guides are better than other, buses run quite often, pass was good for 24 hours.
I'd highly recommend it. It's good way to see all the attractions in the city !
- diana a.
- 1 Review
We had a great tour on our honeymoon
We had a fantastic time, and the tour was very informative. Although it was 17 degrees in January, we still managed to get some nice photos of Liberty Bell, Rocky statue, Love Park and many more.
- Colin Hubbard
- 1 Review
Update your online map for Philly please!
Waited for an hour at a stop that was no longer on the tour because I printed the map from the BigBus Tours Philly website. I don't want to hear about Philly sports on the tour. I paid to hear real history!
- Elizabeth
- 2 Reviews
did not take the trip and wrote to you asking for a refund
We got the wrong information on the trip and thus missed the last bus and we were leaving the following day. We still have the tickets and would appreciate a refund.
I am sure it will be a memorable experience. The rating system is not helpful in my case so I just used it to be able to post these comments so don't use it as objective as we did not have the experience. Please make it a bit friendlier and enable it to cover objective issues.
Thanks. Please writer to wagoro@gmail.com
- David Spence
- 1 Review
Good tour, but horribly organized
The people who work at the bus stops are horrible. Did not know when the bus was coming. He told us that we had just missed the bus and to come back in 30 minutes, becasue the next bus would be here in 45 min. We came back in 20 minutes and were told that we just missed the bus again. He then said, walk to the next stop and the bus will wait.. We walked 15 minutes and saw the bus waiting for us at the stop. As we got closer, the bus pulled away and we had to wait another 45 minutes.
They say the tour is hop on and hop off, but do that are your own risk. You will have no idea when the next bus will arrive.
Once we were actually on the bus two hours later, the tour was fantastic! Guide knew a ton about Philadelphia and a lot of knowledge I did not know, as a Philadelphia local.
If you can put up with the horrible organization and the incompetent employees who are at the bus stop, it is a good tour.
- Adaline Cooper
- 1 Review
Poor Customer Service
We bought tickets online. When we could not find the location for the bus because of Philadelphia preparing for the parade we tried to call. We could not get through on Wednesday before Thanksgiving. We then tried to email and did not get an answer. I tried emailing after Thanksgiving and still did not get an answer. Very poor customer service. My daughter-in-law was visiting and was very disappointed.
- Janelle Judson
- 1 Review
Convenient and knowledgable
The guides were full of knowledge and seemed to love the city. Thanks had a great day.
- Susan Van Skiver
- 1 Review
Long waits
The idea of "Jump On and Jump Off" is great; however, the actual experience was disappointing. When we arrived at the 30th street Amtrak station, we were at a loss to find how to jump on a bus. We assumed that there would be something like a kiosk to provide information at major transportation sites. One of the stops was City Hall, so we took a taxi there. However, we went all over that site and could not find a sign indicating that the bus stopped there. We were trying to figure out where another stop was when we stumbled across a building near Love Park that got us on our way. The employees were very friendly and helpful and the drivers did a great job maneuvering in mid-town traffic. The biggest problem was that we waited outside (it was cold and windy) for 40 MINUTES for a bus to pick us up at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Your competitor's bus and the trolley came around twice wile we waited. We went to one more exhibit and then took a taxi back to the train station rather than wait for a bus to bring us near 30th Street Station. I would NOT recommend your service to someone else visiting Philadelphia.
- Margaret Bond
- 1 Review
Historic Philly in depth
A friend from Colorado visited Philly for the first time this past week, and we did the BigBus ninety-minute Tour on Thursday, Nov 8th. Mike was our guide, and Daniel our drivwer. Both performed admirably. Mike is personable, fun, and SO knowledgeable. I have lived here for many years, and love Philly, but learned all sorts of new things that make it even more special. Kudos to both of them, and to you for hiring them.
- Kevin Trost
- 1 Review
Philly, old but beautiful
My sister and I took the bus tour twice. the sights were great, loved the old architecture and statues. It was nice to hop on and off. The tour guides know their city well.
- Anabel Garcia
- 1 Review
Great experience!
It was a great experience. Definetively I would recommend it!
- Sascha Swafford
- 1 Review
Great Tour!
This was our first time in Philadelphia and first time on the Big Bus Tours. We really enjoyed both! The bus stops were convinient and there was enough variety that we really got to see quite a bit of Phillie. The bus host was funny and very knowledgeable about his city! OVerall it was great. We would definitely ride it again! Thanks.
- Angelena Krebsbach
- 1 Review
Great way to learn about history!
It was cool to see all the historical sites. You can get off and on at the certain stops. You'll have fun taking pictures. There's different museums you can check out too.....some are free.
- Andy L.
- 1 Review
Outstanding tour, led by a well-informed and humorous guide.
A great introduction to Philadelphia - well-worth it!
- stephanie iverson
- 1 Review
dissapointing
We were really excited about the tour. We went Aug 31, 2012. The buses went by the stops so fast we hardly had time to decide whether to get off. The tour guides seemed to expect us to know and flag them down rather than give us a heads up about why we may want to stop. So we got off on a stop. Decided while waiting for the next bus we would walk to the next stop in Chinatown. The bus flew by us not slowing down at all. I called and was told the bus was waiting at the next stop for us. We started walking as fast as we could. When we got there no bus. The guy was so rude and offered we could run to the next stop. No thanks! We would have signed up for the walking tours if we were going to chase the bus all day. They said the next bus was coming in 15 minutes. 35 min later still no bus. I asked one of the staff and she said "oh you were the people we held the bus for. We waited 10 min I heard I went on break though". It didn't take us 10 min to get there so I felt lied to. The next bus we were relieved to get on and back on our day, I was just about to start crying because I was so upset about how the morning went when it arrived. That went well until we got off. The next bus was the worst of the day, the guide was such an arrogant jerk we got off at the next stop just to get away from him. I had a bad feeling when he was blatenly letting other people on before us who were waiting patiently. The otjer couple who were running up
- Francisco Pacheco
- 1 Review
Very Good tour
It is an excellent way to know more the beauty and history of Philladelphia. However the upper seats are not comfortable at all for 2 normal people, even one front seat was broken.
The guy in charge of the tour was excellent, he provided very descriptive explanation of the city's places, and very friendly.
Highly recommended but fix the seats please.
- Priscilla Courter
- 1 Review
A must-see for anyone who loves history!
Since I was only going to be in Philadelphia a short time only, I wanted to get a good overview of the city and see the highlights. I enjoyed it so much! We had beautiful weather and I learned so much! A hop on/off bus is the perfect way to see the important stuff. Then you could always go back to see something you really enjoyed for a more in depth view. The guides were wonderful and knowledgeable and able to answer everybody's questions and they were quite funny. I highly recommend this to anyone who is considering visiting Philadelphia.
- Tracy Walford
- 1 Review
Isaac /tour guide and Dennis / bus driver, best ever, great fun!
We caught the bus late one afternoon and did the full tour with Isaac and we found him to be good fun and full of so much information, we learnt alot about Philadelphia and if we could be guaranteed him as our guide we would go again.
We caught the bus again the next morning and had a different guide, not very good, very quiet, didn't know much. Got back on the bus in the afternoon, same again, not impressive. Thanks Isaac for a great tour and so much information.
- Richard Silverblatt
- 1 Review
My Fill of Philly
Philly was fabulous, great city. The bus tour was educational and exciting at the same time.
Great trivia from the tour guide on the bus. The bus tour lets you see the big view of Philly and then you can concentrate on places that really interested you.The only way to see everything that a city offers is with a bus tour.
.
- cristina_daroczy
- 1 Review
Cozy way to "meet Philly" in a couple of hours!
With plenty of bus stops all over the city and energetic, smart & kind guides (if I'm not mistaken, ours on the first day was Kate) to take you through the more interesting places in town, is a great way to make oneself familiar with an unknown city.
Furthermore, with a ticket valid for 24 hours and several tours daily, one is totally free to "hop on & off" at his/her own leisure, without fear of missing a single thing.
