When planning a trip to New York City it can certainly be overwhelming, especially if you are visiting once in a lifetime and want to see and do everything. On a recent visit to New York my daughter and I decided to take the Big Bus Hop On-Hop Off bus tour. This is a wonderful way to see the city and offers many options without all of the walking or hassle of cabs/subways. New York is a big city and you can easily get lost if you don’t know the way around.
Big Bus New York- See The City YOUR Way
The open-top Big Bus sightseeing tour is a convenient way to see New York, where you will take in the world famous landmarks; from the inspiring Statue of Liberty to the dramatic Empire State Building. Throughout the tour, you can learn about the city’s history from our entertaining and informative commentary. We had the most personable tour guide and she was full of great information as well as fun tidbits about the city!.
We decided to experience the hop on-hop off tour as it allowed us to well hop-on and off the bus as we liked. The tour guide will let you know when you are coming up on a stop, what is at that particular stop and let you know to return to that exact stop when you are done exploring that part of the city. The regular service allows you to see the sights in your own time and gives you the flexibility to start the tour at any of the 30 stops throughout the day. A full circuit of the tour takes approximately 4 – 5 hours. Both the Uptown Loop and the Downtown loop take 2.30 hours each. I would suggest taking one loop per day so you can experience the sights at the tour stops.
Midtown Tour
The Midtown tour will allow you to hop-off to get a closer look and tour the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, Times Square and Central Park. The Empire State building is my favorite attraction to visit at night, the views of the city are amazing.
Downtown Tour
The Downtown tour, will allow you to see Chinatown, One World Trade Center, Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge and Battery Park. Be sure to purchase tickets in advance if you plan to visit One World Trade Center, as it does get very busy. Also, prepare in advance for visits to Statue of Liberty, it’s much like the airport, lots of security and takes time to get to the Island. You can purchase a combo ticket for both of these sites with Big Bus New York.
With so many different tickets be sure to do your research and make sure you have the one you want for your visit. Also, if you have never seen the city at night be sure to book a Night Tour, New York is really at it’s finest after dark.