Hop on hop off buses in Paris

I’ve used them on several visits , twice when I did one on one trips with my kids , aged 13 and 11 , and once with a friend who’s never been to Paris before .

All times I used the LOpen Tours - green and yellow buses - they had the most stops and routes ( 4 as I recall )

• do not buy until sure of weather - they are fun because you sit up top and can enjoy the sights of the neighbourhoods as you pass through them ( unlike the metro where you pop up and down from underground so you miss seeing certain areas on the way to your destination)

• they are not to be used as primarily for transport - they are not fast - the metro is fast

• buy the two day pass as you can’t do all the routes and get on and off , not enough time in one day

I would not use them in winter myself .

We did one in Paris 2015, also the L'Open bus. Our experience was that if you actually hopped off, you might be waiting a long time for a bus with space available to hop back on. Of course, that depends on time of day, traffic, and crowds, but it made us cautious about ever doing one again. We ended up just using it as a ride around the tourist sites to get oriented, and for that purpose it was fine. I cant imagine the "tour guide" describing what you're riding by to be the significantly different between companies. That being said, I think the choice in company would be which one has a stop nearest your hotel.

Our only experience using this service in Paris was 2015. There was always a huge crowd waiting at the bus stops, and no attempt at queuing up. Multiple attempts would be required to even get on the fully packed bus, and you would certainly have no chance getting on the top.

I did this for some people visiting a few years ago who wanted to be in an open top bus to see the city in late October. Downstairs was warm and up top was ok and they had fun. The company was l'open tour but I believe the ownership changed to RATP (the people that run Paris transit), it is called Open Tour now, and the buses are red white and blue (same color as the flag), not the old color scheme. If I went with one, I would use them. I looked for you and they have a deal with the hop on hop off boat company that lets you use the Open Tour buses and the batobuses (hop on hop of boats for cruising along Seine) for 47 euros for 2 days, 51 euros for 3 days combined. Otherwise, just the bus is 1 day for 31, 2 days for 37, 3 days for 42.

If you are in Paris during the peak summer months it could be crowded at some of the stops, particularly the Eiffel tower. Everything is crowded around the Eiffel tower, though.