Big Bus Tours Paris Reviews 4,130

Of course BugBus have responded to my review here with a hollow apology and excuses but the lack of an offer of a partial/full refund shows how they truly feel about their customers. I’d give zero stars if I could.

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We paid approximately €80 on 24 November for the BigBus service and it was appalling.

1. BigBus say you’ll never be waiting more than about 10-15 minutes. We waited about 40 minutes, boarding at the Arc de Triomphe with about 20 other cold and wet people.

2. The headphones didn’t work and I had to move seats 3 times because the headphone outlets I tired on the bus didn’t work.

3. The “audio guide” is music by Adele and suchlike played on repeat. When you approach a monument, the music fades and a minute or two of information is played. Then back to the awful music.

4. As I said, we began our “tour” at the Arc de Triomphe and stayed on the bus until it stopped at the BigBus headquarters after Palais Garnier. Then it terminated for good. It was approximately 6:30pm.

5. After we were sat on the bus for approximately 15 minutes, the driver came to the top (where all the passengers were still sitting) to tell us all that it had terminated and that the bus wouldn’t be continuing for the day - they obviously have more than one bus but we were told that the next bus would be the final one and the queue meant that we and the other passengers on this bus couldn’t get on the next one.

6. A number of disgruntled customers went into the BigBus office to complain about the service (I paid €80 for a service that took in less than half the sites). The staff member genuinely didn’t care at all, offered no apology, no explanation and told everyone to email BigBus if we weren’t happy.

7. Give Tootbus Paris a try.

The website does not provide enough instructions on their other tours other than their classic day tours. They mislead you and does not give you your money back when they fail to provide a service.

Never using them again.

Disappointing. 24 hour ticket?? We thought it would be a great way to tour Paris and hop on and off. They don’t tell you the last bus is 6pm! So we only did half the route, looked around Notra Dame and couldn’t get back. Had to pay for a taxi back to the Eiffel Tour. Family of 4 cost €128!! A lot of money for an hour on a bus. Shame. The commentary was ok and we enjoyed that first hour. Why would it finish so early in August with all these tourists wanting to stay out??

The trip was overpriced. €42 p/p for supposedly 24 hour travel. They forget to tell you that the buses only start driving at 10am and by 17:20 (in the middle of summer!) the staff is informing everyone that theirs is the last bus of the day and it will only be doing one last stop. Encouraging the passengers not to get on actually. The buses are in bad state too. Don't be fooled by their advertisements. Try the Toot bus instead.

Waste of a lot of money!
We booked 4x2-day tickets with a river cruise. The bus was so over-crowded which is quite alarming post-covid. There was absolutely no chance of getting a seat upstairs, so we had to try to view the sites through filthy windows.
The commentary was very basic & gave very little background history of the buildings we were looking at. We gave up trying to listen in the end as the music was so annoying. I can never hear again La Bohème by Charles Aznavour without shuddering. The route is also very short.
The whole experience was a trial & we certainly didn’t wish to repeat it on day 2, so we did not use that part of the ticket.
The river cruise was enjoyable though, but I wish we had just taken a Bato-bus.
We have done the bright red City Sightseeing bus tours in many European cities and loved them. But this company is not operating currently in Paris (probably covid). The Big Bus company is a very poor substitute & we would not recommend.

I would NEVER purchase a ticket from this company! The bus had NO air-conditioning, there is NO address to find the stops and you wander around for hours trying to find one, there is NO phone number to call them for assistance, AND they don't give any directions in advance telling you that you have to get your bateau ticket from someone--never could find out who or where--BEFORE you can get on the boat.
Spent almost $300 for 3 tickets and couldn't find where to get on for the Paris night tour and find a contact to get our boat pass. TOTAL RIP-OFF!!!

the route is too short. You can make the same route with a daily public transport ticket for less than half the price. The buses were so old and not comfortable. If it rains you can find a seat inside.

We came from Disney land with the car, there is a parking just infront of the Notredame. And once you come out of the parking you will find a souvenir shop and infront the stop called Notredame.

Once the bus arrives you can buy the tickets from the bus driver. Very easy.

We went in march Too cold for the open top.

Audio needs some loving tender care. Cause sometimes the headphones don't work.

But all in all it was worth it. It will get you to the best locations in Paris

Ps: Every first sunday of the month all museums are free in Paris

Including going up Arc De Triomphe alot if stairs but worth the view

We had a great time ... yes the bus was full during covid times but it's summer in Paris - it was an excellent day for us! The bus narration was very good and the cruise was delightful ... all & all ... we saw tons of beautiful areas we'd never been able to see on our own.

Well worth the day ...

My friend and I went on their tour around Paris and we had the worst experience. The prerecorded system on a bus which gives a commentary throughout the tour was not working properly if at all,and we changed our seats three times because we thought it would be better someplace else, so out of the whole tour we maybe got 1/10 of the running commentary about the places we saw. We also noticed that other people on board had the same problem. The ticket is not cheap even if you buy it online, so they should not afford a mistake like this. Very disappointed and strongly advise you against this company.

I had an amazing time back in January - nice touch with the headphones

It was great experience to explore paris with bigbus and it won't be complete without extremely exceptional live commentary by loou

We purchased Dulux tickets which included a night tour to be taken over 2 days. We validated our tickets on the 30th Dec and planned to do the night tour on NYE. We then found out that the tour was cancelled and as we were leaving the next day we applied for a refund. The company refused initially saying we had a chance to go on the 30th, I replied that the tickets were for 2 days and not 1. They then come back and said that it was posted on there website. (whether they did or not I will never know......but I doubt it). I had no need to look at the website thinking everything would be ok.We were customers of there company, they had our email address and they should have notified customers by email. There were no notices on the bus, there staff should have been advised to let there customers know. It wasn't until the 31st we ask a staff member a question about the night tour that we found out it was cancelled......company willing to take your money but not look after there customers........disappointing end to our stay in Paris

I booked a tour through the BigBusTours main centre in Paris. This tour was then cancelled due to strikes I was not notified, I arrived and was told it was cancelled that destroyed one whole day as we were waiting for this tour then to rock up and it be cancelled. I was then told I would be refunded straight away by big bus and they took my ticket. It has now been 3 weeks of me trying to get through to them for a refund of €120 and they have assured me I would get a refund. But each person has told me differently. I then had to email them, what was happening and they got back to me saying it’s not refundable. This is ridiculous I payed for a service that wasn’t provided.

Then don’t get me started on the hop on hop off bus. We had a booking for the louvre so we thought we would use the big bus to make it there and catch the first bus that was meant to arrive. This bus never came and we stood there with other people for over a hour with no bus arrive. We then had to use other transport to make it there on time.

Very disgusted in the service.

I want to know the name of the French song that they play first on the audio headphones..
It's about Paris with a male singer
Please help..
Thanks
Niall

drivers are so nice and the service is wonderful. But i will appreciate if the buses are cleaning often, because the trash accumulate afternoon.

All right, price tickets, the bus audio guide. I've only missed an extension of schedule in the afternoon, 1 or 2 more journeys would be great.
And to finish I would like to make a suggestion of the blue line: it would be a possible point to put some stop to go up to rue Chickly.
Thank you for everything.

First live guide brilliant a young lady. Second time guide awful just sat with his feet up in chair and looked half asleep. We switched to the recorded commentary for that trip which was really good.