My wife and I purchased the two-day hop-on, hop-off pass and rode the tour on Friday and Saturday while visiting Seattle. The concept is excellent, the route covers many of the city's major attractions, and the drivers we encountered were friendly. This service has tremendous potential and could easily be a five-star experience with a few important improvements. The biggest disappointment was the condition of several of the open-top bus seats. Many were worn out, and some had broken cushions that allowed the metal seat frame to press into the backs of our legs, thighs, and buttocks. After spending time riding the routes, we were both sore. In fact, my wife was so uncomfortable after the first day that she refused to ride the buses on the second day, even though we had already paid for a two-day pass. That was disappointing because we had planned to continue exploring the city together. The other issue was reliability. The advertised pickup interval of approximately every 30 minutes was often not met due to traffic. I understand that traffic in a major city is unpredictable, but what made the experience more frustrating was learning that at least two buses apparently were not transmitting their GPS location. That largely defeats the purpose of having a real-time bus tracker. When riders can't trust the app or the published schedule, they're left wondering whether to continue waiting or find another way to their destination. My biggest takeaway is this: don't over-promise and under-deliver. If buses are delayed because of traffic or GPS tracking isn't available, simply communicate that honestly. Most customers are understanding when expectations are set realistically. Accurate information builds trust far more effectively than optimistic estimates that aren't being met. I genuinely want this company to succeed because the service fills an important need for visitors. With comfortable seating, dependable GPS tracking, and more realistic communication about pickup times, this could easily become a five-star experience. I hope this feedback is received in the constructive spirit in which it is intended. read more

City Sightseeing Seattle - Seattle - Bus Tours Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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Not a great experience. The recorded tour guide was often out of sequence and the we were stranded at Pike's Market on Thursday afternoon. We had to take an Uber home. One star is too generous. read more

ok if you don't off and do a round trip .Got a Groupon for a whole lot less. narrating was done vias recording and speaker and skipped or cut off. . Only 1 Bus on a Tuesday and waiting for it to come back to our stop was 25 minutes. double bus was nice sitting on top of buss. read more

Not as close as you think. 2 day pass was even more a waste as stops closed with no notice. Had to call after 3rd spot to find closest. The lady who answered tried to point me to one of the closed ones and argued that it was closed even though it had a sign that they put up saying it was closed. She also kept saying stop number versus address. We obviously don't know what the stops are and the map on mobile website was a disaster, and finally the app would not even load Seattle map!!!! Completely wasted money, time and energy read more

We took the Locks Cruise and booked the return trip with the Sightseeing bus. It was convinient, the driver was super nice and helpful. I enjoyed riding on the upper level and feeling the breeze and seeing the sights. We only rode the bus a short distance but im sure that it goes through many cool places. read more

A full star may be a stretch. The driver clearly wasn't paying attention to traffic signals, although they did stop for pedestrians. The tour was the occasional pre recorded voice giving basic info. Many of the "stops" were not worthy of a tour. We felt it was an advertisement for some of the cities businesses but certainly NOT Educational, informative, entertaining or remotely fun. We have done these hop on tours all over the USA with complete satisfaction. This tour was terrible by comparison. Seattle looks to be a nice city with friendly people and terrific architecture. Clearly nature is also close by. The potential for a great tour is out there just not with this company today! I would recommend finding ANY alternative. read more

Definitely waiting muuuuch longer than the advertised wait times. Could have walked and been 10stops away at this point. I want my money back. Edit. One star. Getting money back. Don't do. read more

It is hop on hop off. Only 2 buses running. Buses are crowded and there is at least 1/2 hr usually longer wait time. Lots of wasted time waiting instead of sightseeing. Other hop on hop off tours I've used in other cities were 10 to 15 min wait. Wouldn't recommend this!! You're better off hiring a car and doing your own thing! read more

We have used Hop on Hop Off in three other cities previously and all have a good narration of the area and history. Our tour of Seattle had no narration, other than announcing the stops. In addition, due to some road construction and maybe a wrong turn by the driver, we repeated a good portion of the route a second time with no acknowledgement by the driver, wasting a good 45 minutes. I would not recommend this. read more

I do my homework and research and after reading all of the negative reviews and against my better judgement and advice my wife decided to try this while we were at the Space Needle. The main reason was because her dad has a bad knee and she thought this would be a great way to get around the city easily right? WRONG! We have been on hop on hop off tour busses in NYC, Philadelphia, Boston, etc. and this one by far was the worst! The bus is run down, dirty, and has trash everywhere especially on the open upper deck. It literally looks and feels like homeless people were living and sleeping up there. The lone single speaker that does the narration is very distorted, hard to understand, and sounds like it's going to pop and blow out at any moment. You can't even hop off at any of the stops unless you walk downstairs (you're supposed to remain seated at all times while the bus is moving) and tell the driver you want to get off. Same thing goes for if you want to hop on apparently. We witnessed an elderly couple at the hop on stop in Chinatown run after our bus and the only reason the driver stopped for them was because we were all screaming for him to stop! For the price you pay you're better off taking an Uber or Lyft and just walk. With so many negative reviews you would think the Grayline company or whoever officially manages it would make improvements but obviously they have not. They will probably give me the same "We will take your advice to make improvements..." response to my review. We got off at Pike Place Market and never got back on. Skip this and SAVE YOUR MONEY!!!! read more

I don't know why this has soo many low reviews. I had a great time. There's no longer headphones, but information is stated overhead by a speaker. The driver was nice and did run several red lights but I never felt in danger. I learned a lot and would recommend it. The only negative is the operating hours. It was only available 10am- 4pm. read more

I was at the Seattle locks parked in a loading zone at 12:30pm and their tour bus drove up double parked and blocked me in for 30 minutes and never apologized. Terrible customer service experience. read more

City Sightseeing Seattle - Parking signage and your car blocking - Bus Tours Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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No AC... this bus is so hot and miserable. Avoid this. Not worth it! It must have been about 95 degrees inside the bus. No vent, no air, just hot! read more

I wasn't on a bus, but I did have the misfortune of a bus driving past me yesterday and harrassing my friend- leading to an entire bus of tourists staring at us. It was really uncalled for and rude, I'd thought about maybe doing this with family the next time they were in town but knowing how the tour guides treat the citizens of Seattle, I'll be taking my business elsewhere. read more

We got tickets for the bus through our Princess Cruise. They sent the bus without a roof to pick us up in 40 degree weather and rain. We were freezing. The bus driver kept begging for tips to make unofficial stops. I DO NOT recommend this tour. It is not worth the money!! I would give zero stars if possible! read more

Literally this bud blocked two different intersections of traffic. Driving 5 miles an hour with hazards on is not an acceptable reason to block actual traffic in a busy area. read more

The bus ride itself was mostly ok, because it was a lovely sunny day and we got seats at the front. The driver ran 5 red lights (my daughter was keeping track) but we all survived and it appears so did the pedestrians and other cars around us. The audio tour, however---sheesh! It's at least 3-4 years old ("and here on the waterfront you'll see construction as workers prepare for the Viaduct to come down," and "The Cinerama is bla, bla, bla amazing and has chocolate popcorn") as the Viaduct and Cinerama are both *ancient* history now. Also what's with talking about the history of activities on Capitol Hill and using the phrase "questionable morals"?! And, then we laughed when the narrator first pronounced Ivar, as in Ivar's fish house as "E-var". Anyway, based on the grave reviews you'd think I'd skip this altogether but I'm a local Seattle person and wanted to do the tour just for the experience of having the double decker open air bus ride. Like the other reviews noted, you get no help over the phone (no one answers) and the website isn't very helpful for navigating all the specifics. The office also has no staff on site and there's just a sign on the door which did help us in terms of finding where to pick up the bus at Seattle Center (thank goodness!). The staff person working at the sidewalk kiosk on Broad St was helpful and friendly, there's that. And overall I I enjoyed seeing the sights of my hometown from the high-up veiw from the bus. And...Is it worth $46/person? I'm choosing to disassociate myself from that question and instead, cherish the fun time with my daughter. read more

Sorry I didn't read these reviews before we bought our tickets. -not an open air top bus -filthy windows - no a/c -audio not working, no narration and couldn't hear stops - online tracker didn't work - waited @45 min at first stop -waited more than 30 at next stop ended up walking back to the car. DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY!! read more

This whole company is a hoax. First, we spend $222.00 for 3 people for a scenic panoramic tour. The site misleads you in three different places by falsely advertising that you will tour the city "from the comfort of an open top double decker bus." Instead, you get on a tiny rinky dink enclosed bus with no open top. Ac doesn't work and windows don't open. You can't see anything through the windows! Total waste of money!!!! Totally misleading!! Also, the address they tell you to meet at is not the actual meet up place. We had to walk several blocks to find out that we had been scammed. The tour guide was apologetic bc she knew we could not see a thing. Do NOT use this company! The bus and tour is a DUMP!! read more

Very unhappy with my purchase and their service. It was our first day using the service. We were waiting for the bus since about 3:45pm. Another couple appeared and shared information that this was the last stop. The bus finally arrived around 4:20pm, the driver kept the door closed to let one person off. When the door opened he abruptly told the man of the other party "Wait"", and then said he wasn't picking up any more people and was done for the day!! When the bus took off I noticed that there was a couple still seated on top of the bus. I attempted to call the (206) business number but, no surprise that no one answered. I emailed the company and received the reply below. "Thank you for contacting City Sightseeing. To manage your request, we need to know the purchase channel and a copy of your tickets". I sent the documentation as requested and thought wow nice someone will check on this and compensate me somehow. I was wrong. I received the reply below. "Dear Sir / Madam,Thank you for taking the time to review our tour so extensively. Your comments help us know where to invest our efforts and continue to improve. At City Sightseeing our aim is to provide a fun sightseeing service for all who wish to explore the city and obtain the unique perspective our double-decker bus offers.  We're sorry to hear the tour didn't fulfill your expectations and apologize for any inconvenience that may have been caused. We take note of your comments and hope to see you again soon at your next City Sightseeing Destination". After reading other reviews the reply was their common response to unhappy customers. I feel the website and definitely the tickets need to clearly indicate that the pick up and drop off ends at a certain time. We were not aware of any cut off time. Also, the signage is awful and not easily located if you do not know what to look for. So, we wasted money on purchasing the two day ticket! Terrible customer service! Do not waste your money! read more

Poor audio, not very interesting stops and the stops were too long. I would recommend another company.

My wife and I took this hop on hop off bus and it was fine. Nice array of stops and sights to see around Seattle. Staff was helpful and friendly. Sure maybe the bus was a little late at a stop but nothing major. It's a big busy city and there's traffic. Big deal so you may wait at a stop for a extra 15 minutes !!! You're on vacation- chill out !! read more

Bought tickets the night before, for the bus and the space needle - thought this would be a great option for my Mom and my kid, who are both not great at long walks. We were at Pike Place market at the stop indicated on the map - the driver just drove right by. So we walked to the next stop and waited an hour. No bus. Now we are in a Lyft, headed to the Space Needle - I have requested a refund but based on my experience so far, I'm not expecting much. read more

It frequently rains in Seattle. So you would think that they would have vehicles suitable for local conditions. They don't; you can sit on top in the wind and rain, or downstairs where the nearly opaque advertising plasterered on the windows makes it almost impossible to see the sights of the city. We never made it through the first circuit. We got off at the Pike Place Market and didn't get back on. A total waste of money. read more

We are big fans of hop on hop off tours but were terribly disappointed with our experience in Seattle. We bought a combo ticket on line for a bus tour and harbor cruise. We followed the directions to report to stop 1 to schedule our harbor cruise and found no one who knew what to do. The attendant at the Kiosk was of no help. The attendants at Stop 1 tried to call someone, but that was of no help. We went to the Argosy boat tour provider and got no help there. They referred us to the City Sightseeing Kiosk at Pier 55, which was closed. In the end we had to buy our own tickets for the boat ride so we double paid. The experience and frustration ruined what should have been a nice relaxing day. Very sad. Even sadder, I found an online customer link and emailed in my concerns. I have not received a response and it has been five days. read more

If I could give them a zero stars I would. Terrible customer service, terrible attitude! Lauren at the site by the SpaceNeedle told us for an hour that the bus will be here in 15 minutes. When it finally showed up she said the bus was not for us and it would be another 15 minutes later. After questioning what was going on they finally did tell us they had a bus break down, and were only running the 1 bus. She said that they had 3 buses but since it was now after 2(our saga started at 1) they would only be running the 1 bus. Lauren was belligerent, rude and condescending. She was dismissive of our frustrations and yelled at another rider who was questioning when the bus would arrive. Save your money, get an Uber. I wouldn't recommend this city tour to anyone after the treatment we received. read more

In correct information about the city on buses that are hard to find and far apart in time. The map on their website is so bad you can't read the road names. I am a life long local so I could narrow down the options. It still took me 30 mins of active looking to find a bus pick up. There are no signs on the street telling you they pick up there. They say buses run every 30 mins and the route is 120 mins. However, the route really takes more like 1:40+ (my 1st full loop took 1:50). There are only 2 buses running so they can't make it every 30 mins even in ideal conditions. Most passengers were complaining about waiting nearly an hour on the street. I am a life long Seattleite who use to give historical tours. So much of the recorders narration is inaccurate I was completely appalled. If your going to just use audio take the time to get it right. I find there is just no excuse for this. There is also long gaps in narration, many fascinating sights are completely ignored along the way. I much prefer a tour with an actual tour guide. The bus was uncomfortably hot and they could not figure out the a/c. The ticket devices were not easy for the drivers to use, they had to try 3 different ones to sell me a ticket. I feel this is a waste of $39. I typically always recommend the hop on hop off tours, usually they are my favorite. This is my exception. If you want an informative tour of the city take one of the many great ones the city offers, like Show Me Seattle. If you like double deckers for the view, our metro bus system has them. If you just need to get around the city we have taxi's, uber, and transit everywhere to move you around. Don't waste your time or money on this useless tour like I did. read more

City Sightseeing Seattle - Bus Tours Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Holiday weekend and only three (3) buses running, which dropped to two after 2pm?!? Should be called "Hop On - Kicked Off". Stuck at the Space Needle waiting for the next over crowded bus. Plus, buses only run until 4pm? WTH? We paid $92 for two riders for this?!? OMG... biggest waste of money this trip. read more

City Sightseeing Seattle - Bus Tours Near Me - Seattle, Washington

In town for the Beyoncé concert and wanted to get an introduction to the city. We paid for a 2 day pass on were really dismayed to find out that the busses stopped running at 3:30. Also we noted on our first day that the signage on where to locate the bus stops was VERY DIFFICULT TO FIND. We looked at the booklet provided and waited over 1 1/2 hours and No bus stopped where the booklet Clearly showed a stop. When we hiked up the hill and went four blocks over to catch the bus, it came back to the same place where we had waited and Stopped! The signage was non-exsistent in some places and sometimes on placards, sometimes up on poles not in any consistent place or sign. On our second day we had a driver that nearly ran over 2 men walking in the cross walk and was blowing the horn like a madman. I was in the front of the bus and clearly you could see that that were nearly across the road and out of crosswalk when the lights were changed. They ran for their lives and were old people! A few minutes later the driver stopped in the middle of the road to talk with another driver coming in the opposite direction and blocked traffic so that drivers behind blew their horns. As we were stopped in front Amazon, the driver took that opportunity to come upstairs and speak about where people were walking, flirting with women and speaking about non relevant information. When I asked him about neatly running over the 2 gentleman he made inappRo private remarks saying " get points" for hitting people. Lastly he ran a red light 2 streets from the Rock and Roll museum! Horrible DRIVER!!! NOT WORTH THE MONEY! read more

I have booked hop on/hop off tours in several cities. The Grayline Seattle location has been the worst experience. They have been running 45 minutes behind all day but not informing customers of the delay. When you call their customer service number no one answers and the call is disconnected. The staff are complaining that they are not getting lunches, which I feel sympathy for. It appears this company is falling to crap. They only have 3 busses and when one broke down that left several customers stranded. Lauren the customer service representative at the counter really needs to find another profession. Using profanity with upset customers is uncalled for. One of the representatives recommend that we complain to the city about road construction. The city of Seattle with continue to grow, this company needs to adjust to the demands in front of them. Follow up... Laura assured other customers and myself that we would receive a refund. I have been emailing their customer service department. I received a replay that basically says my complains were not valid. The location is saying they were running on time all day and that no busses broke down that day. They are refusing to refund the purchases. Hopefully my bank can hold the funds. read more

Not worth the money! Did not learn anything on this tour. No real tour guide, just recorded audio. Was told that there's a bus every 30 minutes and got stranded in Chinatown. The next bus was 10 minutes too early and had to wait for 50 minutes. I just wanted to hop off for 30 minutes to grab food and spent 1.5 h in Chinatown- mostly waiting on the bus stop. read more

If I could give less than a star I would. Frankly, this does not even rate a half star. After spending $300 for a party of six to enjoy our one day lay over in Seattle, we were very excited to do this. We got to the booth and we were told the buses run every 15/20 minutes. I'm not sure what planet the attendant lives on but here on earth these buses were running every 40 minutes at best and that is being generous. After waiting over 45 minutes for a bus, one finally shows up and there is no air conditioning (on an unseasonably hot day in Seattle). The bus driver kept the door at the front by him open the whole time but the paying customers were reduced to begging him to open the door at the very frequent stops. One would think the driver would do this on his own but I guess that was a pipe dream. Frankly, if you want to see Seattle in under a decade I suggest calling Uber. read more

The company's website does not provide a U.S. phone number and the one on Yelp is out of service. The website doesn't offer updated information regarding your cancellations. read more

City Sightseeing Seattle - Bus Tours Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Brutal. Felt like I was in a city bus after a horrid day at work. My wife wanted to take another tour but after seeing the City Sightseeing brochure with all the happy looking people in the open aired bus I decided CS was the best option. It's not cheap either. As seniors we paid $72. First of all it was not open aired. It was completely enclosed. The windows (on the bottom level where we sat) had a webbing on all the windows making it difficult to see anything. A tape ran on a loop and informed us of where we were. It's a hop on and hop off tour. Here's the worst part. Me, myself and I made the decision to take this tour, no one else. Me alone. As I looked over and saw my wife in her seat slumped in boredom I knew the repercussions would soon follow. The best part of the tour was getting off. All I can say is HEED MY WARNING. Don't do it. You will thank me. And now I await my fate. read more

- Buses supposed to come every 20-30 minutes - Buses passed us for 45 minutes and where stopping at the wrong location - Didn't have enough time left to make it worth it - Asked for a refund - Sales associate Leah told us to call/email customer service, and she would verify the issue for a full refund - Left and DID NOT TAKE ANY BUSES - Weeks for responses from customer service - 25 days later we only have a promise that we'll be refunded HALF our money via check in the mail - Awful read more

Well, we thought we were doing a great thing but turned out to be a two ride trip for $116. Please do not use this service as their hours only allow you a one way day stop because they are only open 10-4. All the city pass reservations we could get were mostly after 4 so we had to Uber home each day. The tour we took was good but we could not use the pass for rides to and from the places we wanted to go because we couldn't get reservations in time to use the hop off hop on tour bus! So we paid for the two day pass to use it two times and paid for Two Uber rides home. And we had to use the am Uber to get to a stop so we could buy the tickets because they do not let you buy them at every stop! Not worth the MONEY!!! read more

We attempted to use our voucher, and stood around at a stop (where they were selling the tickets) for over an hour. We then pushed my disabled mother uphill (and on-route) for another hour without ever seeing a bus. We were in Seattle for a single day and unable to use our tickets (for FIVE people). When I requested a refund, they told me the vouchers had been redeemed and there would be no refund. Do NOT purchase these tickets. This business should be shut down for fraud. read more

Reckless driving infringers. No way to contact customer service after hours to report. Voicemail service does not function. At roughly 17:05 on 5/31/22, on the corner of Bellevue and Pike, these losers almost took out 7 pedestrians and three cars as their bus driver blatantly blew through a red-light. Would not be trusting them with my life anytime soon. read more

The level of customer service is really low here. No one answers the phone, stops are nearly all unmarked so you have little or no idea where they stop. Instead of the 20 minute wait between runs it now is 40-45 minutes. Driver was unable to figure out how to process an online booking. And most unforgiving is directions for finding bus when leaving cruise ship refer to a shuttle that no longer runs we were told. Needed to hire Uber to take us to space needle to meet bus. read more

We have heen waiting at stop for over an hour to start our tours. It is now past 12:00 p.m. and we are going to take Uber to space needle. This cost over $500 for 7 of us. Complete waste of money and vacation time standing on a corner. I would give this a minus stars. The city should be ashamed! read more