Hop On Hop Off Busses - Pro's and Con's

[SelectSys]

Saw a poster's signature that suggested the only good HOHO bus was one that is parked in the lot. What do others think? I have used them on a couple of occasions as an alternative to a city tour-style shore excursion. I found it useful where I didn't know the city and wanted to get a quick fly by of the highlights.

[NEW 2 CRUISIN]

Definitely a great way to see a new city (or a really old one! :D)

 

I find it very convenient to be able to see the sights I WANT to see, and not have to visit each place a tour group stops.

 

Map in hand, and good dialogue with the driver will get you where you want to go! Great for short visits where you want to see specific things!

 

:)

[sillysailor 1955]

HOHO bus is a great way to get a overview/sampling of the city you are visiting (usually only for a couple of hours) the narration provided by headphones was interesting and well worth the money. Did the HOHO bus in Dublin and more recently in Barcelona.;)

[Happy ks]

We find it depends on the driver, or seperate announcer if there is one. We've had some great city tours and a few weeks ago, in San Francisco a lousy one. We wanted to break his microphone he was so obnoxious, never talking about points of interest and only discussing....himself.

[alicam]

We did it in Paris in 2005...a great way to get around to see the sights...we loved it

[sillysailor 1955]

We find it depends on the driver, or seperate announcer if there is one. We've had some great city tours and a few weeks ago, in San Francisco a lousy one. We wanted to break his microphone he was so obnoxious, never talking about points of interest and only discussing....himself.

 

Yeah I bet that could be annoying. The HOHO we took had prerecorded narration available in multiple lanuages with a little background music thrown in. It really was pretty good!

[apeller]

We have used HOHO buses in many different cities/countries and agree that they are an inexpensive and easy way to get an overview of the place. Many have live tour guides onboard and others give you headsets that allow you to listen to the narration in many different languages. Buses usually run on a reasonable schedule, but on occasion the wait is longer than you might like. One negative though is if you want to skip getting off the bus at one of the stops and then decide you want to return there, you must ride the entire loop since the buses are all a way way continuous loop.

[ikelmay]

I'm surprised anyone would post such a negative about HOHO buses.......... I think they are a great way to orient yourself to a city, especially if you are on a very short visit (pre-cruise for instance). European HOHO buses tend to have a prerecorded narration which are limited of course in their information but great to give you an overview.

 

We did the Gray Line in New York recently and although the live guides really added to the commentary, it was a bit of a pain getting the "don't forget to tip us" lecture every time the bus came to a halt. Having said that, the guide that took us over to Brooklyn was superb and was a mine of information.

[LoisGriffin1]

I tend to do it when visiting European cities. They are pretty useful.

[krogerlady]

Glad so many people liked it. We are going to use it in Vancouver in June. Too many places to see to use a cab for every trip, and too hard to park to rent a car, to the HOHO should be perfect. (Fingers crossed)

[apeller]

Glad so many people liked it. We are going to use it in Vancouver in June. Too many places to see to use a cab for every trip, and too hard to park to rent a car, to the HOHO should be perfect. (Fingers crossed)

 

We actually used public transportation in Vancouver (city bus) to get almost everywhere. It was very simple and inexpensive. Then every once in a while we would take a cab. Off topic, but we also bought the entertainment book which had quite a few buy 1 get 1 free coupons for some of the tourist areas we visited as well as restaurants.

[SelectSys]

HOHO bus is a great way to get a overview/sampling of the city you are visiting ... more recently in Barcelona.;)

 

That has been my experience. I wouldn't do it on some Caribbean Island or in Mexico, but to sample the major sites in a new city I think it is a good deal.

 

How many of the lines did you make it around in Barcelona? Their system is quite extensive.

 

One negative though is if you want to skip getting off the bus at one of the stops and then decide you want to return there, you must ride the entire loop since the buses are all a way way continuous loop.

 

Agreed, a bit of advanced planning helps on this front. I have also gone back either by foot or by some other form of transport to get to a stop that I wanted to return to.

[cruisemom42]

Not a big fan. I used the one in Barcelona and found it was not very useful if you actually want to use it to "hop on and hop off", which is what I wanted to do. There was too much traffic so the buses tended to show up very sporadically (often long gaps in between, then 2-3 would come, sometimes too full to get back on).

 

I have often seen the HOHO in Rome stranded in traffic and have found that I can walk faster than the bus is able to move.

 

I generally research all my stops in advance, so I don't really need the generalized commentary about/introduction to the sights. When I get to a port I am ready to actually DO things!

[Traveler353]

Good way to get the general lay out of a city or island that you have never visited before. If you have questions the drivers are usually very open and friendly and will help you out. Many times going off the route to show you around.

[sillysailor 1955]

That has been my experience. I wouldn't do it on some Caribbean Island or in Mexico, but to sample the major sites in a new city I think it is a good deal.

 

How many of the lines did you make it around in Barcelona? Their system is quite extensive.

 

 

 

Agreed, a bit of advanced planning helps on this front. I have also gone back either by foot or by some other form of transport to get to a stop that I wanted to return to.

 

In Barcelona if memory serves me I believe we did the "Red" and "Blue" lines - they also have a "Green" which I believe goes to the beach area, but I think its "seasonal":confused:

[Cruisenouvelle]

We're going to use them in Rome and Athens - wonder if we'll get a 'tip your driver' speech there as well!

[elycelynne]

I did a HOHO in London about ten years ago. I don't know if this is still the case there, but not all the tour buses ended in the same place, so I had to ask several people where to go to catch the tube back to Heathrow, since it wasn't the same place from which I started out. I will say that it was very easy to connect from one line to another on the tube, so it all worked out okay and I got back to the airport in plenty of time.

[ovccruiser]

I have done several HOHO bus tours in Barcelona (3 hours) Lisbon (choice of two routes) & London, but have never done my local (Bristol or Bath) :o IMO excellent value for money, travelling on the top deck you can certainly see more.

[GORDONCHICK]

Glad so many people liked it. We are going to use it in Vancouver in June. Too many places to see to use a cab for every trip, and too hard to park to rent a car, to the HOHO should be perfect. (Fingers crossed)

 

We did this tour in Vancouver and it was a great way to get around to the major attractions, get a basic understanding of the city's layout, and some background and misc info as well. We loved the rose garden in Stanley Park, as well as the aquarium. We visited Chinatown, Granville Island, and gastown. Because we had a two-day pass, it still allowed us to drop off our luggage at the pier (by taxi) and then catch the bus and go around a get off where we hadn't the day before. Still had plenty of time to make it to the ship.

[SelectSys]

I did a HOHO in London about ten years ago. I don't know if this is still the case there, but not all the tour buses ended in the same place...

 

It must be that they had multiple lines or something as I thought they all go in some form of loop. While I have never been on one in London, I seem to remember seeing different companies providing the service as well.

[jhillm]

I took the HOHO in Rome a year ago early April. I was with my 83 year old mother. She could not possibly have walked, so in that respect it was OK. But here are some tips.

 

IF you get on, don't get off until you have made the circuit; then you can take your chances if you like. The buses run very irregularly, and even in April can be jammed and zip right past the stop where you are waiting. Get over the idea that you can easily stop at each place for 20min and get back on, and on to the next - ain't gonna happen.

 

This bus had earphones with a recorded message - choose a channel for your language, and in theory, maps. They were out of maps, and many of the earphone jacks did not work.

 

The view from the open top deck is nice, but - if it rains there is no protection at all, and no room for everyone (or maybe even anyone) inside on the lower deck. Also, when it rains EVERYONE wants to get on.

 

I do not think they limit the tickets they sell in anyway, and I can imagine at the height of the season it is much worse. Apparently a ticket entitles you to try to get on - nothing else.

 

In summary - if you can walk, skip the HOHO. If you can afford a taxi, do that. I think you could make a couple of taxi hops for what you'd pay for the HOHO, and walk the rest. If you do the HOHO, get on early and stay on for at least one circuit (and plan to wait at the central hub (Termini) for at least 30min- as part of the circuit), then you can take your HOHO chances (but be sure you have an alternate plan to get back to where you need to be, on time.). Bring your own map. And go for what you will see not for what you might not hear.

[Globaliser]

Saw a poster's signature that suggested the only good HOHO bus was one that is parked in the lot.

That's me.

 

To clarify, that's because of the congestion and aggravation caused by HOHO buses to those who live and work in the cities in which they operate. At best, the buses are slow and obstructive. Sometimes, their drivers exacerbate the situation by being stupid and inconsiderate as well (although, to be fair, there are also other drivers who know how bad they are for other traffic and do what they can to mitigate things).

 

As for using them, I've never done it. I think that "seeing" a city from a HOHO bus is a lot like watching a movie of a road trip through the city. So you happen to see the outside of the building directly with your own eyes, rather than through a camera lens? Big deal. It does nothing other than give you something to uselessly brag about. (And many people on HOHO buses don't even see much directly - they are too busy sitting on the bus looking at the buildings through a camera lens anyway.)

 

I can see that there may be some people for whom something like this is a necessity because of mobility issues, for example. But otherwise, I'd personally rather spend a day in a new city looking at only one or two places properly, than only getting drive-by glimpses of the outsides of buildings.

[agabbymama]

I love HO HO buses. I've used them for transport in New York City, Rome, London, Sydney and Athens. As Globaliser states, if you have mobility issues, they are a great overview to the city, enabling you to get off to see what you want to see, then get back on and proceed to the next point of interest. Not necessarily every 20-30 minutes, but possibly walking in between for 2-3 hours. I prefer them to local transport as I don't think pickpockets are as likely to purchase the more expensive ticket to get on a HO HO bus.

 

I have been to Rome before, so knew the general layout of the city and what I wanted to show my friend. I bought the 48 hour pass from viator and used it both days. The first day I had planned to get off at Veneto stop and see the Spanish Steps and Trevi fountain, then down to Navona but my friend could only make it to Spanish Steps and Trevi before she gave out. We caught the next bus at Barberini and just rode back to Termini, and continued on to Colloseum and back to Vatican (where we boarded). The next morning we were back on the HO HO but rode it all the way around to the Colloseum stop, saw the Forum, Circus Maximus and the Santa Sabina Basillica.

 

I feel it gave my friend a good overview of Rome.

[suvicki]

I have used these buses in some British cities, York, chester and London. I have found them all to be great. The london one was the best as they have a few different routes and you can get off the 'red' route then onto the 'yellow' route etc to make up your own tour.

Fantastic way to see a city and well worth the money.

[SelectSys]

That's me.

 

To clarify, that's because of the congestion and aggravation caused by HOHO buses to those who live and work in the cities in which they operate.

 

Thanks for inspiring this poll and responding! I never thought of the angle of living with the HOHO bus as a resident. We have them in San Diego but they are really a minor part of our overall road congestion - even in the center of the city.

 

I personally have only used them in conjunction with cruises. I guess it is in some sense fitting to pair "float by" tourism with "drive by" tourism as the time in ports are way too short to consider it a proper visit.