There are numerous ways to tour New York City, covering land, sea, and air and virtually every mode of transportation imaginable from foot traffic to a helicopter. But whatever other means of transport you may use during a full-blown NYC tour, there is much to be said for making a double-decker bus tour the backbone of your big city adventure.
Here are 10 good reasons to go on a NYC bus tour:
You can often catch an NYC tour bus on the spot without even planning ahead, but you can also book hop-on/hop-off bus tour online or over the phone well ahead of time. It is quick and simple to book. It really is a no-hassle arrangement.
But if you do choose to grab a bus once you get there, fleets are usually large enough that there will always be seats available. If by chance you do have to wait, wait times are typically very short.
It can cost a lot to visit New York, and some forms of transport can be a bit pricey as well. But bus tours are relatively cheap. Almost anyone can afford them. Since you want to save your tourist cash for hotels, diners, shopping centers, sightseeing, and souvenirs, it’s a huge benefit when your wheels come cheap.
The 2016 NYC Mobility Report revealed that traffic can get congested and slow in most parts of the city (this didn’t come as a surprise). But while you can’t eliminate traffic, you can let a professional driver deal with it instead. With the breeze in your hair on the top of a double decker bus with a great view, even the slow spots aren’t going to be that bad.
Another great thing about bus tours in New York is that no two are quite the same. While there are certain stops like Times Square or City Hall that are part of many tours, they all have unique stops as well.
You can tour all 5 boroughs, both Up and Down Town Manhattan, Brooklyn Bridge, Chinatown and Little Italy, various museums and art galleries, Macy’s and top shopping centers, famous theaters, and much more. Take one route today, another tomorrow, and you’ll see something new each time.
How do you tour New York at night, and stay safe while doing it? Take a bus night tour. This is the City That Never Sleeps, so why should you? The lights of Times Square alone make a night tour worthwhile.
Most tours are set in stone: this is where we’re all going, period. But not bus tours. You can hop-on and hop-off as you desire. You can even get all-day passes and create your own unique itinerary.
For families and small-groups, bus tours are a great way to travel together safely and see a wide array of New York’s most important landmarks. Be sure to book ahead for groups though so you can all get seats together.
Many bus tours will stop off for meals/snacks, letting you take a breather and taste some famous NYC coffee, bagels, pizza, or Chinatown’s “New York Style Oriental” food.
Even as you drive along, there are great photo opportunities, and you get more perfect photo-ops at each stop on the route. Bus tours give many different locations to take a pic in a relatively short space of time, and posing by historic landmarks is always memorable.
Many times, you can get a tour NY package with a “central” bus tour but that includes the Liberty Tour out to the Statue of Liberty and other add-ons. This can make for a “complete” experience you’ll never forget.