A contrary take on hoho buses

In some ways HOHO buses are like in-laws; some great, some lousy, and some in between. We've taken them in several cities and one thing they do have in common is that they give a sense of the lay of the land and geograhpical relationships. We've found that very helpful later when exploring on our own. They can also be used as transportation to string together a number of sights where one can spend time. Doesn't seem to be an all or nothing deal. Certain situations yes; others no. To each his / her own.

I have found them useful in Edinburgh and Bath to easily get around between sights. EDITED: I was solo on both these trips.

The ones in Frankfurt are the absolute worse. The loudspeaker is in German, while you try and listen to your language on earphones. Really disturbing. The stops are not in sync with the recording, they seem to come and go at will and stop when they want. I am always surprised at their consistently awful reviews that get a "we are sorry we didn't meet your expectations, and hope you give us another chance" or "we don't know what went wrong, get in touch". Yet, nothing ever changes, they never improve. The same awful reviews about the same things have been written for years. It makes me wonder about Grey Line and why they don't seem to care.

Yes, I have gone on their tours to see what it was like. The worse part is when they drive past the Jewish Remembrance Wall with its' almost 12,000 names on it, and tell you nothing about it, yet mention that Anne Frank was born in Frankfurt as they go past. They don't tell you that her name is on this wall.

I Admit, I did not bother to read the link

I took a hop on hop off bus once on my first day of Europe, as is often recommended to get the lay of the land. Well, I now know a great place to take a nap. Upon arrival. It was warm, the bus was stuck in traffic and I slept through two loops. I’ve skipped that ever since. (Insert laughter emoji)

As for why those bus companies don’t care about their reviews, it’s because people keep buying them in spite of the bad reviews you are reading, and then writing more bad reviews. Until the reviews impact their bottom line, they don’t care. And most people are a one and done so it’s not like they figure you’re going to come back and take the tour next time you’re there so they don’t really care about making you happy. Sadly, most people bothered to read reviews after they spend the money not before

Yes, I think they have their place.

A few weeks ago I was in York, a city I know well. But I hadn't even thought of using the HoHo (and never see it mentioned on this forum). I found out too late when I got off a service bus at the Rowntree Park and saw the timetable. But it would actually have been by far the most convenient way for me to get around the city that day to areas outside the central core which is where I was heading and a nice treat to self. Unfortunately I had a pre-purchased service bus day ticket.

The first time I went to Ponta Delgada, Azores (on a cruise call) I used the one there, a great "easy and effective way" to get my bearings- and got half price a few weeks later on the one at Lisbon (my maiden call there) on the way back from the Caribbean as an included perk. The Ponta Delgada one I didn't even know existed until I stepped off the ship- an impulse buy. I wouldn't do the Lisbon one now, as several visits later I now know the city fairly well, but then it was just what I needed.

Cartagena (Colombia) was also a really useful one for me last time I went (not my first visit, the first time we had an included van tour with armed guard as the city was then less than safe).

I have also used the Copenhagen one- interestingly on a cruise call after I had been to the city a number of times independently. It just felt right that time.

And I have done several others around the world. As a very competent, independent traveller who can find public transit almost anywhere I am not ashamed to admit to this weakness.

I second the one in Bath, great guides and it really worked to take it in such a small city. I also found the one in Belfast useful for learning the lay of the land, but boy, was the guide a misery! I went on the one in London with a visiting friend, and it was hopeless because of the traffic. We had a great time chatting but it took us nearly a hour to get around Westminster Abbey.

We use them on day trips or long layovers.

Personally I found the HOHO bus in Cape Town to be excellent. They even have a secondary wine route which was quite nice. It’s nice to get acquainted with an area, see a large area in a short time, and get an idea of what you want to see more of.

I wish we had taken the HOHO bus in London last year. Gives a good, general overview, which we didn’t get, but wish we had.

phred,
We took the one in Dublin and it was helpful and enjoyable. This was in 2003, though, so my experience may be very outdated. I am not averse to them, but wouldn't attempt them in some cities because of their usual traffic problems.

Thanks phred. The disdain HoHos frequently receive in this forum seems to be a prime example of the "snobbery" or "elitist" attitude some have complained of. I was recently mocked for suggesting a HoHo to a poster. I've only taken one once, in New York City. And yes, I did nap for a bit - not for 2 loops however. But when I was awake it was very enjoyable with excellent live narration. Although I could have gotten from point A to B by subway I wanted to see NYC from above ground, not below.

Nice article, thanks for posting. Clearly the HOHO worked for the mobility-challenged author on that trip. It can also be a good way to get a "quick and dirty" overview of a city when you don't have time for more exploration, or when you have lots of time but want that overview first, i.e. "getting your bearings." But not a good idea after an overnight flight, as a previous poster found. And not a good way to travel between multiple stops, hopping off and then on, because it's slower than mass transit and you can spend a lot of time waiting for the next bus (or the next one if that one's full). So "hop-on-hop-off" should maybe be called "hop-off-wait-hop-on-hop-off-wait-hop-on," or HOWHOHOWHO. Not such great marketing! ;-)

I'm indifferent to HoHo tour buses. Never done one myself and I just dont see the need to expend the energy to have an opinion about them one way or the other. I don't understand why they seem to illicit a strong dislike.

The disdain HoHos frequently receive in this forum seems to be a prime example of the "snobbery" or "elitist" attitude some have complained of.

Maybe there's something to this. Maybe it's that one is no longer a novice, the "I'm not a tourist, I'm a traveler" shtick.

The HOHO got me orientated my first trip to London. Served a good purpose cause I didn't have much support. In Budapest I say no, because I will show you how yo do better on the trams for a fraction of the cost. But you can't always get that sort of help, and then, the HOHO is a decent orientation tour.

In crowded cities with lots of traffic HOHO busses don't work so well.

The disdain HoHos frequently receive in this forum seems to be a prime example of the "snobbery" or "elitist" attitude some have complained of.

Or perhaps, just perhaps, the disdain is warranted by those who actually know- London's, with its penchant for getting repeatedly stuck in traffic jams being a prime example. However not all HOHOs are created equal. We found the Hong Kong and Abu Dhabi HOHOs to be very efficient for both a "lay of the land" tour and being frequent enough to use between the sites we wanted to stop at. As with many things, it's often inaccurate to paint an entire category with the same broad brush. Doing your homework in advance can help weed out those that are less than desirable.

But, MrE, the big difference is that the commentary on the HoHo will tell me what I am seeing as I pass by (and likely give me a bit of history). The tram conductor won't do that. Now you know by now that I'll be using the trams to exhaustion in the more or less hypothetical scenario that I come to Budapest, but as a starter for ten the HoHo gives that benefit, the moment I arrive at Keleti from Stuttgart.

Just an example. I could cite almost any city like that.

"The disdain HoHos frequently receive in this forum seems to be a prime example of the "snobbery" or "elitist" attitude some have complained of."

I don't think it's anything to do with elitism, merely practicality. It depends on the city. I wouldn't take one in London, where you're better off walking or taking the tube, rather than wasting time stuck in traffic or waiting for your HOHO bus. In Singapore however where we don't do traffic, I would imagine the HOHO is a nice introduction for visitors.

None of us are experts, however, and we can only share our own experience and views, and respect different opinions, and certainly no-one should be mocked for having a different opinion.

We've only done a HOHO bus once, in NYC, because I sprained an ankle just before our trip.

First bus got stuck in traffic and we decided to walk a bit.
2nd bus had a commentator who wanted everybody to sing along (!)
3rd bus the commentator had a strong stutter. Really.
We gave up.

I think the article is pretty much saying what most of the threads here have said over the years: it's a good way to get oriented, but not so good as transportation between sights. We learned if you hop off, you might not be able to hop on again when it's crowded. I dont think snobbery is involved in looking at it that way.

First, my HOHO ran fine in London. No traffic jams.

isn31c, validity to what you say. Get a DK Eyewitness guide, and it will provide the same. But true, not the same as hearing it as you ride.

It's a personal thing. A few dollars a day to go anywhere, but you gotta read, or $50 a day to hear the recording on their schedule and path. Both are valid.

As a concept, nothing wrong with the HOHO and without help planning out the day the HOHO makes more sense. Heck, the last time I looked for planning help, I got very little, so I get it.

Just like every city is different, every HOHO bus is different. We’ve used them in a few cities but not all.

Belfast - live commentary from a local. Got to see the area of the Troubles and to the Titanic museum.
Warsaw - too few buses, too long a wait time, too crowded.
Berlin - 2 days for the price of one, used as transportation cause we just couldn’t figure out the train.
Oslo - was much cheaper than cabs and went to major spots pretty quickly.
Budapest - it was 2002 and we were the only people on it. No traffic or crowds so it was easy to use. Not the same nowadays.

And, even though I live in NY, I have taken the HOHO bus a few times when people visit. It is especially good cause it goes through Harlem which is a pain to go to on your own. Our last trip our live commentator was from Sweden, go figure.

When people ask me if there is a Hop-on Hop-off bus in Bern (or Zürich or Geneva...) I answer: "Why? All our busses are hop-on, hop-off".

Which probably explains a lot. The quality of the normal public transit matters. If it is easy to navigate, and has a useful daily pass a dedicated tourist route does not make much sense.

We have used the HOHO buses twice, once in London and once in Paris. The time in London, it was perfect for us and it got us where we wanted to go. The Paris one was funny. We got on and figured we would do a loop. It was evening, and at one stop the driver said everyone off, they were done for the day. It was raining and we were not exactly sure where we were. I asked a few locals nearby and they said that is how it is done, whey they hit quitting time, that's it. We still enjoyed it though.

I’ve done HoHo’s in Barcelona, Edinburgh, Dublin and Washington D.C. None of these were on arrival day. The first was Barcelona and I thought it was a great way to see more of a very large and spread out city. Edinburgh was pretty good too. I wouldn’t have thought about taking it, but the friends we met up with there wanted to do it. It was convenient in Dublin as well. In D.C. my friend and I were returning home from Paris. Our flight was delayed so we missed our connection at Dulles. The airline put us up for the night and our new flight didn’t leave until 5:30 p.m. the next day, so we decided to head into town before our flight to get a glimpse of the sites. I had always wanted to go there, but hadn’t had the opportunity. It whet my appetite to see more and I was able to spend a week there a few years later. I don’t automatically gravitate towards them, but I don’t have anything against them.

This has me thinking I’m going to experiment with the HOHO bus. I will try in a couple of cities and see. One never knows…..

We are walkers, so that is our normal mode of city transportation. We decided to buy a 2 day ticket in Paris, and it worked great to get us to all the areas we wanted to explore more on foot.

Pre 9/11 work sent us all to NYC and included a multi-day HOHO ticket. It was also very early in my mature traveller days, so I appreciated the city overview and lack of need to figure it out myself. For orienting a new tourist, it was extremely helpful. Being December, it wasn't overly busy and traffic wasn't an issue.
My only other one was labeled a HOHO bus but only had 3 stops....Salisbury UK and the only way to get to Stonehenge independently on public transport. It was well run, multilingual and did the job.
I have a port visit in Palma de Mallorca in February. A 17 stop HOHO bus is $17.50 for a Senior. A lot of my interest is Modernista architecture, so this is a pretty cheap way to save the miles of walking to see the architecture....and do some hop offs and one along the way.

"The disdain HoHos frequently receive in this forum seems to be a prime example of the "snobbery" or "elitist" attitude some have complained of."

I don’t think the negative opinions have anything to do with snobbery or elitism. Some of us just don’t find them to be a either enjoyable or a good value. I’ve taken HOHO buses in a few places and now never bother. The few I’ve taken have had poor commentary. I haven’t found them to be worth the high price.

I've never seen any disdain reagarding HOHO busses. Cant remember the last time I even saw them mentioned?

I guess I have not used a HoHo bus in 20 plus years, but I think the first sort would be those that actually take you to far flung sights, and those that just make a circle and get "kinda near" the sights. I recall both London and Paris working well, Rome, since so many sights are in pedestrian areas, not so much. As other mentioned, the main value is getting a quick overview of the sights, maybe get to see a few that you have little other interest in (The Arc de Triomphe was fine as a "drive by") and maybe even take advantage of the HoHo feature once or twice.

Beyond that, I hear often how the guide or narration varies greatly, so with luck, you win, otherwise you are disappointed.

I think rarely they work as efficient transportation, and the value for the cost is questionable, especially if you are suckered into a multi-day package.

You know, I first suggested the cost was an issue. Then thinking about it, where else do you get an all day tour for under $50?

Cant remember the last time I even saw them mentioned?

There was this recent post on the Hungary forum.:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/hungary/hop-bus-budapest

You commented that, specifically in Budapest, "The least valuable I still think remains the HOHO Bus."

The guided tours that I took in Budapest and Prague were a dedicated bus that visited key sites with a live guide. I like these because they often get me efficiently to far flung sights. On my buses in Budapest and Prague, traffic wasn't an issue. And I liked the commentary of the live guide and the ability to ask questions.

I see the advantage of a HOHO over a guided bus tour being that you can spend however much time you want at each stop.

Either way, I love the efficiency of these city overviews, especially on my first day in a city. Then I can use public transit to sightsee on my own for the remainder of my time.

My bad. My bad memory.

At the end of the discussion, I said

To be fair, the 1 day HOHO pass comes with a free walking tout (but
you are expected to tip) and there is commentary on the bus and it's
30 euro. So not terrible and maybe a solution for some. So maybe as an
orientation tour?

Which was positive about the HOHO. No disdain in any of the comments from anyone.

I did not take the comment as disdain. The poster on that thread was asking for opinions on HOHO buses, so a variety of answers should be expected. And your comment was very specific to Budapest.

I continue to like and use such bus tours to get oriented to bigger cities that are new to me. Since I've done 3 guided bus tours (Prague, Budapest and, I had forgotten, Warsaw) rather than HOHO buses, my history suggests that I prefer the live guiding, at the expense of the limitation on my time to explore at each stop. I always figure I can "go back" and occasionally I have done so.

What I haven't seen mentioned about the Budapest bus on here is that the price also includes a short daytime river cruise.

That reminds me, the guided bus tour that I took in Budapest also included the entry ticket to Parliament, which the tour procured for us.

CW, I've used them, too. I realized that my initial answer regarding Budapest revealed a truth about locals and those with a long experience with a place; they lose the perspective of a first-time visit. So,to say not to do it was wrong of me. Should have started with a pro and con discussion and let the OP evaluate and choose.

I'm of a mind to take a HoHo bus tour in London in the interests of science to see how it is.

I'm not totally convinced that it's such a bad idea in London. Judging from how busy the buses you see are, they're more popular than ever.

My tip I posted in another thread recently would be to aim for the morning, just after rush hour has cleared. That's the quietest time on the roads in London in my experience. Traffic builds through the afternoon to evening rush hour and then is pretty clear by 7pm. Traffic is often a bit slower if it's raining. I've noticed a big difference on motor vehicle traffic in the last few years, I think the restrictions like ULEZ and the Congestion Charge have reduced traffic quite a bit. I posted some stats on another thread recently.

Your HoHo bus in London might not be such a terrible idea. I should find out for myself.

I used it in London. No regrets at all. Never would have found the Embassy of the Republic of Texas with out it.

I love a good HOHO bus tour. I took them in Edinburgh and Glasgow on my recent trips. In both cities they served as an excellent orientation for a first-time visitor (last year that was me, and this year my sister). In Edinburgh, where the city centre is small, they also can function decently as transportation among tourist sites. I also had really good guides for the tours with live narration.

I took a HOHO on one of my early trips to Paris and had the experience of sitting in traffic near the Eiffel Tower. It didn’t bother me, because I wasn’t in a hurry to get anywhere.

I also enjoyed the HOHO bus that my family and I took in Dublin.

When I eventually return to London (it’s been 40 years, so I might as well be a first-time visitor), I think I will hop on a HOHO and take my chances.

a truth about locals and those with a long experience with a place

I think you're on to something there. I'll broaden your idea to say that people who don't have a lot of experience with mass transit in a big city may be intimidated by it at first.... easy though it may eventually be. A HOHO bus offers a risk reducing way to get from sight to sight.

I do have a lot of experience with mass transit in big cities. But sometimes I just prefer to let someone else take the wheel. A guided bus tour feels like an approximation of having a good friend show me around their fabulous city.

And then they can set me loose to see more at my pace.

As an alternative in London, there's heritage route 15. It's operated with the classic Routemaster bus between Trafalgar Square and Tower Hill. No commentary, but something different.

https://heritageroutes.weebly.com/

I've also seen Ghost Bus Tours around, but never been on one.

https://www.theghostbustours.com/london/

The buses are just like the illustration, with little table lamps and curtains. Might be fun.

There's a few good regular service bus routes that you can take deliberately as a visitor, again no commentary, but something for the more adventurous. The 88 is one that springs to mind. That goes from Clapham all the way to Camden and is a good trip through central London. The 38 from Victoria goes through Piccadilly Circus and up Shaftsbury Avenue, past all the theatres. It's a nice trip on the 38 to go to Angel Islington. There's probably more attractive routes headed out west from central London that I'm not familiar with.

https://tfl.gov.uk/bus/route/88/?direction=inbound

https://tfl.gov.uk/bus/route/38/?direction=inbound

I like to run Google Maps and track my location when I'm on the bus somewhere I've never been. You could potentially pin things as you pass if you're more creative. £1.75 per bus fare anywhere you go, so lots cheaper than the HoHo.

I used to do that, GerryM, when I first moved to San Francisco. I'd hop on any city bus and ride it until I felt like getting off and having a look around. Then I'd hop on another and ride it back. San Francisco is easy because a lot of the buses run grid routes, so it's easy to know approximately where they're headed. And that was well before cellphones and Google Maps.

Sometimes the HOHO can give one a cultural revelation to events in a city other than a through the age’s glimpses of the architectural facades and whims and fancies of the financially gifted.

Just had a couple of days in London in early April at the Lincoln Suites on Kingsway. It was Monday morning and while my son spent the morning catching up with some members of his team in London at News Corp, (the main reason for our visit) my wife decided we could pass the time and do a quick Red Bus tour of the city. She had aggravated a leg injury from past equestrian mishaps. (most dangerous sport and pastime of all time) and was hobbling with aid of a walking stick. Was about as good using the stick as I am riding a horse. Both equally laughable.

On Aldwych could not work out where the pickup/drop off points were. The street was full of fellow vagrants who had no clue. So as always one asks a black cab driver for help. On this occasion the cabbie was contemplating a family problem. As we spoke to him a Red Bus went past, he got us to jump in and drove in front of bus to its next stop and refused to take any money for the short trip.

My wife got on the bus first to show the driver our tickets on her mobile phone. The driver wearing a skirt and ill-fitting blonde wig, gruffly said to show the conductor. The driver also had a two- or so-day stubble growth. Welcome to multicultural SOHO and Westminster on a HOHO. Competent driver who a couple of stops later swapped with another driver. Morning tea break methinks.

Maybe because it was Monday morning or April the tour was at a comfortable pace with no traffic holdups. Just lucky or not overly fanciful expectations. London traffic as one would expect. However, for the rest of the tour I could not help humming Ray and Dave Davies hit song, and occasionally turning to my wife, and softly singing, “girls will be boys and boys will be girls. It’s a mixed up, muddled up, shook up world.” I think she laughed at my pathetic singing. I am sure the South African couple seated behind were laughing at my singing.

Done a few, without any lofty expectations, and found them useful.

Regards Ron

PS Bet you won't get that experience on Google Maps.

Lol Tassie Devil. You had Lola for your bus driver.

My one and only HOH was in Paris. First time there, half-day on way back from Italy so I could get non-stop flight back to Cincinnati.

I wasn't feeling great... turns out I was a the beginning of bronchitis.
This bus was just the ticket. Without much physical effort, I got to spend more time with my daughter who lives in Europe.
It showed me enough of the city to have me plan to return for more time - something that was never really in any of my plans. Before that day, the idea of Paris did not appeal to me.
This bus ride changed my mind.

(and I don't recall the traffic... I was just glad to be riding)

Here's a timely video taking a look at Prague hoho tours -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrGYlkQ3T8A