Hop on Hop off in New York is an ideal opportunity, especially for first-time visitors, to get a good impression of the division of the city, the sights, and highlights. The hop on hop off bus tours are therefore becoming more and more popular and are now quite often part of the New York City passes!
Hop on Hop off in New York is very popular. And rightly so! You get a quick overview of the city and can simply get off at the stations that you like (“Hop off”) and then get back on again later (“Hop on”) to continue the Hop on Hop off tour. You always drive in fixed loops through the city, which is wonderfully suitable for getting a good orientation in New York.
Even if you don’t have that much time in New York, Hop on Hop off is a great way to see many of New York’s best sights quickly and easily.
There are three major bus tour operators operating in New York, and they all do similar laps. The most popular and best are the wine-red buses from Big Bus, followed by the red buses from GrayLine – Topview Sightseeing is brand new. There are other companies that offer Hop on Hop off in New York, but we cannot recommend these to you as unreservedly as these three. What all providers have in common: the routes are very, very similar and only the guides make the difference.
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If you’re traveling with your family, New York bus tours are a great way to relax and discover the city on the fully narrated tour. You can organize your day flexibly because there are various departure times and stops. Hop on Hop off in New York is always a great way to get around the city in comfort.
Hop on Hop off Bus
The range is wide, because there are sightseeing passes such as the CityPASS, which do not have any Hop on Hop off buses in their program, 1-day tickets for the Explorer Pass and New York Pass, and New York passes such as the Sightseeing Pass and FreeStyle Pass which you can use the buses for up to 10 days.
The bright red bus from Gray Line
Everyone can easily recognize BIG BUS by the wine-red buses with yellow lettering. You drive 5 routes (loops), are the market leader. You can read why exactly in our detailed article on our Big Bus Hop on Hop off experiences.
The Downtown Hop on Hop off Big Bus starts on W 42nd St & the corner of Broadway and stretches 17 stations from Midtown to Lower Manhattan past the Empire State Building, the Flatiron Building, Union Square, Greenwich Village to the South Street Seaport from where it goes back towards M & M’s Store in Times Square. Many stops in Midtown Manhattan intersect with the Uptown Loop. So you can change your route easily and comfortably.
Here it goes to the north of Manhattan. You drive over the famous 5th Avenue, past Central Park, and on the tour, you can marvel at other great attractions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the famous Plaza Hotel, Carnegie Hall, Grand Central Terminal, and Broadway.
You will see the best spots in the popular district such as the Botanical Garden, the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Antique Furniture District, the Fulton Mall, the Brooklyn Museum, and much more. The starting point is the Visitor Center at J&R at City Hall near the Brooklyn Bridge – then the tour starts with a ride over the Brooklyn Bridge.
This hop-on-hop-off tour is also very popular because seeing New York at dusk and at night is a real dream. On this tour you will drive past all relevant sights – you will see the illuminated Times Square, the Empire State Building, Central Park, Greenwich Village, SoHo, Chinatown, and Little Italy.
Passing all the highlights in Midtown, it goes from Times Square towards Battery Park. You drive through the Flatiron District, Union Square, the beautiful SoHo, discover the South Street Seaport until it then goes uptown again through the Lower East Side in the direction of Central Park. There’s a lot to see on this loop.
You can go uptown with a 48- or 72-hour ticket (the downtown route is also included here). It starts again in Times Square, through the Theater District, Columbus Circle, Dakota / Strawberry Fields, the American Museum of Natural History to the famous Apollo Theater in Harlem, and the Guggenheim Museum.
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The route to Brooklyn extends over 8 stops, which are operated three times a day. It starts at Old Fulton Street at the corner of Prospect Street in Brooklyn. The journey is very easy to make with the Express Train A (exit High Street) In Brooklyn itself there are sights such as the Barclays Center, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Botanical Gardens to see. In any case, a worthwhile bus tour in New York, where you also get to see other corners than just Manhattan.
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