Big Bus Chicago: Hop-On Hop-Off Sightseeing Tour by Open-Top Bus

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Discover the iconic attractions of Chicago at your own pace with a Hop-On Hop-Off tour. Explore skyscrapers, museums, and more with 24 or 48-hour tickets.

Duration: 2 hours

Cancellation: 1 day learn more

Highlights

Big Loop (Red Route) (Route)

Operating Schedule: Operates daily: First Bus 10 AM, Last Bus 5 PM. Service every 30 minutes. Red Loop lasts 2 hours.

Download the free Big Bus app for city information and live bus tracking.

1. 98 E Wacker Dr
Stop 1 Chicago Riverwalk

2. 319 W Jackson Blvd
Stop 2: Skydeck Chicago & Willis Tower

3. 200 S Michigan Ave
Stop 3: Millennium Park &The art Institute of Chicago

4. 800 S Michigan Ave
Stop 4: Hilton Chicago &Grant Park

5. 500 E Solidarity Dr
Stop 5: Adler Planetarium

6. 425 E McFetridge Dr
Stop 6: Museum Campus

7. 441 N Columbus Dr
Stop 7: Sheraton Grand Chicago

8. Navy Pier Parking - East Garage
Stop 8: Navy Pier

9. 163 E Pearson St
Stop 9: Water Tower & The Magnificent Mile

10. 150 E Chestnut St
Stop 10: 360 Chicago

11. 614 N Clark St
Stop 11: Hard Rock Cafe

Points of Interest

Skydeck Chicago - Willis Tower
The Art Institute of Chicago
The Chicago Theatre
Field Museum
Adler Planetarium
360 Chicago Observation Deck
Grant Park
Navy Pier
Millennium Park
Water Tower Place
Hard Rock Cafe Chicago
BigBus Chicago
Buckingham Fountain
Cloud Gate
Financial District
Maggie Daley Park
The Magnificent Mile
Tribune Tower
Holy Name Cathedral
Chicago River
Chicago Riverwalk
Soldier Field
The Rookery Building
Centennial Wheel
Chicago Cultural Center
Wrigley Building
American Writers Museum
The McCormick Bridgehouse & Chicago River Museum
Northerly Island
Pritzker Military Museum & Library
Jay Pritzker Pavilion
Lyric Opera of Chicago
Symphony Center - Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Monadnock Building
Money Museum at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
The Field Museum Store

What's Included

Hop-on Hop-off Sightseeing Tour by Open-top Bus
On-board WiFi
Enclosed/Climate Controlled Lower Deck, Top Deck Open
Professional digital commentary in multiple languages
Live Bus Tracking & City Info (Download Free Big Bus App)

What's Not Included

Hotel pickup and drop-off
Admission to attractions

Additional Information

Discover Chicago’s best on our Big Bus tour. Board our open-top, double-decker bus and see the city’s iconic landmarks, from the Magnificent Mile to Millennium Park. Utilize our convenient stops to explore vibrant neighborhoods and attractions, including Willis Tower, the Chicago Riverwalk, and more.

Spend your day shopping on Magnificent Mile, enjoying Navy Pier’s Ferris Wheel, or tasting authentic Chicago Deep Dish Pizza. Our flexible tour lets you create your own itinerary, with a free app to track bus arrivals.

Listen to digital commentary in multiple languages, offering expert insight into Chicago’s history and culture, while recommending the best places to eat, drink, and shop. Offering comfortable seating and panoramic views, our Hop-On Hop-Off Sightseeing Tour is an ideal way to explore the city. Hop off as often as you like within your ticket’s validity period, and simply hop on again when ready to continue.

1 Day tickets will be valid for same day use. Tickets claimed after 2 pm will be valid for the next calendar day.
Redeem vouchers at Stop #1 Riverwalk (98 E Wacker), or with the driver at any Big Bus stop along the route
Please advise at time of booking if wheelchair assistance is required

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings

3.9

(1879 Ratings)

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Yelida_e

Sep 1, 2024

Great - Great experience with friends perfect spots for bus stop ,every place is perfectly with a lot of things to do

Review provided by Viator

Nathalie

Aug 15, 2024

Fantastic - Felicia, our bus driver, was super entertaining and enthusiastic during the bus tour! She point at us the great things to take picture of and she was slowing down for giving us the occasion to take them! It was a great ride all around downtown Chicago!

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Nicole_c

Aug 4, 2024

Fun in Chicago - Fun times. We were able to see so much in a short period of time. Thank you for making it so easy to travel around Chicago

Review provided by Viator

Iamdeelady8

Jul 23, 2024

Prelude to possibilities - After coming to the state several times for new family events, I finally had a chance to see some of the landmarks and city sites that I've heard.

Review provided by Viator

Jcl0998

Aug 3, 2024

A $60 bus ride ..didn’t learn much about the city - Headphone narration not sinker with travel and driver also narrating so headphones on and off and didn’t really work well

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Cg1810

Jul 16, 2024

Verbal Diarrhoea - Good points of interest but a real pity that the audio tape was absolutely pathetic and trying too hard to be a comedy show with virtually no knowledge whatsoever. So much commentary and verbal garbage that the point of interest were not even memorable

Review provided by Tripadvisor

H6653lupeterg

Sep 12, 2024

Avoid the Big Bus Chicago City Tour - Awful, would strongly not recommend! Bus tour started with no audio narration available. Roughly 5-6 mins into tour, I questioned driver about audio. She forgot to turn it on. Entire 2 hour tour narration (once turned on) was: 1. lagging position by 2 mins from our point of interest. We were well past the point being discussed, very frustrating! 2. Audio from music played on bus headsets, which was about 75% of what the content of the tour was, was considerably louder than the narrators voice, forcing you to constantly adjust the volume up and down to hear their voices. 3. We learned NOTHING about the city, its neighborhoods, or its history, because as mentioned above 75% of what we heard were songs that had a Chicago theme. 4. There were two individuals on the tape (guy and girl) attempting to narriate but sounded like a poorly written high school comedy skit…AWEFUL! 5. The bus driver was somewhat passive agressive when dealing with other drivers. Twice, we were completely embarrassed when the driver laid on the horn for over a minute each time because another vehicle in front of us (tourist I assume) was in the wrong lane at a red light. This made it difficult to both hear and focus on what was being played on the audio tape. Not to mention you don’t really expect a tour bus driver to be aggressive with other drivers with a bus full of people. 6 Bottom line, the product was terrible at best if you were hoping to learn a little about the city, its buildings and neighborhoods, its history or anything else. If your simply looking for a bus ride with no real expections, than it’s an expensive bus ride…..go for it. 7. When we expressed our dissatisfaction with a Big Bus representative at the conclusion of our tour, he was not surprised!! He gave us sn email address to contact the company who has been less than willing to resolve our issue. They will not speak to you on the phone, they simply try to wear you out with days and days of back and forth emails.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Lovetotravel1229

Jul 13, 2024

Avoid it! Rent a Uber to give you a tour. Bus caught on fire. - Purchased Tickets Saturday, July 12, 2024 from a young lady with long braids at stop 1. Asked immediately ( we’ve taken BB in many other city’s and got a small Veterans discount) kindly asked her for the Veterans discount. She couldn’t care less and said no they don’t offer it. We purchased the 110.00 tickets for two. Walked to the bus and hubby asked another employee we wanted two tickets with Veterans discount and he gave us a total and told us they offer the we discount. We then told him what happened and he told us to contact the company. We did a live chat through the app and they said no we were crap out of luck. End of conversation. Some speaker plugs don’t work. We were on 4 buses- 1 caught fire and we were evacuated. Fumes engulfing us and these young generation are rude as can be. Taking there slow time talking and gawking as the bus is on fire. I also told the live chat this and he would even respond. Only 1 AMAZING driver we had for 3 stops that did live tour. Kudos to him. Rest of the drivers. Clearly it’s just a job.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

Worldcruiser222

Jul 13, 2024

Avoid this company - Bus never showed up, we waited over an hour, the agent at the stop could not verify if and when the bus would arrive, dispatch was not answering, very dissapointing.

Review provided by Tripadvisor

227myrah

Jul 10, 2024

Not worth it - We did not have a good experience. Two buses we were on did not have any commentary at all from the drivers as to what we were seeing or passing by. The drivers did not even offer us headphones or tell us there was recorded commentary available. We found that out later. And it was hard to hear or understand the bus stops when they at least announced the stops. Not worth the money!!

Review provided by Tripadvisor

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