Service is bad. We waited over an hour at one of the stops and no bus ever showed up. The tours we were able to get on were not that great: the audio is not in sync with actual location. Salesman was aggressive. There are better hop-on hop-off bus tours in NYC read more

This experience was extremely disappointing and did not match what was advertised. We paid more than $250 for a family of four to take the 8:00 p.m. tour, including an additional fee for a live entertainer who was supposed to provide trivia, local knowledge, and interactive commentary throughout the tour. The confirmation email emphasized the importance of arriving on time, stating that the tour would depart promptly and would not wait for late customers. We arrived on time, only to find a very large line of people waiting for the same tour. When we asked about seating, we were told there would be multiple buses and that we could wait for another bus if we were unhappy with the available seating. Despite the strict departure policy communicated to customers, our bus did not leave until approximately 8:55 p.m.--nearly an hour after the scheduled departure time. Before departure, we were informed that the live entertainer we had paid extra for would not be present because "the guy called in sick." No substitute was provided, and there was no offer of a partial refund despite the fact that a key feature of the upgraded experience was unavailable. When we asked employees about the entertainer's absence and the additional amount we had paid for that experience, their response was apathetic and dismissive. There appeared to be little concern that customers were not receiving the service they had purchased. During the tour, we were provided headphones and listened to prerecorded narration rather than a live guide. Long stretches of music played between narration segments, and the commentary frequently did not align with our actual location. As a result, many landmarks were either missed entirely or discussed after we had already passed them. To make matters worse, the tour concluded around 10:00 p.m., giving us only a few minutes of actual sightseeing after finally departing. Between the nearly one-hour delay, the absence of the live entertainer we paid extra for, the dismissive customer service, and the poor quality of the prerecorded tour, the experience felt disorganized, misleading, and far from worth the price we paid. I would not recommend this tour to others. read more

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I sent the below on 29 Mar 2026 and I have gotten no response. I reached out again on 2 May and was told my email would be forward to "management" And still no response. I emailed again yesterday and today and radio silence. Do NOT use this company for ANYTHING: This was a completely miserable experience. First the bus was an hour late. Communication on lateness was poorly communicated and there was no offer of any compensation. There was very little tour info provided on the landmarks. The tea was served with no sugar or milk. Some of us hate tea without either so it was a miserable experience because none of the tea tasted good. I can't stand tea without sugar so I might as well have been given plain hot water. We were given no cutlery at all for our food. Which came with items were cutlery was obviously needed. The server seemed confused about being asked to provide cutlery and demanded to know what specifically I needed as if it wasn't super obvious everyone on the bus would need at least a knife to butter their scones. For how much this experience cost, I'm completely floored at the subpar service, the lateness, lack of basic necessities for tea or even to eat the food presented. I think my friend and I deserve a full refund on what was a completely awful experience that was NOT as advertised. read more

04/27/2026 - 04/29/2026 NYC 1. Aggressive/deceptive sales tactics. There can be as many as half a dozen "ticket sellers" on each corner in the Times Square area. They talk fast, go over the pricing very very quickly and are quick to sell you on multi-day "premium" packages. 2. High prices. My "Hop On Hop Off Premium Pass 48 hours" cost $140.63. The "ticket seller" showed us the 48 hour pass price of $89. He sold us the 48 hour "Premium" pass which included the following "extras": NYC Skyline Night Tour with Audio Narration; Brooklyn Tour; Statue of Liberty Cruise; 2 extra hours bike rental; Museum of the City of New York; Harry Potter Store; Skyscraper Museum. We took the night tour (which is not hop on/hop off), but none of the others. 3. Low availability. Buses run on a schedule which is difficult to find on their app. Even though they imply busses run "every hour", in fact they start their routes at set times. We waited over an hour at one stop before walking. 4. Audio guides are not synched with the route. The audio guide (earbuds provided) has some interesting information. But often you're told to "look at the brick building on the left", and you have no idea which building to look at because it's not specific enough or you've already passed the site. Not all the plugs fore the earbuds work. 5. Uncomfortable. The plastic seats are not comfortable for 2 people sitting side-by-side. The first 2 rows on the top deck are shielded from the wind, but the rest is wide open. If it's cold, windy, or rainy, you're miserable. The lower deck has no windows. This is a waste of money and a very expensive, unenjoyable way to waste a couple of hours. I've used Hop on/Hop off buses in other cities and those were actually useful. This is not. read more

Would like to give them zero stars but can. Staff is rude and highly unorganized. We got the boat tour on our package a d one of the staff wanted to fight a guest. On the night tour we waited forever and they let people get on the bus who were behind us. Dont waste your $$ on this circus. read more

I wish I could give 0 stars. Drivers are rude. They drop you near Time Sq and say to pick up there, but then you sit in the bus for 45 minutes to go again. When you ask a question they stare at you like you're from outer space. AVOID AT ALL TIMES. Rip off! read more

TopView has added a stop at Houston & West Street. Which is 4 blocks away from the subway. The nearest attraction is Soho, the Whitney Museum, Meat packing district, Little island which are all a hike from the drop off stop. This hop on hop off tour bus is a money grab for unsuspecting tourists. Not a fan of the men harassing you to buy a tour package. In my opinion tourists can take NYC MTA bus for much less, hop on or hop off without any hassles. If you want a more upscale experience hire a luxury car service to drive you around to all the tourist attractions while you relax. Otherwise walking is a great way to explore the NYC attractions. Take a ferry ride to Staten Island to enjoy the views of the NYC skyline and statue of liberty and not deal with feeling like you are being hustled. Read the reviews before booking the tour. read more

TopView - Stop at Houston & West Street, NYC - Bus Tours Near Me - New York, New York

The only reason this has one star is because that's the least I can put, and I do want to warn you all. I know there are a ton of one star reviews but trust me, this review should help you know to never book with them, unless, of course, you want a bad experience. I believe in giving second chances, so we chose Topview, regardless of the bad experience in London. This was a horrible experience. Let's start with grammar, you can't say it's a 24 hr tour if you're not 24/7, I'm not saying you have to be 24/7 but you can at least run your bus for 12 hrs each day, which means a 24 hr tour should include two days. We paid to use the bus till 6, we had plans, and were hoping to reach another place by 5:45. And of course, they had to drop us off randomly at 5:20. For god's sake, don't advertise saying your bus runs till 6 if you kick us out at 5:20. Like what? And I'm not even close to done. Then, once, we had to run to catch the bus, but the old man didn't let us in. He closed the doors but wasn't moving, instead he kept side-eyeing us! Like, open the damn door. I'm not sure if that was racism or what, but that's unacceptable, and there was more than enough space on the bus. The least thing I'd expect from a tour company is professionalism and kindness maybe, at least a bit. Another tour company's bus pulled up in the same spot and was refusing to move even when no one was coming, yes that's annoying, but it's crazy that you are fighting with them. One person from topview and another from the other company kept shouting curse words at each other and the Topview guy said "come around the corner..." basically telling the guy he's gonna beat him up. It got to the point that other topview employees had to hold him back. Crazy. If you know, you know that New York has a ton of complex streets, and we thought we could ask the Topview employees for directions. Not only did they not know what they were saying, they were so rude. We didn't understand so we walked away, and the guy shouted at us " I speak English." Well guess what Mr. Rude, we do too, and the way he said it was downright rude and racist. 99% of their employees are rude and don't want to talk to you. When they're advertising to you, and you say you are already with Topview, they instantly don't care about you anymore. Once, we told someone we were with Topview and then we asked for directions, but he refused to give it and became increasingly rude. For the record, we all speak perfect English and are easy to understand, they're the ones who don't understand English and don't try to say even one kind word. When we were waiting for a long time, this guy told us to go to the back because they were "loading the bus from there". By the way, they weren't loading the bus from there. This happened after the old man left us waiting and it got to the point where we were annoyed, tired and angry. It also got to the point where the guy who was behind us when we were in front of the line, had to tell the Topview people to let us in the front of the line because they just wouldn't believe us. I didn't think there was this much racism left in the world, apparently Topview kindles racism. When we were boarding a bus, there was a couple who had two buses skip them and they had been waiting for an hour. Such a tragic and relatable story, I tell you, every bus I went on, someone , someone, was ranting about Topview. I ran out of space so I'll talk about the cruise in my review update. read more

First, there was no air conditioning on the bus, which made the ride extremely uncomfortable, especially on a hot day. We were also never given any information about the headphones or how to access the tour narration once we boarded. To make matters worse, the information provided by the ticket sellers was inaccurate and misleading. The biggest issue, however, was our driver. He was shockingly rude and unprofessional. If passengers came down from the upper deck while the bus was stopped at a red light, he would literally scream at them to sit down. If someone asked about an upcoming stop, he would yell that it was "two stops ago" and tell them they should have been paying attention instead of simply answering the question. At one point, he got into a full-blown screaming match with a passenger in front of everyone on the bus. The atmosphere became incredibly uncomfortable and tense. As a parent, it was especially disappointing because this was my children's first experience in New York City, and instead of enjoying the sights, they had to watch an adult argument unfold on what was supposed to be a fun family activity. I've taken sightseeing buses in many cities and have never experienced anything remotely this unprofessional. I would not recommend TopView based on this experience. read more

6/4/26 got kicked off at Times Square around 4pm...read why: What a joke. I wish I had read the reviews beforehand, because this was hands‑down one of the worst tour bus experiences I've ever had -- and I ride these open‑top buses all over the world. First, the red‑shirt ticket sellers at the World Trade Center tried to charge us almost DOUBLE. Online it said $39, yet they demanded $65. When I questioned it, they claimed the online tickets "don't work." The moment we tried to buy online anyway, they magically dropped the price to $43. That alone should have been a red flag. We were traveling with two very senior parents, and were told the stop was "right on the corner." It wasn't. Thankfully, one kind man escorted us much farther than we were told -- the only decent part of this entire ordeal. Then came the bus. The female driver was shockingly rude from the moment we boarded. The headsets played nothing but random music -- no narration at all -- and when we asked about it, she snapped, "Take it up with customer service." We had SPECIFICALLY asked before buying tickets whether we could stay on the bus for the full Downtown loop. We were told yes. Instead, the driver abruptly announced at Times Square that she was "done for the day" and that everyone had to get off. She openly admitted she wasn't going to bother telling the half‑full upper deck and said, "Too bad, they can do what they want, but I'm DONE." Absolutely unbelievable. DO NOT RIDE THIS TOUR BUS. This company gave New York a terrible look, and that's saying something coming from someone who has taken these buses in cities all over the world. This was by far the worst. And let's see if we get a refund.... What do you think??!! read more

Could not find a bus for hours, had to get a cab to get back because they just were never there. Called the customer service who then gave me run around about the bus, and routed me to an email that essentially said no refund because they don't do refunds "for remorse or failure to use." I guess that includes no use because they never showed? They didn't care and didn't respond after that. Soaked a few hours of vacation with these people. Wouldn't bother. Oh, did I mention that the rate went up by a full third across the purchasing process? That also didn't sit well. Scam vibes. read more

Their website says bus comes an an average of every 20 mins. Absolute lie. Terrible service, maybe use the excessive amount of sales personal and train them up to drive the actual buses. Huge waste of money. Big bus tours drive by twice while we waited on an Topview. Avoid all all costs. read more

We purchased our tickets and boarded the first bus, only to discover there is no air-conditioning on any of your buses. In the middle of summer, with hot and humid weather, this is unacceptable. We request a full refund, as the ride was extremely uncomfortable and the driver showed no concern for passenger well-being. There are air conditioning vents that clearly are not working or being kept up... Another passenger asked the driver to open the windows, and he responded that they do not open. To make matters worse, another passenger hit their head on an uneven section while trying to sit down, and the driver remained indifferent. With no ventilation and no safety consideration, this is not only poor customer service but also a serious safety issue. read more

TopView - Air conditioning vents not working - Bus Tours Near Me - New York, New York

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Salesmen don't tell the whole truth about needing g to schedule certain parts. No AC on busses. Not frequent enough. Def. It worth it, especially from a salesperson on the street read more

Pushy salespeople everywhere you turn in Times Square. They are relentless. It's so unpleasant. We were suckers and bought a 4-day pass "for the price of a one day pass," supposedly. But you know what? Four times nothin is still nothin! Ask questions before you buy. Youll find out that these hop on hop off buses only run every 90 minutes. That's not convenient. Also, the sound system on TopView doesn't work. No narration. We had no idea what we looking at, which isn't in keeping with a guided tour!! Save your money. You'd do better with a pass for the city buses. read more

I purchased two tickets on April 4, 2026 for the Topview bus tour of New York City. Their credit card reader kept dropping, but the gentleman assured me that they were not charging my card. When I got my statement, it showed four separate charges from top view for the same amount of money, $329.81. I tried to get my credit card company to reverse it so far they've only reversed one of the four. I sent an email to Top view and have had zero response. I would not recommend this company. read more

Horrible!! The people out on the street hawking this horrible tour were rude & not knowledgeable!! The bus was hot as hell, no air. The audio did not work. The bus driver was rude. Stay away!! read more

Misleading and stressful experience - beware I was traveling with my two kids and had only about three hours before heading to the Natural History Museum. A street seller stopped me and insisted that if I bought this ticket, we could "see everything" and that it was a better deal. I told him clearly that I didn't have time. He said it was fine and pushed me to buy. I bought 3 tickets at 3:18 PM -- only to find out the bus would not even leave until after 4 PM. That was never mentioned before the sale. When I asked for a refund, I was sent in circles: call customer service, email a request, wait 48 hours. After waiting, they suddenly said refunds were not allowed. This felt dishonest and extremely frustrating, especially while traveling with children. If the salesperson had told the truth, I would never have purchased. Be very careful with street sales -- ask exact departure times before buying. read more

TopView - Bus Tours Near Me - New York, New York

I booked a "polar express" bus tour for their Dallas location. They tell you to show up 15min early and they showed up (if you can even call what showed up "showing up") more than an hour late! The point where they asked us to meet them was a high traffic parking lot that was very dangerous to be standing around with little kids. When they finally showed up it was not the Polar Express bus that was promised. It was a flower bus nothing to do with Christmas theme and the bus was not big enough for all the people that had purchased tickets so we couldn't even fit in the bus and we didn't take the ride. When I tried to complain to customer service, I got an automated reply that they would contact me but never did! Very crappy company, non responsive and they don't deliver what they promise!! read more

Terrible scheduling service and terrible customer service all around. Waited almost an hour for a bus on Saturday and Sunday. Then they lie to you and say "traffic". While 3 Big Bus" company passed by. Use Big Bus instead. Will never use Top View again read more

Best way to see New York City in 1 day is by booking a Hop-on, Hop-off bus tour. The bus drops you off at different landmarks. Avoid Uber or paying expensive taxis to get around. You'll see many of the vendors at Time Square trying to offer package deals. Don't pay the first price they offer you. You'll get a map where the bus stops at different locations every 15 minutes. I definitely recommend booking one when in the area. Happy Yelping :) read more

Very disappointing experience. Our guide, David, made a point of telling the entire group what a "prestigious" Bank of America customer he is and referenced his high account balance & then proceeded to ask for tips. He also complained about guests sitting on the upper deck because his back hurt. Overall, David could really use a lesson in customer service. I wouldn't recommend this tour unless you already know to sit on the top deck. The bottom deck had bright lights and you couldn't see anything. read more

Buses are few and far between, we were stranded midday for over an hour and finally had to spend 51.00 on an Uber to get back to our hotel. read more

TopView - How long till next bus I received this message multiple times as I refreshed from 1:50 till 3 - Bus Tours Near Me - New York, New York

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I ordered a live tour and was told that the next bus was that tour. I got on the bus and it was all prerecorded. And, for being prerecorded the information was pretty sparse and only moderately interesting. The recording did not always match our location due to traffic, which I understand, but could have been prevented with a live person. Additionally, I could not contact them about my dissatisfaction, which is why I am resorting to Yelp! Very disappointed! read more

Don't waste your money I purchased a 3-day pass with TopView Sightseeing in New York and unfortunately had a very poor experience. The buses frequently drove past stops without picking up passengers -- even when they were not full. I found myself waiting in multiple lines with other ticket holders, none of whom were able to board. On day two of my three-day pass, I gave up entirely. Other travellers I spoke to mentioned they had only managed to get on one bus during their entire 2-day pass, which says a lot about how unreliable the service is. There were plenty of staff on the streets selling tickets, but once you've purchased, the support ends there. We were repeatedly told where to stand, only to watch buses drive past while being told "maybe the next one will stop." I also reached out via email to request a refund for a pass that was effectively never used, and have received no response after more than two weeks. Overall, this felt like a very frustrating and disappointing experience. I would strongly recommend looking at alternative options when visiting New York. read more

Employee was extremely rude, I went to ask a question about what to do if we purchased tickets online. The employee got extremely angry and told us to get in the back of the line. When trying to explain we've never been here before he continued to express his frustration calling us names and arguing with my family. Later after standing in line we saw the same employee get physical with an older gentleman and another separate family. I don't believe this individual should be in customer service if he lacks the decency of simply answering a question. The way he was pushing elders around and picking fights with customers is not a way we wanted to support the business. We have reached out to customer service several times but with no response. I would not recommend taking any of your loved ones to this unacceptable and unprofessional service. Take your money to another bus charter. read more

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You could improve: Cleaner buses, friendly drivers, staff that speaks English. Why bother with earphones when they just play music with little to no information about the sights along the route. TERRIBLE experience. Waste of time and money. It amounts to slow and uncomfortable transportation to nowhere. Stops aren't convenient to the sights. If there was a zero rating I would have used it. A one is too generous. read more

Awful. Waited over an hour for uptown bus. Bottom has no air. Very sparse commentary, often given after we passed the location. In between trite and poorly timed commentary, relentlessly repetitive music drones through the headsets. Hope to refund but the other reviews are not encouraging. SKIP. read more

We booked this through Groupon or viator, and it was a pretty good deal. We got there early to line up so we were guaranteed a good spot up top. The tour was pretty fun. We went through A lot of places. We did the night tour so it was hard to see a few things but we did pass through Times Square, the library, little Italy and Chinatown, Bryant park and we even went into Brooklyn. Overall, for a first timer in NY I was satisfied. read more

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Only saw one bus this morning and the rest of the day not a single bus. Not sure how they have such a high rating on google and a 1 on yelp. Walked the route we hoping to use their buses on and only saw the Big Bus company making stops. Should have used them unsted. Feel like we got scammed read more

The Downtown Loop route stops were incorrect on the TopVew app and website, as well as on the paper map given to us upon boarding the first bus! We had planned out our day according to the route online to be logistically efficient, and the incorrect information really messed up our agenda. The signs at stops still say TopView, even though they no longer include those on the route. As a family traveling with young kids, the inconvenience became a bigger deal since we only had one day in the city and time was of the essence. Disappointing and frustrating experience. read more

Terrible. Do not use them. The uptown bus comes supposedly ever 1.5 hours when it says differently. One of the stops no longer exists ans they failed to share that. Go with the other company we saw their busses everywhere! read more

View of New York made easy! We were approached by Team members of TopView Sightseeing Tour Bus. At first we thought we were being scammed, but thought...hey it would be easier than walking or trying to take a cab to see New York. After buying tickets for 4 for 7pm tour, the guy told us to walk from 42nd St turn right on 47th St and walk another block...which seemed like another 5 blocks and definitely wondering if we had been scammed, we found the Tour bus with others waiting in line. Actually we passed a lot of fine attractions and events going on along the way which made New York look like New York. Sitting on top of a double decker bus viewing the city was an amazing experience and less stressful. You are able to hop-off and hop-on on some TopView buses. Our bus was ride the city with an audio tour guide. A definite recommendation. read more

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DO NOT use this company! Use Big Bus! ​The experience with Top View was atrocious and significantly wasted our limited time in Manhattan. ​Our issues began at Downtown Tour Stop 2, where we waited for at least 45 minutes and only barely managed to board the bus. Many other passengers were turned away. We later disembarked at Stop 5 and returned to our original pick-up point, where we endured another wait of nearly 50 minutes with no Top View bus in sight. ​During this time, we observed the competing Big Bus tour pass by four to five times, highlighting the unacceptable lack of frequency for your service. Given we only had two nights in Manhattan, we could not afford to waste any more time waiting and were forced to take the subway for the remainder of our planned days. This was a widespread issue, as numerous other tourists we spoke with were having the same negative experience, and we witnessed many people being turned away from boarding due to overcrowding. ​To say we were frustrated and disappointed is a gross understatement. The service received was not the service we paid for. Your offer to provide us tickets for a later date was an unsatisfactory resolution. We will be sure to let as many people as possible know about this horrible experience. read more

Total scam. Scam. Buses were not running on time like they said they would. It was a total nightmare. I would never ever do this again.

The salesman told us the buses came every 10 minutes. We waited for the first one for 25 minutes and they only had 6 available seats so some people were turned away. It was miserably hot inside. There was a woman "training" the driver and another employee in training. She was extremely rude to both of them and there was constant banter going on between them. She questioned his driving which didn't make us feel at all comfortable. This was a horrible experience. Should have gone on Yelp before we did this. Take the subway,walk or Uber! read more

They sold our group 150 tickets and we've been waiting 45 minutes. The first bus that came by only let 12 on Do not use this for groups read more

We took the downtown tour and it was a great value for your money. There are several busses circulating every 10-20 minutes so there's no set schedule or significant wait time. A few tips: -Buy passes ahead of time online to get the best deal (we actually found a great deal on Groupon) -Download the app and transfer your passes to the app before you get to the bus stop -Get a paper map from the bus driver to plan your stops better -Later in the day is busier; in the morning it was quick and easy to hop on and off, but after 2pm the stops took a lot longer and the busses were much fuller. We had dinner plans at 5pm and there was no way we were going to make it back to Times Square by then (it was 3:30pm and we were at the Statue of Liberty) so we hopped off and took a taxi back to Times Square. -Drop a pin when you get off at your stop so you can find your way back after sightseeing. The bus stops aren't always marked and some places started all looking the same! All in all, a great value for the money and a wonderful way to see the city and hit all the tourist spots without spending a ton on transportation or worrying about directions. I read all the complaints and most of them are from people who bought passes on the street. I think if you plan ahead, you'll have better expectations of the service and an overall better experience. read more

TopView - Downtown NYC - Bus Tours Near Me - New York, New York

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Website gives incorrect info. Not available 24*7, buses don't stop at every stop listed, customer service doesn't answer and doesn't call back when leave a message, reps on the street only want to sell tickets and gives incorrect info, buses drive by stops and didn't stop read more

The service was very poor. While giving drinks they were very stingy and barely came around to refill. Food was nothing like they showed in the pictures. Being Mother's Day had no entertainment. A real rip off. read more