anyone have any recommendations for a company to take a sightseeing bus tour with in nyc?

thanks in advance,


j

There are a lot of threads about this. There are several open-top double-decker bus lines in NYC. You just go to the stop and buy a ticket, no need to make any advance arrangements. I really don't think there's that much difference in the companies.

In my opinion, however, these are particularly bad deals. If you buy a single-day fun pass Metrocard, you can ride any NYC bus or subway for $7.50 per day (about a third the cost of the double-deckers), travel pretty much the same routes with some changes of lines, and have a more genuine experience (and get places faster by being able to take the subway where traffic is really congested, as it always is during the day in Midtown).

But the best way to see New York is on foot, not on a bus. You'll end up having a more interesting experience. If I were going to pay, I'd pay for a walking tour of a great neighborhood like Greenwich Village or the Lower East Side and take the local subway and buses to get around.

Agree that bus tours are NOT the way to see New York. You need to get out into the city, visit the places you want, explore the various eighborhoods on foot and get the real feel of each area.

If you have a special topic of interest either walking tours or guided tours of special sections of a museumm make a lot of sense. But not riding around in a bus looking at the outside of buildings and local people doing their daily errands.

For transport subway is faster and mor convenient - or if you prefer surface (but sitting in traffic) regular city buses go everywhere for $2.

I have to disagree here...

I highly recommend the double decker hop on/hop off buses for "seeing the city". The views from seats on the open air upper deck are magnificent. And, you get to see all the neighborhoods and tall buildings. It's a lot easier to see/appreciate the tall buildings from the bus than walking. Those buildings are really tall...and trying to see them from busy sidewalks can be challenging. And, you really can't see that much out the windows of a city bus. Sometimes, it's all I can do to watch the street signs...although we surely prefer that to riding underground and seeing nothing.

For sure, you can take a lot of taxis for getting around for the same/less expense.

And, I recommend the double deckers only when the weather is nice. If it's too hot/cold or raining and you have to sit on the lower lever, not worth it.

Note that some of the guides are better than others. If you get one that's not so good, just hop off and wait for the next bus. Most are excellent, but there is the occasional dud whose commentary is not that great and/or they busier begging for tips than doing their job.

Well - I must admit that after about 5 minutes of looking at tall buildings I've accepted that they're tall and have little more interest - unless you're on the top of the building looking down at the view. And frankly, the views of the skyline are better from a distance - as seeing the downtown skyline from the Staten Island ferry - or all the residential towers on the east side while coming over the Triborough bridge.

But perhaps having had an office on the 37th floor for years left me with little interest in just how tall buildings are.

This is such a small part of what New York is about - how long can you spend on it?