Big Bus Tours Washington DC Reviews 2,681

Great, especially if you want to see the wax museum. The wax museum is awesome!!

The tour is the way to see everything. I did NOT want to sit on the top deck. Somehow I was forced to do so during the night tour in December and froze. I have bad mobility as well. The tour guide sort of shamed us for not being prepared for the weather. Dude, I never agreed to do this from the top besides having a very long day in an unfamiliar city.

Big B Bus Tour picked us up at the Pentagon City Mall in Arlington and took us into D.C. They offered some audio with the ride. Throughout the day three routes ran the city. We attempted to board many of the stops only to find they would be several minutes to sometimes a half hour late. Two red buses actually arrived at one stop together when they were supposed to be 20 minutes apart. The route maps were difficult to discern, and I am a Ph.D. student with an engineering degree so I am not uneducated. Even if I got on the right colored route, it would often take well over an hour to arrive where I was heading. Once, the driver advised I get off and run two blocks to catch a different bus so I could be on time for my Ford's Theater tour. When I did, I realized I was only two more blocks from the theater so we just walked the remainder. Things like this were common the entire 48 hours.

We did miss much of the audio on the buses in the city because none of the drivers on any bus told of the earbuds offered. One of the passengers finally reached into the box and gave us some about a day and a half into our 48 hours.

The last return bus back into Pentagon City was around 4:30 p.m. We certainly didn't wish the leave the city that early (We had tickets to Ford's Theater at 3:00 p.m. so there was no way to get back to the bus stop in time), so we would walk later to a Metro station and pay to return via the subway.

With the many transportation options available in D.C., I would recommend using another courier. The Metro was the easiest and cheapest and it was not unsafe. The Big B Bus Tour cost three of us over $140 for 48 hours and I used a 10% coupon.

The experience was good. The information provided was very educational. We did enjoy the rounds that had tour guides as opposed to recorded information although the recordings were good. We were able to take in most the sights on our list but were disappointed to find out the green line did not operate in the winter.
We suggest you advise passengers to buckle up when on top deck front. Our driver slammed on the brakes to avoid a collision with a car that cut him off. I am 70 years old and went flying out of my seat. I hit the windshield with my head, my knees on the railing and my back on the seat and landed in the floorboard. It was no fault of the driver and I was stupid for not buckeling up. We rushed to get those seats when someone got off and although I always wear seat belts, I failed to do so in my eagerness to get this great view. I sustained just bumps, soreness and bruises although still having shoulder discomfort. The tour guide was extremely attentive to my needs and I know he felt bad about he whole incident. So as a warning to others...do not be stupid...buckle up.
The only other incident was we witnessed one driver who was extremely rude to an Indian family. The poor fellow kept asking questions and the driver rudely replied over and over "use your map!" I admit I do not know how long the Indian fellow had been "bugging" him before we got on but I felt embarrassed and did not think this was appropriate. I can only hope these people were not just visiting our country and went home with such an opinion of Americans.
Overall...our experience was very good and I would most certainly recommend it to others.

Great experience!!!

This was a fantastic way of seeing DC
Especially with the ability to get on & off the bus as well as being able to switch routes....
I think it was worth the cost & I would recommend it very much....

Te bus tour was an excellent way to see all the main sites in DC.

We enjoyed the experience. We got to see all the top attractions. Loved the stories and history lessons from Vern on the night tour!

Staff did not open the ticket location for hours after it was scheduled to open. No one told us where the headphones were on the bus so there was no "tour". 30 degrees outside and all the windows were open. Used 45 minutes of our 2 day tickets. Could not locate a phone number to call customer service. I emailed and shockingly got no response. Totally unacceptable experience!!!!

Reliable, Good service, on time, useful commentary. Made the mistake of using a different bus tour company in NY (green bus tours), and when compared to BigBus Tours, the green bus experience was a major disappointment.

Comfortable, hop-on/hop-off options & awesome tour leads!!

Great two days on the bus tour. Loved seeing the sights and the commentary was full of interesting facts. Buses came along on time. Enjoyed sitting outside to get the best views although we needed lots of extra layers for the night tour (visited the week before Chrristmas) Only thing that could be improved would be to do the shopping mall after Arlington cemetery as we felt a bit bad walking around there with our shopping bags. Great day out and well worth the money ☺

Tour guides were knowledgeable and the routes are very complete. However, sometimes the wait for the next bus is longer than 30 minutes. One day will be sufficient if you have done the walking tour.

It was a very cold Thursday but the staff made the trip fun, interesting and entertaining. Great job

Tour was much better than expected! Perfect way to see DC!!

I can not believe I spent around $100 for a couple passes on this service. Busses were so far apart between runs that we were never able to catch one and had to walk in 20 degree temps. Other busses even stopped to give us free rides becuase it was so cold. I would have given just 1 star if not for the fact we got into the wax museum with the ticket. Explore other options before choosing this one.

Great way to see an overview of Washington DC at night. It was lovely at Christmastime with lights and tree.

My family and I really enjoyed the night tour with Tom Thompson. He had incredible knowledge of the sights and was very funny too. Highly recommend this tour and sit up the top, even if it's cold. You see more.

The night tour was amazing, thanks to Tom that makes the cold weather be a warm tour.

We rode several different buses before any of the agents bothered to scan our tickets. We had just spent $138 at White Gifts, and went back to catch the next the bus when they finally scanned our tickets and gave us a coupon for 10% off at that same store. too late and this was 1pm, we boarded the first bus at 9 am. The buses were supposed to run till 5 or 5:30 and we were at Arlington only 10 min when told the last bus was coming there at 4:20. We couldn't see Arlington with only 10 min till the last bus. Some of the attendants at the stops were very helpful, and others, like the gal at the Willard hotel, could care less if they have a job. We got stranded at the Washington monument because the buses quit coming. This was well before 5 pm. Rode all 3 lines/colors. One of the buses on the yellow line the door has a big gap when it closes and the windows shake open as you ride down the road. Very chilly and not what we expected. The red and blue line buses were much better. The live narration should just stick to the facts and not share personal political opinions or personal opinions in general. Like telling us if slavery hadn't ended he wouldn't be getting paid for doing this. I got the impression most of the employees make minimal wages and really don't care if they have that job or not. The buses do stop where advertised, and you can see all the monuments. Just be ready for possible apathy and disorganization.

My husband and I bought the 48 hour pass recently. It was the perfect option for seeing much of DC, learning A LOT bout the sites, their histories, and fun facts. The hop-on and -off options saved us from having to stress over the metro for sight seeing. Each tour guide we had was great. They knew much about the history of DC, but also the kinds of things that are helpful for tourists to know: where to eat, the best times for visiting places, and other tidbits about navigating the city. This was money well spent!