SCAM SCAM SCAM The people take advantage of you, they're dressed the same as the legit organizations, charge almost triple the price, are very aggressive and argumentative, and completely lead you astray and do not give what is advertised at all. Seriously just a rude scam, one that shows a serious lack of respect, dignity, and validity. read more

Wanted to take my children to see the Statue of Liberty but didn't need to stop on the island. Was just going to take the Staten Island Ferry and see it from afar. The lady told me this would go right by the Statue of Liberty and we'd get to see it from top of an open boat in just one hours time. 45 minutes later after hopping on the bus from Whitehall Ferry Terminal like a packed in sardine, then we go walk around the back to a boat with folding chairs on it! They have the top blocked off for premium seats so only below deck is available and no air conditioning. That wasn't relayed EVER. They packed as many people in as they could and it felt like suffocating so we exited and wasted money because this is 100% a scam, false advertising and very misleading. Do not talk to any sketchy people on the streets . Rate would be negative stars. Too bad you can't get a refund because of their false advertising. Oh AND I just discovered they said it would be $39 for adults but got charge $59 per adult! read more

DO NOT BOOK - Misleading, Unsafe, and Completely Unreliable Our experience with TopView Bus Tours was not only disappointing, it was dangerous and deceptive. We were outright **lied to about the tour timing and drop-off locations, which left us stranded far from where we were supposed to be -- with a small child in a completely unfamiliar and unsafe area. We were told the bus would take us back to our starting point, but instead, the driver ended the route early and dropped everyone off in a completely different location. No warning, no assistance, and no explanation. We had to navigate through a sketchy neighborhood alone with a child, which was terrifying. I can't overstate how vulnerable and abandoned we felt in that moment. This company clearly has zero concern for passenger safety or delivering on their promises. Their staff was unhelpful and dismissive when we tried to get clarification. What was sold as a convenient and family-friendly experience quickly turned into a nightmare. Save yourself the stress, risk, and disappointment. There are plenty of reputable alternatives . TopView is a scam and absolutely not worth it. read more

The ride around New York was awesome Would do it again .The driver was excellent.If you ever plan do be in New York .You have to take this tour bus read more

If I could give less than 1 star...the app is awful. We waited in line for over 20 minutes while a half full bus left and another bus arrived and again only half filled leaving us waiting again in 90+ degree weather without explanation. When the "supervisor" finally came around we were told that she was following orders and that it would be another 20 minutes at least. It was absolutely unacceptable to spend $50 per ticket to stand in line. read more

We got the 24 hour pass and the liberty cruise, but were very disappointed in the end. We conveniently hopped on the bus in lower Manhattan, by our hotel, with the intention to ride it up towards times square and hop off to walk to Central Park. As we approached the stop, the driver was stuck in the middle lane because he was trying to get in front of a city bus. As a result, he missed the stop and kept driving away from where we wanted to walk. When stopped at a red light, we moved downstairs so the driver would know we wanted to get off at that last stop, but were promptly and rudely yelled at by another staff member riding the bus to sit down. They made no mention or apology to why the stop was missed and instead yelled at us. There was another group of riders who also missed their stop. That gave us a sour taste in our mouth, so we decided to not ride the bus again. Not worth it! The audio is just elevator music and is not informational at all, which is what I experienced on a red bus tour in London. The liberty cruise seems to be a partnership and not staffed by the same people. The captain was very friendly and informative. While I don't know if it's worth it, you get to see NY and the statue of liberty from a different perspective. Regardless, it was a better experience than the bus, but there may be alternate cruises that are more worthwhile. read more

TopView - Statue of Liberty - Bus Tours Near Me - New York, New York

Deceptive practices. Were told the bus comes every 15 minutes when it was actually every 30/60 mins. We were forced to get off and walk to the next stop for no reason. Then that same bus came to the stop we had to walk to re-board. Poor communication from the staff in general although the employees we dealt with were nice. We sat at stop 1 for 25 mins because the bus in front of us was late leaving. After that bus left, we were told our bus was being held although they didn't communicate that until after the previous bus left. When we questioned this, they said we should have switched to the previous bus if we didn't want to wait so that communication would have been helpful. This is an epic waste of money. We wasted so much time waiting and having to switch stops. We ended up just taking the subway which was less hassle and faster. Lesson - Take the subway or an Uber or Lyft for a less frustrating experience. read more

Overall it was a great tour despite the weather which is understandable. The ride itself was Very accommodating and informative. The bus has a device with headset that gives the history of different historical buildings etc.. a lady name Gloria that work for top view sold is our ticket & told us the ticket was for all day but around 5pm we were told the ticket ended. It will help a lot if the ticket sellers are honest with the tourist. read more

TopView - Historic bridges and building's . - Bus Tours Near Me - New York, New York

I tend to take time to write positive reviews but this is different. This was one of the worst experiences of my life. In 7 hours was able to get on one bus due to overcrowding. No air conditioning on that bus-it was 95 degrees out. When trying to get on the second leg, waited multiple hours in the sun, each bus that arrived was too crowded for us to get on. When we asked staff if they could order additional bus we were told we were welcome to Uber home. After spending $400 that did not go over well. Multiple attempts to get refund starting when we were in line for the second bus. They offered replacement tickets despite the fact that we told them we were out of state. Taking legal action in small claims court. Run as fast as you can from their salespeople who are on every corner of NYC!!! read more

Less than 1 star really. Advertised a 24 hour pass and really only good for a few hours. Got lucky enough to be told about a stop where we could get the last bus back to the hotel at 5:45 or we would have just been stranded. Absolutely false in what they say they are selling you. Staff was very nice though. Even they knew that the way the passes were sold was false, and they tried to apologize for their company but obviously they didn't have any control. read more

Would like to leave 0 stars. These bus tours used to be wonderful and now it is a scam. Little bus availability, no employees available to wrangle the que, and no communication on bus arrivals. Would highly recommend d looking into a different bus service. read more

Awful. They oversold their busses. You cannot hop on and off because the busses are over capacity. we waited an hour while bus after bus refused to let us in. Finally took an Uber back to hotel and gave up. company is a SCAM read more

Horrible, told us buses every 15 minutes. We had to get a cab because the buses were full and the idea of hopping on and off on this bus is non existent. Over an hour wait to catch a bus at Bryant Park. We finally had to catch a cab! Should have booked the Big Bus, they seemed to have buses running every few minutes!!! Save your money! read more

I bought the to view bus tour using groupon. I arrived to red route location 3, I was told the bus will be there in 15 min. After +30 min the bus showed up. People came down the bus and they were complaining about something, but I didn't understand. I entered the bus and it is a hotbox, I asked about Air conditioning (it is like 100f in NYC), AC doesn't work...at this point I realized I made a mistake buying something from topview company. The tour started, I noticed the driver is so tired that is sleeping while driving... I'm thinking this is a total mess and dangerous to my family. We exited the next station. I contacted Groupon to cancel this but they are not very helpful. I am contacting you to see if I can get a refund for this disastrous experience. I am planning to escalate this to my bank to get refund. Skip this company! read more

WORST COMPANY EVER!!!! Tour was supposed to run until 6pm, driver stopped at 5:20 and didn't even bother telling us he was not going to continue tour. Another representative was sent on the bus to tell us we had to get off the bus. Driver also was not paying attention while we were getting off and turned into my 15 year old son running into him and proceeded to threaten him about making him drop his phone. Never again. AVOID AT ALL COST!!!!! read more

The busses never leave or arrive on time. We scheduled an 8pm skyline tour and it didn't leave until 8:30. Waited in line for the bus for a solid 40min. The hop on hop off feature becomes less enticing when the busses don't come for 60- 90min after getting dropped off. If faced with a choice between this company and its competitor BIG BUS choose the competitor. We had multiple BIG BUS busses stop while we waited for our TopView bus to come. All while being told over and over by the TopView salesman at the stop that the bus will be there soon. read more

Avoid it like the plague that it is. Dishonest seller that fist bumped and joked with my 3 year old but was quick to charge him as if he was 4 years old without asking about his age. My toddler can't even speak btw. Multiple instances of racism on 05/16 at Bus Stop 1. Black tour guides bullying a Latin tour guide and trying to move black tourists to the front (it shouldn't matter but I'm not white). On 05/17, the tour guides (mostly black) group in stop 1 we're way better and respectful. TopView isn't doing enough when they have a group of their employees committing such heinous behavior. The bus rides start at 8am and ends at 6pm. And you better be on the last bus route which takes 1.5 hours. It's such a bad investment, you're better off catching Lyfts. They make frequent and long stops so you'll spend half a day getting to where you want to be. When I reach out to sales to get my reimbursement with proof of my child's age, they offer to refund as credit forcing me to come back to NYC even though I'm never planning to come back. The boat ride is really bad as the boat keeps rocking when trying to get in. My wife was almost going to drop my toddler when getting overboard. When we arrived, it took 15 minutes to walk to it. It's empty and no signs are there. It's so easy to miss the boat. We were left waiting cooking in the sun for 20-30 minutes and we have a toddler with us. https://youtube.com/shorts/PoOvA6XEFoU?feature=share https://youtube.com/shorts/AwIq3YKDJRQ?feature=share read more

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Top View is a racket and rip off at best!! You wait in line which is not moving when the bus even arrives and it appears no one has an explanation as to why. It makes no sense to me. You pay too much money only to wait in line and burn up time which you paid for. Do not waste your money!! read more

When people say the term "tourist trap" this is the type of experience they mean. We bought tickets online for the night tour and they ended up being like $69 per person. We were waiting at the stop that we had selected online (7th ave between 40th and 41st) but there were not any buses or people with TopView signs anywhere in sight. When we checked the app, it showed the live location of the bus in the middle of the East River, not even on a bridge.... We kept waiting but by the time it was 15 minutes past our departure time we decided to trek up into Times Square to ask some of the people with signs what was going on. They told us that people don't usually go to the south stop so we shouldn't waste our time waiting there and go to the north stop instead. When we got there there were probably 20 people selling tickets for the ride... for $19!!! We paid 3.5x that price online for the same experience. The bus probably finally started moving 40 minutes after the original time since they want to keep trying to fill it up with people paying that lower rate. The route we took didn't even pass the other stop, so I'm glad we didn't wait there or we would have missed it. The clear roof on the bus was pretty nasty and not clear, they really should clean it more often. The tour itself was fine, but nothing particularly special. At the end, the tour guide asks that you either tip or write a 5-star trip advisor review so that the company will give them $20 for each 5-star review with the guide/driver's name in it, so I guess that's why the rating there is higher (although still low) compared to the yelp rating. I think this business engages in some very deceitful practices and would not recommend anyone use it. read more

TopView - Bus Tours Near Me - New York, New York

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This purchase was not worth the money! The only thing they care about is overselling the buses. We booked this because we were nervous about the subway, but we ended up using it anyway instead of the bus we paid a lot for. Most of the busses were too full to get a spot on, and then once we were on, they would sit in the heat, not moving for no apparent reason with no info from the driver. Or if they were not full, we would sit there while the staff tried to get more passengers. The only positive we experienced was the night tour with Bob, which was great. He did a nice job telling fun facts about NY. Once we got on the bus.... Shocker, the first bus was oversold, so since our party of 4 wanted to sit together, we had to wait 25 minutes for another bus. read more

My husband and I always ride some sort of "Hop on Hop off" bus when we go to a city. Today I have to sadly give TopView a 3 Star rating. We were disappointed on the amount of music played (although it was good music) and very few information about the city. Unfortunately we missed what would have been a cool place to see. The Hudson Yards. As we PASSED the stop it was mentioned all the information on it... it was the longest and most interesting explanation of all!!! It was AFTER we passed the stop!! It should have been explained before we got to the stop so we could get off! Stupid!! Ramos G saved the day for you TopView.. I would have given a 1 star. He was an exceptional driver and made sure us folks on the top level knew what stop was next. Hats off to Ramos G!!!! read more

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The worst service ever. The aggressively sold me tickets and assured that I can go in with a stroller , the bus driver refused to take me with a stroller. They never refunded anything. I lost money and time. Was humiliated with such unrespect and lack of simple humanity. They are not accessible and should not sell anything to people with strollers read more

Horrible experience. Was just as lost as I was on my own. We paid for a hop on hop off experience as tourist in NYC but the narrated portion was a recording that was never ahead of the stops. So we passed places we wanted to get off because we had no clue where the heck were were going. We ended up just staying on the dang bus and riding it all the way through. read more

TopView - My sentiments exactly - Bus Tours Near Me - New York, New York

I have been standing in the freezing rain waiting for this bus for a half hour. It's still not here. And no employee can tell me what's going on. I guess if you like to stand around waiting, then I would recommend this experience for you. For me? This sucks. read more

TopView - No bus - Bus Tours Near Me - New York, New York

The hiring process is riddled with discrimination from the inception. I was discriminated against based on nationality and gender and race. It was surprising to be offered $20.00 and hour and upon signing documents the office manager HR manager took my social security card and copied it but refused to give me the copy even though I turned down the job. Classism was the order of the day. I was offered $18.00 instead. The manager was rude and unprofessional. read more

We had a terrible experience on your TopView bus on Friday. It was our first day in the city. I bought the tickets on Thursday and called in to ask all of the questions. I was told that buses were every 20 minutes apart. I was told that we can hop off and hop back on at the same stop through the loop. I was told that our tickets would be good for the entire day. I was also told that if we started at stop #4, we could also end at stop #4. I was told to order the tickets online and not on the phone When we began at stop 4, we waited thirty minutes for a bus. A few people were getting on before us and then we stepped on. The driver said no, he only had one seat left. We were confused and asked when the next bus would come. He said there would be one right behind him. He said that it was not an option to stand on the bus. We stepped off of the bus and I told the people behind us that there was room for one person. A single lady got on the bus. The driver then said he had room for two more. Two more people got on the bus. He then said he had room for two more. I stepped on the bus and said there were only 4 of us when he asked to get off. He said that now he only had two seats and could not seat us. We had to wait for the next bus that took 30 minutes. We got on the next bus after waiting an hour and hopped off at stop #8. We did some shopping and then were first inline to get on the next bus. Again we waited for 30 minutes. When the driver stopped, he said he had no room, the next bus was 5 minutes away, and kept driving. We waited 30 more minutes and rode the next bus to stop number 12. We had lunch and walked to stop 10 to hop back on and then went for our scheduled cruise at stop #11. After the cruise we went back to stop #12 We did some sightseeing and were first in line at stop #13. Again the driver stopped and said he did not have room for us. He said the next bus was literally one minute behind him and had a lot of room. We waited another 30 minutes! We planned on riding this last bus back to stop #4. At stop #17, the driver made everyone get off the bus and told us that he was done for the day. I said that we needed to get to Stop #4 and he said that we would have to walk. He said that buses do not take people between stop 17 and stop 1. I asked if I walked to stop #1, could I catch the next bus to stop #4. He said that there were no buses for the day. I said that my bus pass was for the whole day. He said the buses were done, he was the last one and that we would have to walk. We were extremely disappointed that we were lied to before we bought the tickets and that we were lied to throughout the day by the drivers. We lost three hours due to waiting for busses and we got back much later than we anticipated. We did much more walking than we had anticipated. After reaching out numerous times, they have said there is nothing they can do. read more

Legend Jose Lebron! I lost my phone and you found it. Saved my backside. And to the lady who made the calls trying to find it, you're amazing too! read more

TopView - How do you see New York? Topview sightseeing of course! - Bus Tours Near Me - New York, New York

We were promised a bus every 10 minutes. We waited in the pouring rain next to an already-full bus for more than half an hour; when a new bus came, they wanted us to go up top (in the pouring rain). No, thanks. We finally got on the bus and sat for 15-20 minutes before leaving. Customer Service offered me a yearlong pass as compensation for the misinformation about the 10-minute wait; as I am only here for the weekend, this won't do me any good. So here we are, all 8 of the people in my party, sitting on a bus, soaking wet, about 90 minutes in to this experience from purchasing to tickets, and we've seen Bryant Park. That's it. We're spending a lot of time just sitting. read more

Horrible. The sales people lie about departure time claiming busses leave every 10-15. They in fact do not and we were stuck in the cold for over than hour. There were other people who were here longer than us. I would STRONGLY RECOMMEND another company. Don't waste your money and time. Also they will be rude when you confront them about the real departure time. They would also claim 5mins and it took an additional 20. read more

0 out 5 stars On June 8, 2024 I purchased two tickets for a Top View Sightseeing tour of London. A map of bus stop locations and timetable were not available. I had to do a few additional google searches to locate a bus stop that they use. I even called the customer service phone number while at the stop. The number rang once then hung up. We waited for over an hour at a designated stop and the bus never arrived. I inquired about this bus company with a tourist organization in London and I was told that Top View Sightseeing is a scam and many tourists have had a similar experience. They sell fake tickets and don't provide Sightseeing services. The company headquarters is located in NYC. They advertise that they provide tours of London, but it seems that they are falsely advertising a service that doesn't exist. I simply would like a refund because I did not use the service, and have no plans to travel to NYC nor London. We had limited time while visiting London, and this experience wasted a good 3 hours out of day, and 61.00 GPG that we spent of our limited budget. read more

TopView - SCAM - Bus Tours Near Me - New York, New York

We never even got to use our ticket!!! We stood in the queues at 3 different bus stops but everytime, the bus was full and the next bus that came after 15 minutes was also full. So, instead of waiting, we decided to use the subway or walk. At the empire state stop, the driver came out and said that the lower deck was extremely hot (why?? Don't you guys have AC?). So, we must board at our discretion. A few people at the front of the queue boarded. Then the bus left. They overbook every single day. There is no consideration on how many buses, how many seats there are. They just let any number of people book the tours. The refund policies are drawn so that no one can be given refunds for this particular reason. This is ridiculous. It's just a scam at this point. Just taking subway everywhere would have been a lot cheaper and convenient. WE PAID FOR 2 TICKETS FOR NO SERVICE. Topview left a bad taste in our mouth when we think of New York. Do yourself a favor and steer clear of any of their services. Spare the bike rentals too because I've read enough negative reviews about that too. read more

DON'T DO IT!! This is the worst experience we had in NYC. We paid well over $300 for 3 people and lost over half a day because of this. The buses do not run every 10-15 minutes as promised. The bike rental in Central Park is NOT included as promised. The time and money spent on this is so not worth it. Please do not fall victim to this scam. read more

DO NOT BUY from people on street. BUY ONLINE. Last time we bought online and everything smooth. This time we bought from people on street. We wanted $79 two day discover which included ferry, and other items. They said it did but go on bus and they charged discover price but only gave us the uptown and downtown tour. SCAM. Had to get on phone with corporate for an hour and they made it right. Do not buy in person. read more

Not worth your money. The workers lied about the bus coming by every 15 minutes. Two days back to back we were left stranded for 1 hour. The worker was there at 5 pm and disappeared by 5:15 pm after a couple of people asked where the bus was as they had been waiting for 20 mins before us. When a bus finally shows up the bus driver walks out and only allowed 4 people on the bus and denied the rest of us onto the bus when the top of the bus had about 15-20 seats open. We waited another 30 mins for the next bus to show up. Plus the workers are extremely rude and aggressive when you ask about the schedule. On a separate day, we were told the first bus for Uptown would be 9am. We got to the stop and we see our bus driver eating his Dunkin Donut Breakfast for 45 mins, once done changed the "out of service bus" sign to "Uptown" then to "Downtown" and never pick us up. Throughout the time we are waiting there are 4 workers standing near the bus stop. Several people waiting in line ask the workers "when is the bus coming" and consistently we are told "it'll be 15 mins". My sister went to ask the workers if he could track the bus, the worker then proceeds to stick his finger in her face and yell at her "I said it'll be 15 mins" and walked away. When the bus finally shows up another lady asked the driver how often the bus shows up and he says "every 30 mins". The guy who yelled at my sister walks onto the bus and tells the driver to tell customers "bus comes every 15 mins". This company has 2 apps, well the workers have you download the app that only shows you your tickets. The other app has the bus tracker. Once you download your tickets to the ticket only app, you cannot download your tickets to the bus tracker app because you've already "claimed" your tickets. While waiting for TopView buses we saw every 15 mins another company. BIG BUS TOURS IS THE #1 COMPANY TO USE IN NEW YORK. read more

TopView - BIG BUS TOURS - Bus Tours Near Me - New York, New York

Overall TopView was good. We paid $88 for "24 hours" which is misleading because it starts at 3am and it does not include a night tour. Our ticket included uptown, downtown & Statue of Liberty boat. We mostly did not get off except to do the boat tour, then to walk around the 9/11 exhibit. This took us 8am-4pm then we almost did not get to do the uptown tour (see below). Some of the audio was off timing wise and the audio stated to get off when the bus stopped. The bus stopped so we walked downstairs & got yelled at by the bus driver. Several different patrons were confused. This was stop 12 or so on the downtown NYC path. Finding the place to get on if walking between stops was very challenging using the app as it didn't quite take you to the stop. There needs to be clearer info on times for each line. It sounds like we lucked out getting the boat tour first thing in the morning as I heard others with reserved seats were turned away later in the day. We ALMOST did not get to do our uptown tour. A few things on that. The map shows the busses connecting at stops 17 to 18 to switch to uptown, however when we reached 17 were made to get off (4pm) then told the last uptown bus left at 5pm so we had to run about 5 city blocks to stop 18 where we found a line full of angry people (about 60) who had been waiting on the uptown bus since 3pm. Another manager said the uptown bus stopped at 4pm. Another red shirt gentleman called the tour company to notify of the situation & there seemed to be no sympathy or solution. Until Rayburn W. Pulled up with his off duty bus and after some woman unkindly cussed him out he agreed to take us on the uptown tour. Ryburn W saved the day and is the only reason I'm giving a good review here. It seems things could be quite a bit improved. I have no comparison for the other bus but caveat emptor. read more

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Worst experience ever. No AC on the tour buses, feels like a sauna when you enter the bus. Asked driver why AC was not on and as told no AC working in any of their buses. It's summertime and no AC omg. Tried to ride on top but it was too hot due to sun framing directly on us. We paid almost $300 for 3 people for Downtown and Uptown tours and were not able complete the tour due to the heat. Please fix AC in the buses. read more

Watch out - the agent by the Battery who sold me my ticket (Joe Luther) misrepresented what he was selling me; quoted me $39.99 several times but then, as he was rushing me to the bus, charged me $49.99; company gave responded to my complaint with no explanation or offer of refund, then stopped responding altogether. Dishonest and unaccountable. read more

Update to the previous review: the 2nd day was terrible also. We did the Big Bus Hop on Hop Off in New Orleans a few times - great experience with a live host, you could actually hop ON at any stop - TopView wouldn't allow us to get on at stop 17 on our 2nd day, we had to walk to another stop. Doesn't make sense, the first day we got in at this stop with no issue. Also, when you complete the whole tour (Downtown), you are made to exit the bus, with Big Bus, you can stay on for however long you want. I thought it i was getting a deal for the price i paid and with everything included, like the harbor tour, but we didn't end up using that either (like i said in the first review, we tried to do the night tour but that was a terrible experience just waiting and waiting...). Then to be harassed by the employees walking around every 15 feet - that was annoying. Notice that big bus doesn't have those commission based people running around harassing you? They are a quality company and don't need to be pushy, they know by word of mouth they will get customers. My advice - pay a little more money and go with Big Bus. Next time i go to NY and want to do the sight seeing bus, i will not use TopView. To top it off, TopView will reply to your review with their generic reply and say to contact them with the order number, etc. they don't email you back when you contact them anyway, so what's the point read more

Bus audio was broken. Bus kept stopping for 20-30 minute stints. We missed all the iconic landmarks! Horrible experience!!

Awful tours and disrespectful stuff. The promised tour plan was not completed on the tour of 05.07.2025 12:45 AM. I highly recommend avoid any kind of tours from this company. The manager even raise voice and was rude. read more