would you recommend this on day 1 as way to get a lay of the land? or on a longer day to take advantage of the transportation of the bus to venues.
Posted by
Green Bay
20123 posts
I took my first one in Barcelona in February, and yes, it gives you the "lay-of-the-land", but other than that, it is pretty useless as a transport system. There are always more efficient ways to get where you want to go, get you closer, and run more frequentty.
Posted by
Ontario, Canada
4873 posts
No, I would NOT recommend it for Paris. Street traffic can be really heavy, so you get stuck in a bunch of slow moving or stalled traffic. And it's probably one of the worst ways of getting around from place to place. Get a map and learn how to use the Metro system.
Posted by
Olympia, WA, USA
6520 posts
I agree with Sam, definitely not useful as a way to get from A to B. Cities with HOHO buses have much faster and cheaper ways to get around, like subways, trams, regular buses, or even taxis.
Riding a HOHO all the way around its circuit is one way to get the "lay of the land" and hear recorded narration about what you're seeing. We've done that in a few places. Some of it will be interesting, some not so much. Probably not a good idea on jetlagged day 1 though. There's a reason parents with restless babies sometimes take them for a drive to lull them to sleep. A better strategy would be to explore the neighborhood of your hotel and a nearby outdoor sight like a park or beach. In Paris, a Seine cruise could be a way to get oriented in fresh air, probably not long enough to make you sleepy.
Posted by
Louisiana, USA
356 posts
My daughters and I did this on our first day in London a few years ago. We didn't get the lay of the land because we were nodding off. I wouldn't recommend it, especially not on your arrival day.
Posted by
Panguitch, Utah
2546 posts
The best way to get a quick overview of the city is to take a Seine cruise. I like the Vedette du Pont Neuf as they leave from a central location, Pont Neuf, and they offer reduced price tickets on their website.
The problem with the HOHO bus in Paris is that traffic makes progress very slow, the buses are infrequent if you do get off, and they are not cheap.
Posted by
The Heartland USA
8453 posts
We took the HOHO in Paris on arrival. We rode on the top level, so the sun and fresh (diesel-y) air helped keep us awake. We only got off at one stop, and were trapped there waiting for another bus as they kept rolling by, too full to let anyone back on. So yes to orientation, but no for sight-to-sight transport.