Hop-on Hop-off bus tours

Whenever one arrives in a new city it is wise to start with an overview of the city. Many travelers use hop-on hop-off buses for this first look at that city…they truly are an excellent way to get ones bearings.

Some tours are not hop-on hop-off. For example the tour company pictured below offers fun filled tours that literally include a drive into the river/lake (whatever body of water the city has). The live guides mix humour and fact to provide an exciting introduction to the city BUT you stay on the bus/boat for the whole tour.

These amphibious bus tours are popping up all over. This one is in Dublin, Ireland but we have seen them in Seattle, USA and Charlottetown, PEI, Canada recently.

Hop-on hop-off bus tours are our preference. Their routes are specially designed to get you close to most major tourist attractions. We like to buy a 2 day pass on these buses. The first time around we get a city overview as we stay on the bus without getting off. The second time around we get off at one or two of the places that we most want to see. By this time we have a fairly good sense of where restaurants, etc are in relation to the major tourist attractions. The third time around we…you get the idea, right?

Tip: Before booking a hotel find out where it is in relation to the nearest hop-on hop-off bus stop. Many times you can find hotels within a few minutes walk of one.

You frequently have a choice of companies that offer hop-on hop-off bus tours. We usually have gone with the “red” buses.

However, we might reconsider if what we learned in Dublin holds true for other cities around the world.

In Dublin the green bus tours are operated by the Transit authority and all profits are put back into the community to provide bus passes for seniors and low income citizens.

Now, if that is true in other cities as well I definitely will take the green buses in the future.

As for Dublin, I am pleased to recommend the Green hop-on hop-off buses.

Tip: Read more about out Dublin adventures by clicking here.

 

Visit other countries with us…click here.

Happy travels!