NYC Bus Tour: Empire State & More
3.4
73 Ratings

Experience the best of New York City with a Hop-on Hop-off Tour and access to the iconic Empire State Building. Explore famous sights, museums, and more!

Duration: 3 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights

Discover Downtown (Red Route) (Route)

Operating Schedule: 9:30 AM - 4:30 PM (starting from Stop 1 - M&M’S World)
Buses arrive every 20 to 30 minutes, with the entire route taking 90 minutes.
Download the Big Bus app for detailed route information and real-time bus tracking.
1. M&M’S New York
Stop 1 - 7th Ave & W 48th St
2. **Times…

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What's Included
  • Big Bus 48-hour Hop-on Hop-off Tour on Downtown & Uptown Loops
  • Digital commentary aboard hop-on hop-off tour
  • Wi-Fi on board
  • Entry to the Empire State Building
  • Statue of Liberty Ferry (if option selected)
  • Bike Offer: Rent 1 hour, Get 2 hours free
  • Free Butterbeer Ice Cream at Harry Potter Store
What's Not Included
  • Hotel pickup and drop-off
Additional Information

Discover the enchantment of New York City with an Open-Top Sightseeing Bus Tour, offering stunning views from the legendary Empire State Building, the skyscraper that epitomizes the Manhattan skyline. Enjoy unlimited rides across the city, with the freedom to hop on and off at your convenience to explore the premier attractions in Midtown, Downtown, and…

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Cancellation Policy

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

Customer Ratings
3.4
(73 Ratings)
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1 star
Susannemy2150bv
Sep 9, 2024
Best bus driver - Great to hop on and hop off, we went the whole day through N.Y. City, amazing! Very nice service all around but the best bus driver is Miguel, he talled us he is from Equador - he explaines his tours (!) and that very detailed, wonderfull, he is very friendly and he loves his job, that's great, thank you! We’ll come again!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jj_w
Aug 28, 2024
Summer vybes with the best tour operators - My 11 yo was so mesmerized by the open bus experience. We enjoyed the sights & sounds of the mighty NY city with its breathtaking views. The highlight of our tour was at the Empire State Building. This was super amazing. We will do this again soon
Review provided by Viator
Candicern2011
Dec 18, 2023
Santana is the bomb! 💣 - Santana was the best driver that we had. We got on her bus multiple times and she went above and beyond to make sure we knew what was around us and the history of NYC! She also was funny and had a great personality. Your other drivers were not as friendly and did not speak! Santana was the bomb!!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Michael_b
Oct 7, 2023
Many attendants around... - Many attendants around the city to answer questions. Easy access. Most audio boxes worked, but not all.
Review provided by Viator
Donna_b
Oct 26, 2023
Great tour…bit of a rough start! - We very much enjoyed the Big Bus hop on & hop off tour with entry to the Empire State Building after a bit of a rough start. The reps are easy to spot at their designated location to pick up your vouchers. I would recommend doing a 2 day pass if you really want to do both loops. I would have given Big Bus a 5* rating except they had the wrong time slot. We had purposely booked the 9:30am time slot to visit The Empire State Building so we wouldn’t be on a strict timeline to get back there. When we picked the tickets up our time slot was 12:45pm…Rep was no help, said maybe we were from a different time zone..not the case. We went anyway for 9:30am & because it was the first time slot and not yet crowded they let us go up.
Review provided by Viator
Lucarl1345xa
Oct 5, 2024
Average bus tour - Very interesting this solution of HopOn HopOff BigBus 1+1 days free. Too bad for the Staff both on the ground and on the unkind and helpful buses and shame for the stops changed/added/cancelled not communicated in advance (perhaps due to the commemoration of 9/11). Average.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
James_h
Apr 11, 2024
Don't bother with this Hop-on/Hop-off! - We have thoroughly appreciated previous Hop-on/Hop-off buses in other cities but I was very disappointed in the Manhattan experience. We were introducing NYC to family visiting from another country but we were unable to view most of the buildings and other sites mentioned. Even though our purchase also included Empire State Bldg entry, there was NO time available to take advantage of that. It took over an hour waiting for a bus that had space for us so we didn't even begin until after 10:30 am. You should consider only selling a 48-hour experience since the bus schedule starts late and ends early.
Review provided by Viator
E9045qwcolinm
Aug 16, 2024
Misleading Online Booking Form - From UK, and visiting family in Connecticut, we visited New York on Sunday 11th August. 4 adult tickets and 2 child tickets were purchased online for the Red & Blue bus tours, to include the Empire State Building ANYTIME entry. The bus tour was a disappointment. The onboard commentary was mostly unsynchronised with the landmarks, and consisted mainly of music. Many of the landmarks were not near the route, and the stops were not announced by the driver. Most importantly, on arriving at the Empire State Building at approximately 6pm we were refused access because the tours were full and we had not made a reservation. The BigBus booking form clearly says ANYTIME. There is no mention that a reservation is required for a tour time slot. Either BigBus are unaware of this requirement (unlikely), or they couldn't care less (likely). So what did we get for our $580? Not much: an uninformative bus ride tour with little relevance to what we were seeing, and refused entry to the attraction we'd booked. An absolute waste of money. BigBus might possibly give their usual fatuous reply. What they need to give is refunds, especially since the booking form is inaccurate and misleading.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Onair51042744549
Mar 28, 2024
Not the best - Recommend not booking in advance unless you are certain you can use the service. If something happens and you can't use it on your day/days, all you get is a raincheck...next time your on a town they offer service in. Subways are faster and cheaper by far...
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Angelica_a
Dec 18, 2023
Terrible - Well it didn’t happen! Very disappointed! I went to two locations to redeem my voucher for tickets and no one was there. I went to a pick up spot to hopefully get some help. The bus driver wasn’t any help and rude. I want my money back. This was a terrible experience.
Review provided by Viator
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