Big Bus Tours Istanbul Reviews 390

In Taksim Square very hard to find informants about where and when to get the bus. On boarding only it was told that a ticket is needed, which costed a lot of time. Bus interior was average and upper deck exposed to harmful hits from trees on street! The paths were badly affected by jammed traffic. Audio explanation was good. To conclude, the main reason for the beauty of the trip was the beauty of Istanbul.

The buses were always behind schedule. Also I bought the 2-day pass but the 2nd day, there was a marathon that blocked most of the streets so we couldn’t even utilize the bus for this day. I expect a partial refund.

Also the headphone jacks didn’t work most of the time. Had to move seats several times to find a good working plug.

The explanation given by earphone was not synchrone wıth we could see.
Several earphones were not working or the volume could not be tempered.
We dıdn,t like the tour at all.

What disappointed me at first was the price at the place of pick up was "less" than buying it online, and we were 9 adults (one on wheel chair - disabilities service was disaster), which made a big difference. On the other hand, the drivers must learn how to smile and help people with disabilities.
However, I liked the concept which I already tried it in the past in Barcelona and New York City, and it was AWESOME (especially in Barcelona). The thing that really disappointed me in Istanbul's journey is the time between each bus, believe me, the time will destroy your day and plans. The idea of the bus is to visit the most point of interests in the shortest time (Hop-in & Hop-off), not to just pass by them. I took the 2-day tickets and I regret it.

I strongly recommend the service, but NOT in Istanbul with the poor service for disabilities, the higher price for online tickets, and the time between buses in such crowded city.

Rude staff. Wouldn’t accept mobile bar codes. Inaccurate timetables. Infrequent buses. Wouldn’t use again.

Overall good service, the crew was not aware of the walking guided tours that were included in our tickets; except for one person, so if he wasn't on duty we could have lost that tour!
The crew need to be more attentive to the guests and listen to what they are saying or asking before responding with the standard answers they are used to.

bus stops not
no addresses for stops,
service ends one hour before the indicated time

Big Bus was the worst experience ever! The Bus driver could not speak basic English and advise of pickup or drop of timings on the Blue/Red routes. Timings differed than that stated on the leaflet schedule. Some of the tourist attraction points were closed off for maintenance over a month ago so Big Bus should have known about these attractions not being available rather then customers turning up and being told it's closed. Pickups were typically much longer than 1 hour on the Blue Route and our last pickup point at 18:30 did not even turn up causing us to find and pay for a Taxi back to the pickup point in Sultanahmet. Would not recommend this tour company to anyone at all - stay away - you have been warned!

Was thoroughly enjoyable especially since it was my first time in Instanbul. Definitely recommend it to anyone.

Acceptable, it's better in others cities

It was a very nice experience ! I would recommend it to Everyone travelling to Istanbul. If you want to have an overview of the city of Istanbul - you should definitely try it!!
It si just a pity that it is quiet expensive !!! ☹️

This was not a world-class experience - only a smattering of English and much lack of professionalism. Converting eTickets to passes should be dome at Kiosks, not on the roadside. Also, routes need to be broken in small pieces so we don't cross the same bridge twice on the same route in the same direction - thus saving time. Maybe they can take a look at how Cape Town has done it with 6 routes. 2 day tickets were particularly a waste of money - when I visited, the Naval Museum was closed while my 2-day ticket had it as free so it was worthless. If you are in SultanAhmet or Taksim, it may make sense to use Metro and taxi rather than the BigBus. On the positive side, all employees were helpful.

We took the tour the 2 day tour as a family of 4 - 2 adults and 2 children including a child age 8 months. we were early to get the 4 front row seats at the windscreen right at the top of the bus. Since I had an 8 month old on my lap, the tour conductor demanded that another passenger take up the seat next to me. I advised him that it was for the child as it needed it legs spread out to sleep or rest or to feed as my wife is nursing the 8 months old child. This prompted the other passenger at the back to get the seat. The passenger was huge, and took up part of my seat. I typically avoid creating a scene in front of my children so I let the passenger through; though, big bus tours istanbul should be sensible to not prompt its passengers to take up empty seat when they is an adult and a child on one seat as the child always needs space. I was actually seating on the edge the whole time. I was simply being nice but it seems that istanbul like any other city draws crappy and inconsiderate tourists like the one I had next to me.

We only used the big bus ONCE to get to taksim square; and took a taxi to the grand bazaar as it was a long wait for the bus. I have taken the big bus in paris and london so its ideal for those destinations but not istanbul.

I would also not recommend the 2 day tour as its a waste. Only get it for 1 day maximum. Most of key attractions are in sultanhamet i.e. topaki, blue moque and haigia sophia so that would take most of the day so use the bus tour the next day or later in the afternoon to maximize the experience.

The only good thing of the big bus istanbul tour is it gave as great view of the city on road though there was a lot of traffic.

I tried big bus tour in many countries but in istunbul was very bad and i was obliged to use taxis and public transport instead of waiting more then 1 hr for the next bus to come.
It was very bad and they do not speak English
And i paid 80€ for waiting more then the time they mentioned on the leaflet

The interval of movement of buses is too big.

Well, the crew made last minute changes on which bus to board at our pickup point. At our last hop on point, the bus had a technical breakdown, we had to wait 20 minutes in the heat, for the next bus.