I bought our tickets online. $20 for seniors, $22 for adults. My brother was visiting from out of…read moretown and our daughter also came along. I believe it's supposed to be a two-hour tour. You meet in the parking lot of the Red Lion Downtowner hotel.
The woman at the front desk of the hotel cheerfully told us that the Trolley picks up at the front entrance. She was wrong, and I told a few people that drove up what the lady said. One, a man with a cane, then had to walk to the back of hotel after telling me that he was told to meet in the back.
I told the driver, a nice ,older, white-haired man, and he made a comment but didn't seem too concerned. Then it started raining, and with the wind blowing, got pretty chilly. We brought jackets, but it was still cold. No one's fault.
The driver has a laptop with a program that he plays, with narration that could have been AI generated, and photos. There are screens in front and midway in the seating area. The first part of the seating is covered on the sides with windows, the back part is open on the sides. There were flaps that could have been brought down to keep us warmer. I don't know why the driver didn't think of that. We sat in the very back, as the front was filling with seniors.
Most of the tour was OK. There was commentary on historic buildings and parks, as well as 19th century homes. We stopped at the old Boise Train Depot, but it wasn't open today (only Sunday and Monday, I believe). We drove down Harrison Blvd, through Hyde Park, and past the Capitol building and Boise State University. When the tour was almost over, the driver seemed to be having trouble with his program. He pulled over to the side of the road and we all sat for at least 5, maybe 10 minutes, while he fiddled with his laptop. Finally, he gave up and everyone cheered. For the last 15 minutes, he narrated while we drove, which I'm told was good stuff, but his mic did not have enough volume for me to hear. So, I missed out on that. The tour ended up being about 2.5 hours, longer than I'd like on a chilly day.
On top of the cost of the tickets, over $12 was added in "fees and taxes". For that kind of money, a witty, funny, and knowledgable guide should be doing the tour, entertaining the customers. I don't think that I would bring any more out of town guests on this tour.