We purchased the 48-hour Vancouver hop-on hop-off bus pass, and it turned out to be one of the best decisions we made during our trip. It helped us easily visit all the major attractions around Vancouver without any hassle. The buses arrived every 30 minutes exactly as promised, which made planning our days very convenient. The buses were very clean, comfortable, and well maintained. The drivers and conductors were extremely friendly, helpful, and professional throughout the trip. We also enjoyed the prerecorded audio commentary, and many of the drivers added their own live narration and local insights, which made the experience even more enjoyable and informative. The bus stops at all the major attractions, making it very easy to explore the city at your own pace. We truly got great value for every penny we spent on the pass. We are very happy and glad that we decided to get the 48-hour pass, and we would highly recommend it to anyone visiting Vancouver. read more

The bus went to all the places we wanted to see. Sherry, like the Spanish wine, was amazing! 5 Stars are for her. The other buses we took played prerecorded sound track, informative, but not as fun. Thanks Sherry! read more

Tour & explained Vancouver. Our first day was rainy and wet so we rode practically all the way around after walking at Stanley Park since we bought a two day tour we noticed items that we will visit tomorrow. The second day was sunnier and we visited most of the places we highlighted. I definitely would like a seaplane excursion. read more

When Sherry was our driver - the ride was fun and super informative. She is worth a 5 star rating - lots of good information and a positive attitude. Other drivers just play a pre recorded audio. That is worth a 2 star rating. The buses are sometimes overcrowded and you have to wait another 30 minutes for the next bus. No standing allowed for safety reasons (which is understandable). It is a decent way to see the city but understand that the buses stop fairly early. It may be more cost effective to do uber to see the areas you want to focus on. read more

We had Sheri ("like the Spanish wine!" ). She was very knowledgeable and was very funny! I highly recommend this tour if you are new to Vancouver like my family! read more

Taking the bus tour is 100% worth it! Their ticket system of 24/48 hours made it where we can get on and off anytime! Their estimated pickup was ~45 minutes, so you can explore the area or wait patiently. Sherry and Hadi (I believe that's their names) were our bus drivers, and they were amazing! Thanks to them, we had a great time exploring while being safe! read more

We thoroughly enjoyed Sherry! Sherry gets 5 STARS...She made the trip worthwhile. The other driver's not so much! They get only 2 stars. Good way to see the city. read more

Trash. No guide of the city. Just a recording with advertisements and nonsense. The driver was coughing, muttering and singing into the microphone oblivious. For over 70/ticket. Cannot recommend. read more

Worst hopon/hopoff tour ever. Taken many of these tours in many large cities all over the world and this one had terrible information given about the city and area. Very few interesting stops. Beautiful city but VERY overpriced tour, take an Uber to see the sights for much less, if you have 3 or more people!! read more

Buses are infrequent and the tour is a canned narration with too much advertising. The prerecording was light on facts and not very interesting. Bus driver hit a car and got into an argument with the driver. Probably better to walk between most stops. read more

The pass is for 24 hours. So even after a bad first day I went back for day 2 at it was much better. The right tour guide makes all the difference! Sherry personally narrated with humor, wit and local knowledge. read more

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Tour is GPS triggered recordings, that go off when nowhere near the attraction.. You have to have Google and Google maps up constantly to get any value. Does not tell you where and when to look. Complete waste of money? . If you want it Asa tour, yes, for just transport... Maybe, there have to be better values read more

Me and my family hopped off the bus with a whole new appreciation and understanding of vancouver. All thanks to Cherrys entertaining and informative commentary. read more

Yelp won't let me give a zero star review. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY!!! We travelled in a group of four with a single bus ticket costing about $71 per person. We were lucky enough to get the last four seats on the bus when it arrived at our hotel, but trying to get a bus at Stanley Park? Forget about it. We waited over a half an hour and by the time the bus showed up there were so many people it was impossible for all of us to fit. We ended up having to pay additional money for an Uber to get to the next place we wanted to go. Seriously. Save your money and just take an Uber from the get go. read more

In Vancouver for one day before a cruise. Hopped on the bus right outside hotel. First driver was definitely not great but then they switched drivers at the next to last stop and we got Sherri ( like the Spanish wine) and she was fabulous!! All live commentary about the city and lots of fun stories. She is a GEM and we had so much fun that we stayed on for a second trip. Thanks Sherri for a great time. read more

Driver Sherry was awesome! We were very satisfied with bus timeliness, cleanliness, and customer service! Rock on Vancouver!

Very little commentary I could have been on the public bus system for a fraction of the cost.

Big props to driver Sherry, she made the ride around Vancouver interesting, she deserves 5 stars. Unlike the recorded narration on some of the other rides we took on Big Bus, which spent more time promoting a walk around app and not enough of historic info. some of the recorded narration had an agenda slant to it. Big Bus was convenient to get around the city. They need to focus on drivers like Sherry who offered great observations and historical information that was interesting. read more

Sherry is a great tour guide. She personally gave the history and fun jokes and stories about the city. The next driver was poorly spoken and used the Canned narration. He also couldn't figure out the AC. I would give Sherry 5 stars. But if the other driver was our only experience. Then 2 stars read more

My husband and I purchased tickets in Vancouver, but there were only 2-3 buses running. We ended up waiting 45 minutes to an hour at each stop, and once on board, the buses sat at stops for another 10 minutes. It felt like such a waste of time getting on and off. Honestly, you're better off exploring Stanley Park on your own--skip this bus. It's not worth your vacation time or money. I even spoke with someone about the issue but never received a clear answe read more

DO NOT waste your money. Buses were few with super long waits. THEN! When we did finally get on a bus we were kicked off with everyone else and told to catch the next one. The line for the next bus was huge. It would've taken multi buses before we could get on one. We walked the rest of the way back to our hotel. So for over $100 we got 1.5 rides. Uber or Lyft instead. The "tour" is prerecorded and hard to hear, so there's just zero upside. Booooooooooo! read more

I have been on a lot of Hop on Hop off bus tours. This was by far the worst. I don't know if it's all all the tours or just the driver/guide we had. When the passengers on the upper level complained about how hot it was, he told us to take off our jackets. When we asked to have the volume of the recorded narration increased, we were ignored. The driver's narration was incomprehensible ,and he insisted on talking at the same time as the recorded narration which was much better than his. I don't understand these unprofessional actions in a tip driver industry. read more

As first time tourists in BC we purchased a 2 day family pass for the Big Bus tour to get a sense of Vancouver's popular points of interest. For two adults and our girls we dished out a hundred bucks total which wasn't too bad I guess for an unlimited hop-on hop-off privilege. They offered adult, child, senior and family pass discounted pricing. Kids under 6 ride free. You can purchase the tickets online or at a retailer. Bus hours are seasonal. In our case it ran from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. There are 23 stops on the route which included the popular Gastown, Canada Place, Granville Island, Stanley Park & Aquarium, Robson Shopping District and more. There's roughly a 15 to 20 minute wait frequency for a bus. During our tour we had to deviate from two of the stops due to road construction on Robson but the driver was kind enough to give everyone a heads up and dropped off and picked up folks close to the original route stop. A pre-recorded tour guide's voice played on the speakers as we made our stops. However, the recorder occasionally had to be manually fast forwarded or rewinded and sometimes played over and over again. The driver though would throw his two cents in for accuracy and more details. I say invest in a GPS based digital recorder. Regardless, we all enjoyed the tour and convenience of the Big Bus with the wind blowing in our hair it was all smiles... read more

Big Bus - Transportation Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

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If you have read my Yelp reviews, I apparently have an aptitude which only surfaces on Yelp. Without any coaxing I seem to be able to be drawn to good restaurants, motels, airports, etc. having "bad days," with uncanny regularity. Yes, my Yelp reviews are usually the one-star experiences which punctuate the four-star reviews of others. Although my NY-Area roots makes me extremely skeptical of the hop-on/hop-off tourist buses, our experience with Big Bus was quite good. Our only full day in Vancouver found us with a long list of destinations. This would normally not be a problem, as my family and I have done 20+ mile urban hikes through several cities. The problem emerged when Vancouver decided to have its first rainy day in a month. The Big Busses weren't always big enough on a day when half of the seats were in the rain, and we waited a half hour for one bus. After changing busses for the Stanley Park excursion our driver-- on his first day on the job-- announced that he would only be making one stop. Despite his momentary reluctance, we were able to hop off at several, and the drivers who followed made unplanned stops without complaint. We actually saw everything that we wanted to see-- and much more-- without getting exhausted or too wet. Hardly perfect, but much better than it could have been. read more

So we are getting off our cruise ship, trying to figure out what to do in Vancouver. We didn't want to do the shore excursions, so we decided to go walk around and see what we could find. At first we were feeling a bit distraught. Looking around we didn't see a whole lot, but decided to walk and see what we could find. As we are walking, a guy comes up to tell us about Big Bus. Hop on and Hop off? You get to see all the major sights in the city? Hum... Could be good. Sure, why not? Sounds like fun. So we get on the bus and have a seat. Our bus driver is HILARIOUS! We really didn't want to get off because we really liked him, but when we reached Stanley Park we decided it was time. So we got off, walked around, and then decided to hop back on and go find a place for lunch. Got off in the shopping district, found some lunch, and then went back to the stop to wait for the bus. Okay, so at this point we had about 1.5 hours until we were suppose to be back on the boat. So we waited. And waited. And waited. The guy from our original bus had told us that it was only 15 or 20 minutes between buses. 45 minutes later a bus showed up. Yeah, not 15 minutes.... And guess who was driving? Our favorite driver! So we had a seat and got ready to enjoy the rest of our tour. Only the tour was interrupted when our driver tried to take out a bicyclist. Seriously. The guy started yelling at the driver, who yelled right back. He then opened the door and told the guy to get on the bus so they could "talk about it." Please no. Seriously, don't get on the bus. He didn't and the driver took off. Only to try and run the guy over again. Okay, at this point we were a little scared. But the bicyclist disappeared and everything went back to normal. We made it back to the ship with plenty of time. We enjoyed our trip through Vancouver and we can't wait to go back. But with the time we had, the Big Bus was the way to go. If I ever make it back to Vancouver, I would definitely take the Big Bus again. read more

It was a fun way to spend an afternoon, but I think the real value is in the 24-hour ticket and multiple stops that allow you to get on and off. Granted, it's an expensive way to get around the city - but if you're from out of town and don't want to deal with transit, this is a viable option. That being said, we had a bus driver with a serious attitude problem which kind of soured our trip. I'm glad we went on a Groupon; this would have been an expensive way to be told off for offering a correction otherwise. The tour itself was .. okay. Too much emphasis on SPEND MONEY IN VANCOUVER K??!?!!??!, not enough on history or facts. It's extremely obvious that the company only talks about local places they're in cahoots with - how can you basically drive around Hotel Vancouver and not mention it once? - and that left a bad taste in my mouth. All in all, I was underwhelmed by the experience .. but I did like the bus. It was like riding in a giant convertible! read more

Horrible! First time in Vancouver and wanted a ride around the attractions of the city, and some insight in the process. Bought a ticket for $45/ 2 day pass. The bus was 40 minutes late at our first stop! The driver was nice, but when he accepted our voucher and printed out actual receipts for us as tickets, he printed out 1 day passes. Another headache to remedy! We took the bus to Granville. When we went to the stop to wait for the bus, again, it was over 30 minutes late, and we weren't the only ones at the stop complaining. Overall, horrible experience, and for sure not worth the money. Rent a car, or go with a different company. read more

We booked our two day tour at the Stanley Park kiosk. They had a board and printed on the board for two days during the time we were traveling, it listed the price as $47. The woman at the Stanley Park Kiosk quoted my friend and I $47 for a two day hop on hop off bus for Vancouver. We paid the payment. My friend Peggy started her journey first and I chose to go see the Aquarium first. I met Peggy's bus near the Stanley Park Kiosk and hopped on giving the handwritten receipt to the driver and in turn getting a "ticket". When I sat down I noticed that the driver had exchanged the hand written receipt of $47 for 2 days of travel for a $42 ticket and one day of travel. So I inquired. The driver said that Stanley Park was selling the wrong priced tickets charging the winter price. If that is true, why is it printed on their price board, I asked. The driver became angry. She said that the price for two days was $63 and I could pay her the difference in cash. I refused. I demanded she return the written $47 receipt to me and then she kicked me off the bus calling me a "STUPID AMERICAN". Excuse me? So I walked back to Stanley Park kiosk leaving my friend on the hop off hop on bus. When I arrived, they refunded me my $47 for the ticket. They called Big Bus who owns the hop on hop off line and was told that the Stanley Park Kiosk had the wrong price. Dear Big Bus, You are in the tourist trade. That means that my money is how you pay your bills. I can understand a mistake but making that mistake mine is not good customer service. Your driver should have called management. Informed management of the issue, allowing me to stay on the bus and giving me a two day ticket that I paid for. Your miscommunication was between the Stanley Park kiosk and whomever provided them with your price list, was not my issue nor was it my fault. You made it my issue when I was kicked off a bus and called a "STUPID AMERICAN". I did not call your driver any names and removed myself from her bus when asked to do so. The price was clearly printed under the heading of May thru August and I was visiting in July. Stanley Park Kiosk claims they sold hundreds of these tickets prior to selling the two that my friend and I purchased. How many other TOURISTS were affected by this mistake and lost their extra $5 they paid thinking they were getting a second day? Can we say CLASS ACTION INTERNATIONAL LAWSUIT? As for this AMERICAN, I personally did not appreciate being called STUPID by your driver. ----- A sliver lining... not all HOP ON HOP OFF drivers are nasty... So I am walking toward my hotel, when a HOP on HOP off bus pulls up next to me and Denise the driver says, "We have been looking for you". At first I thought oh boy... am I going to be run over? But in the front seat is my friend Peggy. The whole bus was worried about me, including the driver. They were searching for the woman in blue and were happy they found me. We got off the next stop. Denise deserves a raise or perhaps, make him the president of your company. He knows customer service and the importance of tourists to your business. ---- Dear Fellow Americans, Please be aware. If you paid $47 and only received one day being told you did not pay enough or were over charged the $63 after paying the $47, I suggest that you ban together and do the class action lawsuit. See... this is how "stupid" I can be! read more

Big Bus is a great concept; unfortunately, a really poorly executed one. Be warned this is not what I'd call a 'tour' - it's more of a really slow shuttle bus that happens to stop at a few of Vancouver's popular attractions when it's not stopping at a hotel to pick up passengers. The majority of the drivers we encountered were apathetic and did not acknowledge the passengers on board. Perhaps it was an anomaly the days we chose to ride, but the pickup times printed in their map/brochure were completely inaccurate. Not to mention the hours the busses run are prohibitive to some of the landmarks (last pickup at Stanley Park 5:40pm in the summer?!) Very unlike me, but I didn't consult Yelp! prior to shelling out the $100 for our 2 day pass. Shame on me this time, but you won't fool me twice Big Bus!! read more

Really people? You call this a tour? If I had to judge Vancouver based upon this tour I would just go back to San Francisco. I recently relocated to BC. I am currently living on Vancouver Island and will eventually come to reside in Vancouver. I thought I should get to know my new city and what better way than on an open air bus, with a narrated tour of this fabulous city. My expectations were just tossed out the window. It was a sunny day so i wanted to sit towards the back of the bus where it was open to the elements. I was looking forward to starting the tour only to discover you can't hear anything back there. The speakers are all under the roof of the front of the bus and not loud enough to hear in the back. I wasn't happy but I made the most of it and moved to the enclosed portion. Well that didn't help. The tour is prerecorded and it isn't all that great! There is not much information but more importantly the recording didn't match the location of the bus. I guess I should have asked the guy who sold me the ticket if it was recorded or live. I wouldn't have done this tour if I knew it was recorded. There was still some time for the operator to redeem himself but he didn't. The few questions he was asked about China Town he couldn't answer. Why bother having a driver who isn't knowledgeable about Vancouver represent the city? Needless to say I got off the bus and marched my ass back to Gastown where the main office is located. Although my receipt said "NO REFUNDS" I told them I wanted a refund. Much to my surprise they did with no problem. I guess you could say I was another satisfied customer for all the wrong reasons. I got my $38 returned and decided to forgo another guided tour for fear of the same experience. If you want great tidbits of this wonderful city from a live person this is not the tour for you. If you want to be driven around in a big red bus and confined with a bunch of other obnoxious tourists then this is the tour for you! read more

I have been on open top bus tours all over the world, from San Francisco to Glasgow, from Barcelona to Chicago, and truly believe that it's the best way to learn about a new city you are visiting. However, in the case of the big bus vancouver this is definately not the case. It's about the same in cost as other bus tours i've been on ($38 for a 24 hour pass), but in all other criteria it is definately sub-standard. The route has 23 stops - of these 8 are hotels!! I did not come to Vancouver to learn about the Hyatt Regency! Also - unlike other tours which the driver will talk to you about the history or there will be an actual tour guide, on this it is a pre-recorded tape... So when stuck in traffic, or making good progress through traffic, the driver either pauses it or fast forwards it!! Leaving massive gaps in stories you are listening to. Quite frankly, the whole tour was a complete waste of time and I don't feel I know anymore about Vancouver than when i got on it. To round it all off, the bus driver obviously had 'somewhere to be' so he missed 4 stops on the route, pulled up at a stop in Gastown (not where we got on) and said "this is the last stop. Get out." The only thing i'm glad of is that we only got a 1 day pass. So in summary, the only way i would get on this tour again is if i was trying to escape a pack of rabid dogs and this was my only option of safe passage to higher ground. read more

So, I do a HOHO in almost every city I visit. And they are mostly really fun. The one in seattle rocks! So does the one in NYC! Very fun! This was the worst one I've been on by far. We bought a two-day pass, only to use it one day and realize it was a HOT MESS and not worth it. The buses are always packed full (and leaving waiting riders behind), the drivers are insane, and the some hosts barely speak english. They play a recording sometimes, which actually is pretty good. There are just not enough buses running, apparently, to handle the load of passengers. The route is LONG in traffic, and you really do have to worry about not fitting on the bus and having to wait another 30 minutes AT LEAST to get the next one. For goodness sakes, don't be in any kind of rush. Having said all this, I'm not sure if there's another HOHO in the area. The trolly looked really good, and if it's the same idea as the Big Bus, take it! read more

Good value for transportation while in Vancouver! Highly recommended. It's $37 for adults per ticket which is good for 2 days. It takes you around town, including Granville Island, you can hop on & off as many times as you like within the 2-day period. We thought this is a far better way to travel around Vancouver than taking a cab (which can easily cost you 12~15 bucks 1 way)! You sit on the bus, see something you want to go check out - get off the bus on the next stop and hang out for as long as you like before the last bus leaves... P.S. sometimes the bus gets full and you'll need to wait another 10~20 minutes until the next one arrives, so be sure to allow extra time where ever you are going, and makes sure to arrive WAY before the very last bus takes off for the day! read more

Where to begin? I've taken other bus tours of this kind, but none were this disorganized. Of the 5 buses I took, two used recorded information, two used the ramblings of the driver, and one had a commentator mor interested in "high-end" shopping, than in imparting knowledge. We waited for over 30 minutes to be picked up from one stop, which is 15 minutes more than we were told we would need to wait. Twice we had to change buses after only one stop because it was time for the driver to take his lunch break. One bus had the driver's son taking money for tickets. Two of the driver/assistants had heavy accents and poor English, so information was painfully provided. No, I would not recommend this company, at all. read more

This is less a hop on/hop off tour than an extremely expensive hotel shuttle service. Most of the stops are to downtown hotels, and it takes for ev errr to complete the hotel circuit. The hotel circuit portion of the tour had next to no commentary associated with it. One driver kept asking the bus whether people were getting off at such-and-such stop, if not, he'd just avoid it "to save some time." Usually I'd feel as if I wasn't getting my money's worth if a tour cut certain parts short, but the commentary was so nonexistent and uninformative that, meh, who cares? Our last guide used a combination of a mistimed prerecorded guide (uhh, didn't we cross that bridge like 5 minutes ago?) and his own remarks, which ranged from uninformative and impromptu to downright offensive. For example, when explaining why he now uses a Chinese doctor, he explained that while Chinese people age gracefully, when Caucasian people hit 60, they turn "old and ugly." My 60-something-year-old-mother was, shockingly, not amused. And what this has to do with Vancouver? Nothing, obvs. And then I realized that my pants were stuck to gum on the side of the bus. Worst tour ever!! read more

We got the Capsilano & Big Bus Route combo tour. $72 per person. I don't recommend it. There is a recording in the bus to explain highlights and the sound is quite bad. I didn't learn anything because I could barely hear. Ground transportation in the city is quite good and easy, so I would skip using this bus if I go again. The city is not THAT huge, so this bus was not too useful. Capsilano is not THAT far away, and quite easy to get to. Big Bus makes it sound like they are giving you a free shuttle. Capsilano itself offers a free shuttle - and taxis and buses also go there. (Tip: from Capsilano, take a city bus to Grouse Mountain). I also took the Stanley Park excursion. A total waste of time. 45 minutes turned into 3 hours with all of the waiting for buses. The tour itself was about 20 minutes with two 15 minute stops at only mildly interesting areas of the park. read more

Just a normal hop-on-hop-off tour. Most of the buses use a tape to explain the buidlings and views. Some drivers also turn it off and explain by themselves. This makes it much more funny and interesting for the customer. Two big minus points: 1. Some buses wait at some points for not generating too much timespace between two buses. If you don't have much time in the city, you really don't want to wait ten minutes beside a hotel stop f.e. 2. Very less space between the rows. Tall guys have problem to put their legs anywhere. The price of $40 for one day or $45 for two days is normal standard. read more

This is a decent way to see Vancouver, although it helps to be able to do its route in one day rather than splitting it into two. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable. The buses are spacious and pretty clean, and two-thirds of the ceiling (at least on all the ones I saw) are retractable plastic sheeting that can be opened to the sky. The recorded tour narration is decent and the expected bad jokes aren't too annoying. There's a surprising amount of 'dead air' during the narration, but perhaps that's intended to allow you to take things in on your own or talk freely to those you're traveling with? The tour is pricey but it seemed to be around the same price as immediate competitors. The base ticket is good for 24 hours and the route around the city is great; however, the single direction is limiting if you are doing different parts on different days because you end up duplicating your previous stops instead of having the option to take another route or ride it in the opposite direction. Although Vancouver is pretty, I felt like this was a waste of precious vacation time. (My family and I knew what would happen, but we were stubbornly determined to make the most of our tickets. Next time we'd take an Option B.) read more

The service was really good. We bought a Groupon so the tickets were half-price. Positive things: - Both drivers were friendly and helpful - The route is fine, specially if you are in Vancouver for a few days Neutral/Negative: - One of the buses was old, noisy and cold. read more

The tour guides/drivers are extremely nice. Some are more informative than others. A couple played an audio recording at times which I found confusing. Larry was my favorite and if he had a Yelp then I would give him 5 stars. Loved him! I took the trolley one a couple years ago and it seemed like I saw more with that one like Stanley park. We didn't get to see Stanley park because the "free Stanley park excursion" included with ticket isn't running until next week despite the beautiful day. The buses are older than the trolleys and they advertised a pink double decker which I never saw. The scheduling is somewhat unclear and I had to call the main office at least 3x to get my questions answered but the staff was very helpful. I have been on at least 5 HOHOs and this was not the worst. They were pretty much on time and there was always a seat. read more