Hop On/Off Sightseeing Buses

[Jayayeff]

I plan to use the hop on/off buses in several of the cities on my August Med. cruise. Should one book tickets on line prior to arriving or is it possible to buy tickets locally, either prior to boarding or on actually on the bus? Thanks

[jayjaycan]

Our experience has been that you can purchase tickets at the bus stops with no advance purchase/reservations required. This applies to all cities that offer the hop-on hop-off buses.

A word of advice. Do not lose or misplace your ticket, you will be denied access to the bus when you attempt to reboard.

Enjoy your trip.

[Jayayeff]

Thanks - Since posting this I emailed the bus company and asked the same question, just got a reply confirming your response that tickets can be purchased upon boarding. They also said to keep the tickets and if you present a previous one at the next destination where you use the hop on/off bus then you are entitled to a 10% discount.

[Cinder]

Out of curiousity, what cities are you referring to?

[Jayayeff]

Although I don't plan to use them in all the locations, on my upcoming itinerary there are hop on/off buses in Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Rome, Florence, Malaga, Cadiz and Seville. The website gives details of all the cities worldwide that have these buses, I checked the UK site which is www.citysightseeing.co.uk

[usavvy2]

last September we used the hop-on/hop-off bus in both Seville (near the bull ring) and Rome (multiple stops including right in front of the Vatican, at the train station, and in Barbierini Square). In Seville we paid an attendant near the bus get on place (they also had attendants from 2 competing companies right at the bullring); in Rome we paid when we got on the bus. Here's a tip. In Rome, we couldn't get those little red earplugs to stay in our ears (too big for my ears; too small for DH's ears). We had to keep holding them in our ears to hear the commentary (what a pain). Every time I snapped a photo, I couldn't hear what the commentary was for that locale. So, I'd recommend you bring the earphones from the airplane (as long as they have the ability to convert from two prong to one prong).

[Ladysmith_Que]

Marseille, should that be on your itinerary, also has the busses. Thanks for the tip, Jayayeff, I plan to use them in Palma the day before Marseille.

[Jayayeff]

Marseille, should that be on your itinerary, also has the busses. Thanks for the tip, Jayayeff, I plan to use them in Palma the day before Marseille.

 

Marseille is on my itinerary but as I am planning to spend the day with friends who live near there I didn't bother including it!! They also have them in Granada if anyone is going there from Malaga - again I'm not so I didn't include it. Great way to get around and 'see' the sights, especially in August when it's going to be hot for walking!!!

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Just a warning for the really big cities--find out how frequent the bus service is. If it's not very frequent, especially if there is heavy city traffic, hopping off will be great, but hopping back on will be a pain, with unpredictable arrival times at the bus stops. In the summer that means standing in the heat of the sun, waiting for a bus.

 

This was our experience in Istanbul.

 

On the other hand, in a smaller city, it can be delightful--I did this in Oxford some years back, and it was a terrific way to save your legs.

[P1TKL]

I plan to use the hop on/off buses in several of the cities on my August Med. cruise. Should one book tickets on line prior to arriving or is it possible to buy tickets locally, either prior to boarding or on actually on the bus? Thanks

 

There is no need to buy your tickets in advance - there are ticket booths by the bus stops.Sometimes you can buy the ticket actually on the bus.

[pcur]

There are usually long lines in Barcelona. If you can get an advance ticket for this one, it might save you some time.