Philadelphia Hop-on Hop-off Sightseeing Tour By Open-top Bus

The tour guides were fantastic and incredibly informative! We learned so much about Philadelphia’s history and the significance of many of the sites along the way. The only downside was that figuring out which bus to board was a little confusing since they use two different bus systems, and there were a few fake buses parked that added to the confusion. Once we found the correct stop, though, it was only about a 15-minute wait. Overall, I would definitely recommend it! It’s a great way to see so many of Philadelphia’s historic landmarks while learning the stories behind them. Definitely worth doing if you're visiting Philly!

Mike was a great guide! Great information, courteous, personable.

A simple ride to see the city was turned into an annoyingly pc diatribe.

Great way to see the city and learn of all the history our guide Will was very knowledgeable the tour is the best way to get around as parking can be an issue.

Initially, we were given some misinformation about what time the bus would leave, and from where, however there was a really nice gentleman who got everything resolved for us and our tickets printed for us even though we were on the wrong bus to begin the tour. After that, our experience was great.

Easy access to a wide range of sites around Philly. The guide was great. Buy a ticket for the day and hop on and off at will. Pick-up about every 30 minutes.

Great tour guide and easy to hear. Sat on outside top of the bus and road the whole route without getting off. Glad we took this Big Bus tour!

I'd already been into Independence Hall and the Liberty Center and wanted to go to the Museum of Art, so thought I'd make use of the Big Bus and get some sightseeing done on the way. The bus was just starting out for the day at 10am, so the roads were pretty quiet. The bus had a tour guide with microphone on the top deck explaining what we were seeing. Very knowledgeable guy, very entertaining, can't remember his name, but was from New Zealand. I decided the most interesting part of the tour was the stretch between the Liberty Center and Museum of Art so that worked well. We saw the old prison, china town and various historic buildings. I thought the cost of the tour (albeit not pre booked) was pretty expensive. If I'd had more time and able to hop on and off a few times, maybe it wouldn't have felt as pricey. However it helped me see more of Philly pretty quickly as I was on a really limited time in the city.

The bus is a GREAT way to roam the city, while being able to view all the major attractions. There's a coffee shop right in front of where you board the bus. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND stopping in! ( I love the almond butter croissant) Make sure to hop off at Reading Market for a one stop taste of Philly! The bus is also convenient to just sit and relax and ride the tour in its entirety after you've explored all day. The guides are great and give you facts about the city. If you're wondering - Bus is a MUST!

Tour is a good overview of the City but beware if you do the hop off, it gets very crowded and seating is limited but other than that good overview of the City for the price

Philadelphia is a story of many different cultures and styles colliding. It’s fun, it’s energetic, it’s gritty, it’s kind, it’s inspirational and exciting. We went over Labor Day weekend to run the Rocky Stairs, we discovered rich history, amazing food and a passionate populace. At the end of the day, down just about every narrow street it all leads back to Benjamin Franklin.

Tour guide made it fun and educational. Had a great time! Look out for those low hanging branches on top. They don't make all stops unless you ask for a specific one.

This is a good way to learn about the city and see areas you might not see. We did it 2 days So we could hop off at the places we wanted to see

Went to Philly for my adult daughter's birthday. Had a great mother daughter trip. We rode the bus for 3 loops. Had a good time.

Do not recommend! We were advised it would be best to ride the entire route first, 1 1-2 hours, then decide where we wanted to see. Well, to get back on the bus we waited 45 minutes then walked the route and never saw a bus again! We ended up walking 2 miles back to our hotel because we couldn’t get a bus! Never again.

Waited at the “Big Bus” stop for about 40 minutes with no sight of a bus. My husband and I tried to track the bus’ location on the site, only to find out that this Big Bus is an independent operator and not owned by the actual Big Bus company. Called the customer service number and was told we could get on any double decker bus passing even though they are the City Sightseeing buses and not the marked Big Bus - even though we paid more money on Viator for the Big Bus tour and the City Sightseeing tour is less expensive- rip off! This bus also does not stop at all of the stop advertised. When you finally get on a bus after extensive waits, you have to let the operator know where you want to get off in order for them to make a stop. Every single time we tried to get back on at a stop, the wait was longer than the time they said was the maximum wait time, constantly wasting the day away. What’s more, sometimes when a bus finally came, it would be full and we would then have to wait even longer for another bus (even to get in the bottom). The operator constantly mentioned leaving tips and made people feel pressured, even though we paid over $100 for 2 people to take this tour. I’ve used Big Bus in DC and New York and did not have this type of experience. Would not recommend!!!

We did the 2 day ticket. Waits were a little long, but I expected that. It was a great way to get around. The guides were very informative and interesting. We learned a lot. We thought this was a pretty good deal. Then the last stop of the last day happened. We were at the stop next to the US Mint. I called and told them we were there because I wanted to make sure we hadn’t missed it. They said it just left, you are fine. It goes around the block there. We saw it go past and we were ready when it rounded the block. My husband waived the map. We could both see the driver’s face. He never looked in our direction. He was too busy worrying about catching the light. He only looked at the light and not to see if anyone was standing there. He drove right by with us waving at him. I called again and said hey he drove right past. Their reply was I’m so sorry but we can’t have him turn around to get you. Walk 8 blocks to another stop and we will get you to your hotel. We are old and we were tired from a long day. Saying you are sorry and basically doing nothing to help the situation is not helping the situation. We paid a lot of money, we were there, we waved, we called before and after, we were stranded through no fault of our own. They are sorry. We just were done with them at that point and we just walked all the way back to the hotel. I took advil for achy legs when I went to bed. So it’s great until they leave you stranded. They are sorry though.

We booked this tour for the Wednesday before the 4th of July holiday. Although our tour guide was knowledgeable, the tour bus route was so dramatically altered by the Central City early preparations for Independence Day that even the normal pickup location was not available due to many street closures (nor was this communicated in advance). Our guide tried to describe the things we saw on the alternate tour route, but the major attractions we intended to ride to were inaccessible except on foot. So we gave up on the bus and walked nearly the whole time. Disappointing because there were 99 degree temperatures with 99 percent humidity, so we tried to ride inside the bus but views from inside are quite limited. I would recommend checking with the tour operator to ensure the normal route is operable before paying for this tour, because our experience was not a good value.

We love the hop on- hop off bus options offered around the country. We usually always ride in once without getting off then on round two we hop off at places that seemed interesting. I don’t know if it was just because it was busy or what but there were long waiting lines at many of the stops we got off at— and watching a U.S. come and go while you’re still standing there is no fun. Seems like they should’ve had more buses available because they were all packed.

Individuals providing information about Philadelphia were very knowledgeable. We had to wait along long time, past reasonable time, for a bus…we very often just walked to our destination.

This was a waste of money! We had to wait over 40 minutes for the tour to even start, then the driver kept stopping every few feet to pick up more people, even after the tour guide said the bus was full and we needed to get going. The tour guide himself was HORRIBLE. He was loud and obnoxious. He talked more about himself and where he liked to go on his time off, places he liked to eat at, and he told us things that he would do at different times of the year around town. He talked more about himself than he did talking about the sights and historical information. He kept saying, “hey, guys” and “look, guys”, but not to actually “look” at something, but to talk about himself. Another issue was that the bus didn’t actually stop at the designated drop off points. They just rushed on by each stop. It was as if they couldn’t wait to get the tour over with. You had to yell over him to let him know if you wanted to get off at a stop. However if you were on the bottom, there was no way to tell him, and the microphone was so loud that the driver couldn’t hear you. Finally someone from up top said they wanted off at the Market stop, so we jumped off too, just to get away from the guide. We just couldn’t take it anymore. We waited at that stop for over 20 minutes to catch another bus. We luckily were able to get the last few seats. That tour guide was much better. My only complaint with her was that she kept pointing out murals and sculptures and said “There’s art”. That bus also didn’t make stops unless someone appeared to be waiting to get on, but at least the tour guide would tell us that a stop was coming up and asked if anyone wanted off. However by then we were afraid to get off because people were turned away from getting on the bus due to there being no seats available. By the time we got to stop 15, we just wanted to finish it up and go home. NEVER AGAIN will we do a tour with this company.

Never could find it.. don’t know if that was our fault or something wrong with the tour so we ended up just heading back to the airport

It was great!we stopped at all the places we wanted to see!! awesome!

We enjoyed our bus tour of Philadelphia! Our guide was very knowledgable and informative and we enjoyed being able to hop on/ hop off as needed. I wish we could have tracked live routes online so we could see when a bus was close by or headed our way. Driving/parking in historical and downtown Philly is horrific so this saves from the headache.

Hands down the best experience of the day. We stayed at the Marriott to see a concert with friends who drove from upstate NY. Even though we are local, we wanted to show our friends an amazing July 4th for the 250th! 🇺🇸 On the corner or Redding Market Terminal (Filbert & North 12th St) you will see The Man…The Legend Tom “Shady”. This guy is now “My Guy”! Tom gave us the best tips that even the locals don’t know. Ernest was our guide, and God Bless Shirley for driving the bus around! We hopped off to see the unveiling of George Fraizer’s statue unveiling. The city was electric! FIFA! Independence Day! Heat Wave of 100 degrees! Flags everywhere! It was absolutely beautiful. Sebastian G picked us up and toured us around for the rest of the tour. So much to see and do, and these folks have it covered. People from all over the world coming to see where it all began. The facts were amazing. The company was absolutely wonderful….and it all started with Tom Shady, who had the most amazing personality! If you really want to see and hear all about Philadelphia, THE BIG TOUR BUS IS THE ONLY WAY TO GO! Bring water, a hat, sit up top and learn about unknown facts of our country! Thank you for a great time! ♥️🇺🇸♥️ Beth from Jersey

The microphone was too loud, to the point that it was uncomfortable to sit on the bus. Even though the microphone was very powerful, we still couldn’t understand what the guide was saying because she spoke really fast and had unclear speech. It was raining, and the windows had a mesh covering on them, so we could barely see anything outside. If you want to experience the city better, you’re probably better off just walking around. Hope this helped.

This bus sightseeing service has stops all around town, but you must walk over to reading market terminal in order to buy a ticket and on. Our guide was very knowledgeable, but seemed to go out of his way to keep knocking Sylvester, Stallone and Rocky whenever he had a chance. I’m notsure why Philadelphia guide would do that. Claimed that Stallone didn’t actually run up the steps of the art museum - said that he had a stunt double. Plainly not true if you look at the scene. Claimed that the movie was undeserving of its best picture Academy award. Why would a Philadelphia guide go out of his way to besmirch Stallone?

We learned so many great facts. We loved being able to get off and back on too. Our tour guide had great facts and anecdotes

We’ve done these tours in cities all over the country, but this was by far our worst experience. We waited an hour and a half for our first pick up. We went to another posted pick up location after a stop and were told we had to walk to another one, and staff on the bus had-mouthed management. We got off having not been able to see many things we were hoping to see.

Good price and great way to see the whole city

Educational and fun! Learned alot about Philly and you definitely need to ride on top level to appreciate the city skyline

Good fun and food very nice information The money was not much. For all day ride

We enjoyed our time seeing Philadelphia on the Big Bus! It hit all the highlights of Philadelphia and I really feel like I have a sense of where things are in Philadelphia. Hilary and Tommy were our guides and they were great. I didn’t care for the Red City Bus Tour. Both companies work together so you can get on whatever bus comes first. We actually got off the Red City Bus because the guide was so annoying. The Big Bus was great. I felt like we got a good value for our money.

My family and I went on a Big Bus Philadelphia tour, which was very disappointing. We sat inside the bus since it was drizzling outside. The windows were tinted which made it difficult to see the landmarks and even more difficult to take pictures. The tour guide started every sentence with "Guys!" which got very annoying.

Loved the tour, but would appreciate the guide keeping politics out of the experience.

Informative. Tour Driver was a bit dry, but very factual. Overall was a good experience and would recommend to adults.

Everything was smooth and easy to do. No issues with any of the reservations.

Awesome, informative, and fun!

Our experience was wonderful, we enjoyed all of the employees that we came in contact with. Information we never would have known on our own! It was enjoyable, informative in some pretty good jokes along the way. Excellent experience!

Such a great way to see the city. We stayed on the bus for the whole tour and then decided where we wanted to get off .

Great tour get to see a lot of historic area’s ,recommendations of places to see and eat. Educational great tour

I've been on about 5-6 Hop On Hop Off buses in other cities. We bought the 2-day pass and couldn't have been more pleased. The route covered around 25 stops and a fairly large area, including many attractions, statues, museums, downtown shopping areas, parks, etc. The map they included was fantastic. It not only was a great resource for the bus route itself, but also for maneuvering around the city. Definitely wear comfortable walking shoes and have a hat/visor ~~ the people sitting on the top deck have great views but they are wide open to the weather be it sun, rain, etc. We preferred the Big Brown Bus but the ticket was also good on the smaller red/yellow bus. The guides were very informative but we learned (the hard way!) that if you sit inside the bus and have a preferred stop, you need to let the bus driver know or they may not stop....

I do Hop-on tours in almost every city I go to. They are all great and this is no exception. These tours are such a great way to orient yourself to the city. And you see things on the tour that you want to go back and explore later. That is usually what I will do. Ride the whole route, then go back and explore on my own. And its not a bad way to get around the city. Highly recommend.

The tour guide and driver were extremely courteous and helpful. The guide narrated the tour with just the right combination of humor and knowledge. The driver was very helpful in getting an issue with my electronic ticket resolved. I highly recommend this tour.

If you’ve followed any of our socials, you already know that whenever we hit a new city without hiring a car, the Hop‑On Hop‑Off Big Bus is my absolute go‑to. And in Philadelphia, I REALLY needed this tour to hold true to its full glory — because I only had ONE day to zip around the city and my list was packed with must‑see stops. Big Bus Philadelphia absolutely delivered. The route covers all the major icons — Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, City Hall, the Rocky Steps, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Reading Terminal Market, the Betsy Ross House, and so many more historic highlights. It’s the fastest, easiest way to get your bearings and see the city’s biggest landmarks without stress. I hopped on and off at many of the stops, and even with a rushed itinerary, the calm and ease this form of transport offers truly confirmed why it’s my preferred way to explore any new city. No navigating unfamiliar streets, no parking headaches — just smooth sightseeing, clear commentary, and that iconic open‑top deck I choose every single time. For a one‑day whirlwind, Big Bus made everything possible. Highly recommend. We stored our bags at the train station and hit Philly for the day!

This is an excellent way to get an overview and layout of the city, with informative guides providing notes of interest and fun facts. First thing you'll learn is that you can't just walk this city in one or two days. Hopping off at a site you want visit, then hopping back on the next bus 25min later let's you experience more with less leg fatigue. Do bring sunscreen and water and sit up top.

Our experience was pretty awful. The buses were delayed, rerouted and slow. It totally wasn’t their fault as there was so much going on in the city the day we were there. But for the price we paid- it was a waste of money and time.

Hop-on Hop-off bus tour mid-week on nice early spring day. Tour was good way to quickly see city. However, bus was filled to capacity and I would be hesitant to hop off anywhere because subsequent buses may not have room to Hop back on. Would have been better if there were more buses in service.

If you are not staying downtown and are driving, start at the visitor center because there is good parking. Also, check the stops you are interested in because the museums are not open every day. We ended up with a guide, Gianna, on two segments. She was terrific.