We bought a 4 tickets for 2 days Deluxe Hop On hop Off Tour in Washington DC and when we arrived we find out all tours are canceled due to the Nationals World Series baseball Championship Parade. We called the costumer service to ask if they would refund the Saturday November, 2nd tickets and they told Us since they are a third party they not responsible for cancelation that Big Bus Tours does and will take 72 hours to being approved to decided to reimburse our money back. Very unprofessional costumer service. **** PLEASE DO NOT MAKE BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY**** read more

Do not, I repeat, DO NOT hire this service. They stole $185 from my family and I we never received any service. We went to the first so called 'pick up' location and they never showed up after 45 minutes of waiting. I tried contacting someone who could help and they were obstinate, and tried delay after delay until finally telling me there was no problem with their service and flat out refused to refund, or escalate my issue. This company is a DISGRACE. What a horrible experience, hire this service at your own peril, trust me you will regret paying the money for this rip off business! read more

This is not at all worth the money. The buses do not run frequently enough, the app live tracking was poor making it very difficult to time your on/off, the audio devices are very hit and miss with 1 out of 2 being broken. If you don't plug in and find out it's broken, you run the risk of being stuck in that seat without the audio because the buses fill up. If you have to choose between walking directly across the mall versus having to loop all of the way around to get where you need to go, it's likely just more efficient to walk. On a positive note, the operators are friendly and they stop at all of the major attractions. read more

bus was very old, uncomfortable seats and the ac was broken down. it was also a holiday weekend Labor Dat and they way oversold tickets so it was standing room only and full to the point where other people waiting at stops couldn't get on as it was esy over capacity read more

We had a very poor experience with the Big Bus Tour. First, we got on, and the lower portion of the bus is completely unheated. It was a chilly day, and the reason for booking a bus tour, as opposed to walking, is so that we could warm up on the bus. Obviously I wouldn't expect the upper, open portion of the bus to be heated, but one would think that the enclosed lower portion would be heated. Second, our guide talked so fast it was nearly impossible to understand him. Third, they applied graphics to the exterior of the bus windows making it seem like you're looking through very dirty glass. Why would a bus tour company do that? it's ridiculous. None of the other bus tour companies appeared to do this. And lastly, we missed our second bus of the morning because the driver literally stopped for 15 seconds before moving on to the next stop. The least they can do is have their drivers stop for a minute to give people a chance to find them and get on. Their stops do not have clear signage, so you're sort of waiting in a general "area" for their bus, and when you see the bus pull up, apparently you need to spring over to it. At this point (after 1 stop) we decided it would be more enjoyable to just Uber from one landmark to the next. So we essentially paid $80 for 2 people to get on at the US Capitol and get off at the Spy Museum. I would NOT suggest Big Bus Tours. Save your money and book elsewhere. Or just Uber/Lyft from location to location. read more

Big Bus Hop on Hop Off Review I signed up for a Big Bus Hop On Hop Off Washington DC Tour on October 7, 2023, to take place on October 8, 2023, which was about the only pleasant part of my experience with the Big Bus company. On October 8, 2023, in the morning, I received a notice from Big Bus that due to an Army marathon in Washington DC, that Big Bus would need to change their stops and some of the places previously scheduled. Because of that, we waited until after 12:00 PM, losing morning time for seeing landmarks in the city. Finally, we boarded one of the Big Buses at approximately 12:45 PM for what we had hoped would be a fun tour, which it was not. Because it was a warm and sunny day, we chose seats on the lower level of the bus: our first mistake. I say mistake, because the external advertising on the bus covered the windows causing an appearance of a mesh applique over the windows that prevented anything being photographed. When we got to the stop for the Spy Museum, the driver shut off the bus and left the bus. Nothing was said to the riders, not even a simple "We will be changing drivers here, which will take a few minutes." Nothing! Unfortunately, those of us sitting on the lower level were left in a very warm and uncomfortable situation and did not know what was happening. A new driver finally got on and our misadventure continued. While we did stop at some more locations, my wife and I stayed on until we got to the Capital, where we got off. When we finished viewing the Capital, we waited almost 45 minutes for a Big Bus vehicle to show up. It's interesting their advertising claims buses stop every 15 to 20 minutes and sad they don't seem to follow their advertising. The additional time spent waiting for their buses meant our time for seeing attractions was shortened. From the Capital, my wife and I got off the vehicle at the Lincoln Memorial, where we never saw another Big Bus show up for us to board. We saw one Big Bus vehicle drive by on Independence Avenue but not one came to where we saw at least another 15 buses from other companies stopped. Because of this, we decided to use Uber to leave the Lincoln Memorial after another long wait. My opinion of Big Bus? Very low. Their reliability for matching their advertising of utilizing a pickup every 15 to 20 minutes was slim to none. Their drivers keeping passengers informed of driver changes did not occur. Their buses did not provide clean views from the lower deck due to having advertising mesh appliques on the windows. When we first got on, no one told us where to get the earphones so we missed commentary about the first few landmarks. And we purchased two-day tickets that were supposed to offer coupons that we never received. Would I use Big Bus Hop On Hop Off Tours Again? Absolutely Not!! After spending $126.00 for two persons, I strongly feel too much was spent for pretty much nothing. read more

Total rip off. After waiting 45 minutes at one stop because all of the buses were full, a driver finally let us on to stand. Would have had a much better experience with the $1 circulator bus instead of paying $180 for this horrible experience. read more

Big Bus Washington DC - Very crowded buses - Bus Tours Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

Truly terrible. My wife and I bought 2X 3 day tickets for on/off touring of DC. The map they provide just shows an oval bearing no resemblance to the actual route. The stops may not be near the site you may want to see and they list on the map. The buses were in terrible shape. The AC on one bus leaked so badly that puddles formed and flowed toward the front of the bus. One of the seats was missing the vent so cold air flowed out too heavily. BB made up for it with the next bus on which the AC did not work, at all. Not a good situation during the heat wave. Use a different company. read more

The information that this is fully flexible is not as suggested. Yes they could accommodate us but for a fee

The only reason this company gets a 1 star is, because it's impossible to give 0. They are absolutely cr*p! We paid $137 for a tour of Washington DC for three people. Conveniently for them the money was withdrawn immediately however, they failed to forward a voucher. We arrived to take the tour and because of their ineptitude we missed several buses while waiting for their assistant to resolve the issue. Once we actually boarded the bus there was no one giving instruction or information on the sights. We had to approach the bus driver to get ear buds to hear pre-recorded information on the sights. Additionally, this is meant to be a hop on hop off service, but the length we had to wait for the buses to arrive at the attractions was a joke. My advice, save your money and catch an Uber or walk. Big Bus tours are a complete waste of time and money. read more

Bus driver got off at spy museum never said a word to the passengers n we sat in 91 degree weather trying to figure what was going on Found out he was taking his break n left us in blistering heat Sucked! read more

Should have read the reviews from fellow yelpers beforehand. What was I thinking. Spent $200 for 5 people to have a bus take me to a few spots. Buses are not frequent at all so it's more like hop on hop off, wait a long time and then hop on again. Was quicker to walk to Lincoln memorial from MLK than wait for the bus. In any case, my tip is if you have a car, then just drive to the memorials, and look for street parking. Will be cheaper, and more time efficient. Don't have to wait and don't have to rush because the bus looks like it is coming on the app, which is somewhat accurate but not completely. read more

Terrible experience with Washington DC BBT. Avoid using. They wouldn't give me a refund when they had no busses running the day I was going to use my pass. None of their staff were anywhere to be found, no notifications that the bus wasn't running on the website. They said I could have found out by using the chat on the website. Their email and phone lines were conveniently down that day too. read more

Waste of money! I purchased a two day package with night tour. There was a festival going on the first day which removed half the stops. I do not blame the tour company for this, however, it made the service useless. We found that renting scooters was the easiest and much cheaper option to see the main sights. The bus was convenient for more "off" the main sights like the cemetery. My frustration was with the night tour. The bus was not fully open up top and the enclosed space did not have working air. The employees refused to allow us to switch to another bus that was fully open up top and there was alot of attitude with us even asking if it were possible. The app was easy to use but had a significant amount of lag on the live bus locations. read more

Terrible!!!! The bus took over ONE hour to show up at a pick up location. Bus was very old! Don't recommend! Use the competitor Hop on Trolley. read more

Hot- air conditioning didn't work on half the buses I rode on. Late- buses would spend an ungodly amount of time at each stop, so we would be burning up while waiting on the top. Staff literally slept while we riding. Overall, I would not use this again. read more

Big Bus is a nice way to see a new city before going out to explore it on your own. We've done Big Bus in a few different cities. It's nice because you get to get off the bus at different stops and then get back on. The Washington DC Big Bus tour was probably our least favorite. It IS nice to see the sights, but we felt a little rushed since the bus only operates between 10am-5pm - there is so much to see in DC that it was not enough time for all the stops. Also, in the other cities we did the Big Bus (years ago) we had a Live guide that made the experience fun. In DC, it's a recording that at times did not match up with what we were seeing. I still recommend taking a hop on hop off bus to see a city, but perhaps in DC look into using a different hop on hop off bus tour. There is a different one. Maybe it would be better. read more

Purchased my tickets in advance to enjoy the last of the sunny days on a bus tour in DC (September). The system is so flawed and unorganized it turned my relaxing day of sightseeing into a chaotic nightmare. The guides waiting at the initial stop told me to walk to another pickup, even though there was a bus clearly coming in 5 minutes ( I could see it out in the distance). I walked all the way around the hotel pickup and was told to go back and missed both buses. We were not provided with headsets or provided with any useful information while on the trip. The driver was completely unhelpful when I was trying to get off the bus and just walk back to my hotel. He stated that it would be easier for me to just wait and get off at the drop off. That would require me to stay on this awful bus for over an hour! I ended up jumping out in Georgetown and walked all the way back to Pennsylvania Ave where my hotel was. It was a LONG walk, but I wanted to burn off some steam as well. I called to see what the issue was with the tour that day and I was told that there was an event and half of the buses were down. Ok, I want my money back. read more

This tour is fine. Not great. No horrible. Just fine. I couldn't even say "good." It's just fine. The folks working it wax and wane from a bit rude to a bit apathetic. Our audio didn't work for most of the tour and it's like, "Oh well." The ticket guys do a hard sell to try to get you to purchase a bigger package and are super annoyed when you don't. All that said, it's a fine way to get around the city for a day and truly hop on and off as you please. read more

No air conditioning in August, the bus broke down, no live speaker and headphones jacks were broken.

This company will not giver you a refund, even if your kid get covid and you have to cancel the trip!! They are clearly not priorities the health and safety for passengers. read more

Don't park at union station, that isn't the closest parking spot for stop #6. Park at the Ford theatre. Why would you recommend Union Station- I traveling with seniors and had to pay for a taxi. Stops are not clearly mark. Long delays probably not the best service. read more

So, easy to find stops -so that was good but ... Completely overbooked , had to wait in some stops over 40 minutes and even then we had to stand up at the bottom cramped up. Some bus headphones connections don't really hear anything , it was 6 of us and we tried all of them and all of them where impossible to hear . Mobile app tracking is quite off from bus actually location. Online it showed 70$ for a ticket , on their website it was 56$ , I got it on Groupon 40( so not super upset) . It's cheaper drive around in a Uber or with scooter . read more

Staff is friendly, but buses are horrible. Started raining in DC and bus was leaking a lot of water into lower covered deck. Seats covered in water and saw light fixtures in bus holding water. My guess is that the flooded light fixtures were a safety hazard, but driver didn't seem to care or notice. Ended up getting soaked and cannot recommend using them again. I did message the company to let them know about their leaking bus and received a canned reply basically saying thanks for the feedback and we'll do our best to ensure this doesn't happen again. Update : Company just said the leaking bus was beyond their control. Guess they don't realize they own the buses and are responsible for their maintenance. read more

I'm a local with a large family that lives coast to coast so I get a LOT of visitors. This was my first time using Big Bus Tours and will NEVER do it again. Had to get premium 2 day pass to get all the sites but second day rained all day and couldn't get 80 year old Aunty out. No flexibility offered for a non-consecutive day not even a weekday...so nope! Uber is cheaper and more flexible. Don't do it! Way overpriced for the minimal value. read more

I heard good and bad but found the routes best suited for what we wanted to see. I am very happy I did. The buses came at regular intervals and all drivers and speakers were always very helpful when I needed assistance. My favorite was the night tour. The speaker is a social studies teacher and seemed to be very informed and entertaining, the statues are a great site in evening. We purchased the deluxe set as it included the night tour and other freebies. I found that if we planned our route for the day before we got on the bus we got to see everything. My only complaint is I wish it ran later in the day as the sun was still up and plenty to see!! read more

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I've taken many Big Bus tours before and I previously had a great experiences. Today's tour was a very disappointing. There were not enough buses based upon customer volume. Plus, the bus did not run continuously. We should have purchased our tour today of DC with their competitor. (trolley) read more

We purchased tix on line and had the confirmation on our phone. It seemed to Be a problem that we did it this way and were told we had to have a hard copy of tiX. The driver said he would Get them for us but never did. The tour guide was bossy and down right mean to many of the guests. She had very little to offer in terms of interesting info about the city and basically read the names of them buildings as we drive around the city. I know there is MUCH more to say to US Capitol. Overall I would not recommend this bus tour. It was fRom worth the exorbitant cost. read more

Convenient to see multiple things around the city, however the buses were standing room only and the ACs were broken on the lower levels. The windows wouldn't open so everyone was about to pass out because there was no air movement. Would recommend if the temperature outside is 70 or below. read more

Driver randomly left bus for 5+ minutes to get ice cream on an unscheduled stop, the bus was very bumpy, the seats have no padding, it's loud and smells bad and it has no enough seats and is overall a waste of time and money read more

What a horrible tour. There's no live speaker explaining what you are seeing. There are little headphones in plastic baggies to connect. But there was not any left. We sat in the upper deck where trash swirled about pelting us. The driver drove so close to trees we had to duck several times. As far as seeing monuments. They don't even slow down. Youre passing them by at 35 miles an hour. Not worth the money. Either walk or take a pedi cab. This was a waste. read more

Excellent tours. We bought 2 day passes and enjoyed all routes, especially with our guide Casey-on day and night tours. He was knowledgeable, friendly and has a great sense of humor. David, the driver was wonderful, especially given the crazy amount of traffic w spring break + cherry blossom visitors. Great value for getting around DC and learning lots as you go. read more

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We booked this as an activity to do for several hrs on our last day in DC. We started the tour at the White House stop. It was at 1030 am and already 90 out. The staff were friendly and they are not the issue it is the company itself. First off, it's absolutely outrageous to have such poorly maintained buses that they are charging people 54 dollars plus a person to ride that are filthy and junk boxes. Got on first stop with others and the bus was hotter inside than it was outside. We all couldn't breathe. One man even went up and complained asking why even the vents weren't working. The bus stopped at the next spot of union station where everyone got off and the driver said the bus was out of commission. I asked an employee if this is an issue with all the buses they said they are not too much better. Got on another bus to try to at least get down toward our hotel at the wharf. Took 3 stops for air to begin to flow into the bus. Myself and another passenger were saying how we basically paid to be tortured and with how bad we were all drenched in sweat it was probably more comfortable outside. It is horrible they have their staff working like this. The second bus was so loud and vibrating so bad it was hard to hear the tour anyway so never got to hear the tour and was on it about 30 minutes just to get to the wharf stop so we could get off it! Requested a refund via my Expedia booking and received a response that big bus refuses any reimbursements per their purchase agreements. Leaving this review for others to be aware that their buses are old, dirty and poorly maintained. They are brutally hot inside so hot you will be dripping in sweat! The ONLY asset is their employees and they obviously only care about raking in a buck and not on providing a comfortable experience on their vehicles. Honestly, the worst experience! I've done the hop on/off trolly in past having visited DC about 5 times over the years with family. Even though it is all open they maintain their equipment so much better and the tour was much more pleasant even in heat. This was my first and LAST time I would ever use this company and I would not recommend it to anyone unless you have a huge discount and it's very cool outside otherwise be prepared for a terribly uncomfortable day. read more

Awful!!! Will never use again and don't waste your time. Purchased 2 day pass and several times sat for 20 minutes at the bus stop on the bus. Mind you, there were 2 empty buses in front of our bus. Website represents bus stop and stops every 15-20 minutes. Don't believe it!!!! I waited up to 30 minutes. read more

They never stopped to pick us up. We stood at stop 7 by Lincoln Memorial for 45 minutes and watched 4 buses drive by a target street and ignore stop 7. Another bus with plenty of seats drove right by the bus stop without even looking at us. We walked to stop 5 and stood another 45 mins and not one bus drove by. Our group had 5 people, and we were joined by other groups of ten and four. No one got a bus. The app is useless. The busses just buzz around then by 4pm completely stopped. There was a sign that said service at stop 7 was closed til 2pm on 3/26 but we were there from 3-4pm and nothing. The app showed the stop as active and busses were in the area, just never stopping or going by a side street. It ruined our weekend vacation day. We ended up walking back to hotel. Big Buss DC wouldn't refund our $140. Said the contract clearly states it was a situation out of their control. I legit made eye contact with a driver as he drove by. He could have stopped. Zero understanding, organization, or communication/customer service. They offered two tickets for a future visit. So I guess if I want to wait near the Lincoln Memorial at a bus stop for two hours again on vacation, I know where to go. read more

Even though signs regarding social distancing and face masks are posted THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO ENFORCEMENT. the bus was packed full and about half the people had on their masks. Each stop, the packed on more people. Unsafe!! I noticed that Old Town Trolley Tours roped off certain seats to create space. I should have booked with them. No regard for public safety. read more

Worst decision I made, cost $220 for my family, could not get on bus due to being packed, tried to get a refund and company refused. Do research before paying for this overpriced non service. Waited on 3 buses could not get on, Will not use again. read more

Ok, to start with the bad...and no, it was not all bad at all. The busses are not all air conditioned, and when it gets hot and the bus is standing room only inside, that can get rough. When asked why they would use a bus with no air conditioning on a warm day, when there is quite a bit of traffic to get stuck in, I was told (politely, decent customer service) that they do not advertise that the busses "are" air conditioned. (I made a joke about it being a 1959 motel, where I should have to look specifically for the inclusion of both air conditioning and color tv...they did not think it was funny as I did). So yes, they don't advertise that they have that basic feature...in 2023, but, there it is, dont expect it. Having said that, the tour is great, excellent information in the time they have and an easy way to get around the city. I would do it again, but I would go in with my eyes open, it is not a cheap service, and so maybe for that price some very obvious features, such as basic comfort should be included. I would not recommend against it, just felt it needed to be made obvious. read more

Horrible experience! Don't waste your money. DC is very hot and there was no AC. When we complained, the bus driver said, we never said there would be AC. On the last bus we rode, they had turned on a 6" fan and it started smoking it got so hot. We told the driver and he just shrugged it off. We got off and never again at any of their locations! read more

....the 'Big Bus' tour in Washington, DC. Nothing they say is like it is. They say they have signs all over the place for pick up points. Never saw a sign when we were there. We were let off at the Vietnam Memorial (a designated stopping point) . When we went to board the bus again, the driver just pointed to the next stop and went on. We had to walk 1/2 mile to the next bus stop (marked for the Metro, no sign for Big Bus). They say the buses run 15-20 minutes apart. We waited over 45 minutes for a bus. When it stopped, the driver said he was due to be off and acted like he was doing a favor picking us up. We got two rides out of them. One from Arlington to the Vietnam memorial and from the WWII memorial to the drop off where we could walk to L'Enfant plaza to catch the Metro back to our hotel in College Park, MD. We spent most of our time chasing buses on foot, as if we hadn't walked enough already. I rate Big Bus in Washington DC, NO stars and consider it to be a rip off by paying good money for very little promised service. We were there late April 2024 read more