Every time I see a “hop on, hop off” bus in the streets of Manhattan, I try to look like an angry, busy New Yorker to really give the tourists that Big Apple cliché they’re expecting.
Growing up my parents often made us do “hop on, hop off” tours when we traveled. I’ve done one in Paris, London, Rome AND Naples, Italy. We spent so much time on these buses as kid tourists that my sister and I even made up a jingle (that we still sing today) about wanting to get off the bus.
But I’ve never taken one of these bus tours in New York. In fact, I haven’t done a lot of stuff in this city. Sure, I’ve been to the top of the Empire State Building and Rockefeller Center but I’ve never truly been a tourist in my own city.
So I decided, why not try it!? I always say that one way to add travel to your life is to explore your own backyard. And when your backyard is Manhattan, there are endless opportunities to explore. I take it for granted that I live in the greatest city in the world!
I was really hoping to talk to some fun tourists on the bus and learn new facts about New York. Here are 6 things I experienced while on my “hop on, hop off” downtown Manhattan tour.
1. Do NOT pay full price for this tour.
I purchased my one day ticket for the CitySights downtown loop bus on Groupon for $19. And I use Ebates for cash back so it was really only $18 because I got $1.14 back through them.
When I got on the bus it said the downtown loop tour was $59 FOR AN ADULT! That’s a little crazy when you can buy the ticket on Groupon for $19. I thought this was insane so I had to investigate.
Upon researching on CitySight’s website, I found a one day unlimited “hop on, hop off” ticket for just the downtown route is $34. If you want 48 hours on the bus, that is $59, so I guess the bus wasn’t exactly wrong. And while $59 for 48 hours is actually a pretty good rate for Manhattan, why not just get two 1 day tickets on Groupon and use it back to back days? I’m always trying to game the system to get a deal when I travel!
Also, if you’re trying to decide which route to do, I definitely recommend the downtown loop. It’s where you’ll see everything from Times Square to Rockefeller Center, Macys, the World Trade Center, the Flatiron and more. The uptown route is mostly just Central Park and the museums, which you can easily grab a cab to afterward! See a full list of the downtown loop stops here.
P.S. If you want to use Ebates to get cash back on your purchases, you should probably use my referral link so we both get cash money: https://www.ebates.com/r/JENNIF77737?eeid=28187
2. The tour is mostly about where to shop.
On the bus you’re given a pair of headphones to listen to the tour guide throughout the ride. It’s not a taped recording, which I was happy about. It’s a real, live person sitting in front of the bus who you can ask questions.
Unfortunately, I found that mostly all he talked about was where to shop in New York. He’d say things like, “The next stop is Greenwich Village where you can walk to SoHo for some high end shopping.” Or “This area is Chelsea which used to have the best shopping but is now pretty average.”
I get it. The tour guide was trying to give general information to tourists about what to do in Manhattan and where to do it. But I was really hoping for a little bit more history and information about New York as a city. I know where to shop. Trust me. Or better yet, ask my credit card!
Although in between learning where to shop, I did find out a couple small anecdotes about New York. For one, the Empire State Building was the fastest construction of the tallest building (it was the tallest building when it was originally built).
I also learned that in the early 1900s, about 70% of the clothing worn by U.S. women were made in New York’s Garment District. And our guide didn’t hesitate to tell us that unfortunately no clothes are made in the Garment District today because they’re all made in China and Taiwan.
Did you know New York’s Chinatown has the largest Chinese population in the western hemisphere? In just 2 square miles in downtown Manhattan, there are close to 150,000 Chinese people. Just another little fact I learned on the bus tour.
If you decide to take the tour, make sure not to miss the headphones because there was little bits of greatness among all of the shopping chatter!
3. The tour is not enjoyable when it’s cold.
This is pretty obvious! I tried to do the bus tour on one of the warmer days of February because I wanted to sit in the outside part of the bus’ top deck. It was about 45 degrees the day I did it and I had on a tank top, long sleeve, jean shirt, sweater, jacket, hat, scarf and gloves and was still FRIGIDLY cold. My nose had icicles and my fingers were numb. Even though I’ve lived in Manhattan for more than 5 years, I forget that the wind can blow between these tall buildings!
You can sit inside in the first level of the bus. Half of the top level is outside and half of it is under a small plastic hood which I believe is removed during the warmer months. While the hood is clear all the way around, I wouldn’t exactly say that you can see perfectly out of it. It was pretty dirty and scratched so it definitely wasn’t a good viewing spot.
The front row is actually not the best place to sit either. As you’ll see in the below photo, you sort of have to bend down to see through the window.
4. These tour guides hate tourists.
As a New Yorker of 6 years, I get it. Tourists are difficult. They stop in the middle of a busy sidewalk which is basically the equivalent of stopping in the middle of the expressway in Iowa. They’re constantly staring up at the sky for who knows what reason. Sorry tourists, but you can be annoying sometimes!
But if you’re a TOUR GUIDE in New York City, you better at least be able to fake-like tourists. I’m sure it’s a tiring job and they get asked the same questions day after day but this guy on my tour really hated tourists.
I could tell from his commentary right away that he did not like his job.
“There are over 1,000 restaurants in Manhattan so don’t ask me where to go eat,” he said early on in the trip.
After sitting with him for awhile, I learned that his job is frustrating. He tells people to look to the right to see a statue and they look left and then say they don’t see it. They leave complaints that it’s too cold for the tour. He is often blamed for “their stupidity.” But still. Come on man, quit if you’re that miserable!
Oh and did I mention he was telling me all of this while his mic was still on? It was painfully awkward.
5. It’s dangerous!
No, seriously. It is dangerous sitting in the outdoor section of these buses. Stop lights and street signs are LOW in Manhattan. If you stand up while the bus is moving, you could literally be beheaded. The tour guide reminded us several times throughout the drive to remain seated but just one turn under a giant sign and you’ll remember on your own!
6. It’s basically a private tour during the week.
Outside of tourist season that is! I’m sure during the holidays and in the summer these buses are packed 7 days a week. But on a random week day in February, there were only about 15 people total on the bus.
The bus runs every day rain or shine. It only stopped running a total of 4 days last year as a result of excessive snow, the tour guide said. One of those days they tried to run the buses but there was no one wanting to ride it so they shut it down!
The bus runs about every 15 minutes but if you’re not there right when it pulls up, you will probably miss it! And sometimes, if no one on the bus said they wanted to get off and no one was standing at the bus stop to get on, the driver would just drive right by.
Each time we did stop, it was just long enough to let people off and on. The only time we really stopped was at Battery Park where we stopped for about 10-15 minutes for the driver to have a break.
To ride the entire downtown loop without getting off takes about 1.5-2 hours.
So did you like the hop on, hop off bus?
As a New Yorker, I didn’t love the experience. It may have been a little more enjoyable if it were warmer but I didn’t learn much about New York like I wanted. I also didn’t really have anyone to talk to since the bus was basically empty.
Overall, if you’re a tourist who’s only in New York for a short time and you’ve never been before and may never come back, do the bus. It takes you everywhere you’d want to go and it is to literally hop on, hop off.
But as a New Yorker, I think there are more fun “tourist” things to do in New York. Like the Food on Foot Tour! I did it years ago and I still tell people about it today. So for now my fellow Manhattanites, just hop away from the hop on, hop off bus.