TopView Sightseeing Reviews 304

I cannot stress this enough: the NYC Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Tour & Statue of Liberty Cruise is an absolute scam. Save your money, time, and sanity, because this “tour” is one of the most poorly run operations I’ve ever encountered. Here’s why this nightmare deserves zero stars:

1. They Sell Way More Tickets Than They Can Accommodate
This company shamelessly overbooks, selling far more tickets than they could ever reasonably seat on their buses or boats. The result? Massive crowds and endless waiting for buses and cruises that are already full. Don’t let their slick marketing fool you—there’s no guarantee you’ll even get a seat, let alone enjoy the experience you paid for.

2. No Refund Policy = Customer Exploitation
All sales are final, which means they refuse to issue refunds even when it’s entirely their fault that you couldn’t access the services you paid for. They take your money and wash their hands of you. If you’re expecting even a modicum of customer service, think again. You’re on your own once they’ve cashed in.

3. Disorganized and Chaotic
The entire operation is a logistical disaster. Staff are unhelpful, rude, and seemingly unaware of what’s going on. Good luck figuring out where to go or how to board because there’s zero signage or guidance. It felt like herding cattle, but with far less care or concern for the people involved.

4. Endless Wait Times
Forget about the convenience of “hop-on, hop-off.” Buses are infrequent and overcrowded, meaning you’ll likely be stranded at stops for ages. The Statue of Liberty Cruise? More like a ferry with standing room only—if you even manage to board. It’s a far cry from the seamless experience they advertise.

5. Terrible Quality and Lackluster Experience
If you manage to get on a bus, prepare for a lackluster ride. The commentary is dull, inaccurate, and barely audible. The cruise offers minimal views, no narration, and absolutely no sense of value. Everything about this tour screams “cut corners.”

6. Exorbitant Price for Nothing
For the sky-high price, you’d expect some level of quality. Instead, you get a disorganized mess that leaves you feeling duped and angry. A single subway ride or a proper Statue of Liberty tour would offer exponentially better value.

Final Warning: IT’S A SCAM
This tour is a textbook example of a tourist trap. They exploit unsuspecting visitors by overselling tickets, under-delivering on promises, and refusing refunds when they fail to provide the service.

If you’re thinking about booking this, DON’T! Walk away and spend your money on literally anything else. This scam of a company doesn’t deserve a single dime or second of your time. New York City is amazing—don’t let this shoddy operation ruin your experience.

Seriously, one of the worst tours I’ve ever done. We were told to be at the meeting point 15mins before arrival time at 5pm. The meeting point had changed but wasn’t an issue. We waited 27mins for the bus to appear. You’d think that’s not long; but we were at the meeting point at 4:45 with a 5yo on NYE! We waited on the side of a street, no seats, between the bustle of the city. We then took a good 10mins to board and a further 5/10 to leave. The tour is advertised to last 75mins plus boarding. We left the station, a girl was singing odd choice songs (beautiful voice!) but the speakers were so bad it was all too loud and crackly. The food was insipid and the sandwiches were hard (not fresh, probably out for too long!). The route was nothing as advertised, the bus went twice the same few streets and we basically saw nothing of the city. I can read the route is subject to change but as a paying customer I expect to be informed and given the choice to cancel should I not agree with the new terms. The ride was cut short at around an hour leaving us shocked with the low quality and false advertising of the tour. This feeling was shared with the tables around us. All in all, save your money and go have a fancy dessert somewhere else. This service is not worth your hard earned cash.

Avoid at all costs!!

WARNING! Do not buy tickets for these bus tours. On December 13th, we purchased the 24 hrs tickets the NYC Skyline Night Tour and Hop On Hop Off. We waited in cold for over 45 min with a TopView Bus parked right there (we were 10 people, but they keep saying that there are not enough people for the bus to leave for the tour). It’s a shame businesses are allowed to treat their clientele this way. DO NOT BOOK. There are much better options in the city.

Wish I had read this before purchasing. Avoid at all costs!! The street agent charged us $75 pp for four of us to take the uptown and downtown tour. We were told the buses are covered (it was raining) and they came every 10-15 minutes so if one came uncovered another would show up covered. Complete lies. None of the buses are covered and they come maybe once an hour. We took 6 stops, there was a terrible recording not a human your guide. Recording was mostly loud music. We walked around for 20 minutes then went to a stop to try to board another bus (in the rain ). After an hour, one showed up full. Our elderly mothers couldn't wait any longer and we ended up having to take a cab back to the hotel. There was no way to grab the uptown tour at all since we were marooned way downtown and we had a show to see so ran out of time. Company was no help, refuses to give refunds. It's a total waste of money and a scam. These agents should be ashamed of the lies they tell tourists.

WARNING! Do not buy tickets for these bus tours. We purchased tickets for the polar express holiday light tour on 12/12 at 6:30. We waited inline for over 45 min. The bus never should up and then we were told the bus broke down and to go to the office to request a refund. We were then told to send an email to the home office. They denied my refund twice stating they had a ‘refund policy’ and offered new tickets even though I will not be returning to NYC to use the new tickets. They stole 1000s of dollars from the customers on that tour and refuse to make it right. They are scam!!!! They left us stranded and out 1000s of dollars at Christmas. It’s a shame businesses are allowed to treat their clientele this way. DO NOT BOOK. There are much better options in the city.

Would not recommend using this company in NYC. If your phone dies and you are unable to use the app, having your receipt does not matter. They will leave you out in the cold. Bus drivers were not very friendly and they will end a tour and leave you at a stop that you did not want to get off on.

Dont waste your money!
Hard sell on the street to tourists.
Sold a 48 hours pass that started immediately when i told the seller I had plans for that day and needed it to start later. 2nd day was Thanksgiving and there was a restricted service /route(seller told it was a full service that day!). spent 25 mins on the bus in 48 hours at a cost of $260 for group of 4.
Bus stops not clearly mapped and buses dont arrive on time.
better paying for a taxi/Uber
Emailed customer service who were not interested.

Street staff had no patience. Would not give helpful information on when next bus would arrive. The driver was extremely rude. He told us to get off the bus when we clearly had tickets. He was not willing to help. He was very impatient and very disrespectful when I asked for help. I would never use this bus company again!

Daily hop-on-off service in NY is terrible. Couldn’t find the stops. Buses didn’t appear despite checking tracker. Street salesman misled about timings and service. Really felt ripped off. Worst city service ever.

Not a good experience at all. Im surprised we don’t have whiplash as the driver continually ran red lights and slammed breaks on with everyone sliding in there seat. Audio wasn’t working and people missed their stops including us. On the way back, driver pulled over randomly , not even a bus stop and sat for 10 mins on his phone. Completed downtown first then went back for food. Told buses run all night and when I went back for Uptown, I was told my 24 hour ticket isn’t valid and would need to buy a night tour ticket instead. So 24 hr ticket you can’t use from 4pm. Rep are great until they have the money then it’s a tough shit attitude.

I wish I had checked trust pilot before using these guys. It was a joke from start to finish, basically drove a an almost straight line from Times Square to battery park which passed some good places to see but then back along the highway past the piers where you see nothing, he ran a million red lights causing hard stops and firing you forward, we stopped at one stop in the coldest windiest spot where you were looking at old decrepit buildings for about 15mins, people got up to get off as they were freezing but every time they stood up the driver shouted sit down even though we were stopped, I dont know was it his break or what but we had enough and were just going to get off and walk but we weren't allowed off. we spotted then a side panel was open on the bus, we assumed it had broken down, but then he started driving again with it open, so we watched over the side of the bus waiting for the inevitable crash, sure enough he narrowly missed a few cars before he crashed in to a huge Trash Skip causing a huge bang and stop firing people forward again. he just got out closed the panel and drove on like nothin had happened. The staff were all super rude and didnt give a dam, the bus was dirty and the audio was behind the actual monuments. We came ten years ago and did a bus tour and a native New Yorker did the live tour guide talk and it was a great sadly this wasn't. My advice would be get an uber , its a third of the price and if you book a Tesla the roof is glass and you see everything, we did this on various rides and it was still cheaper than the rip off tour bus . for three of us we paid 180 dollars for basically a lift from time square to 911 monument and back along the highway. I think maybe we were the bigger fools.

Don’t use this company. Go with Big Bus. The buses were dirty and there were not enough of them. Had to wait an hour and a half for the 1st bus to arrive. The lady on the last bus was very rude. She yelled at every stop saying hurry up and get on. The driver made hard stops and was going well over the speed limit. This was supposed to be a tour. At stop 14 she claimed that the buss broke down and made everyone get off. My wife and I had to walk 2 miles to get back to our hotel. Later we saw the same bus driving down the street.

Never again! My third time in New York and I had used the Big Bus company previously but the Top View seemed to have a slightly better deal - what a mistake!
3 of us travelling together. The hop on and hop off for Downtown worked well. The Uptown only ran every hour and a number of people we spoke to informed us the hourly bus was hit and miss!
We booked the nighttime tour for 8pm and we got on the bus at 7.45pm. At 8.15pm the bus had still not left and a few people had gone down to see what was happening. We could see that there were lots of workers stopping nearly everyone that was passing to sell them a ticket. By 8.40pm I decided to go down to find out what was going on. I said to the employee on the bus with the driver that we had booked on the 8pm tour and it was now 8.40pm and his reply was 'and your point is'!! Talk about good customer service. There was another woman down complaining at the same time and she said it was pointless talking to them. I asked for a refund and they said 'no'. I rang the customer service number while still beside the driver and other employee and the operator told me there was nothing she could do about it! We finally left at 9pm. An apology would have gone a long way.
We had a 4 day pass and mine showed as 4 days on my app but my cousins and her daughter showed as 4 days but they couldn't book anything for the 4th day. She spent about 20 mins on the phone to customer service and used up all her calling credit.... they said they would send another code. The emailed a new code which still wouldn't let her book for the 4th day!
Problems happen but if you provide a customer with good service when raising issues I would have accepted but to be asked 'and your point is' when complaining about being booked on a 8pm tour that was still not leaving 40mins later. Even when I rang customer service if they had of apologised than just saying 'there is nothing we can do' it would have at least made me feel that the company had some form of customer service!

Terrible experience!!! We bought bus tickets for Manhattan Downtown, Uptown and Statue of Liberty boat excursion. The Uptown bus never arrived after waiting for more than 1 hour at the stop. There were ticket sellers at the corner and they couldnt care less. Second day, while we were on the line to get on the boat for Statue of Liberty tour, one of the staff told all of us that we are not allowed on the top of the boat, can only enter the lower deck as the top was reserved for VIP customers. That was such a humiliating treatment and the worst experience. Strongly advice not to use this company!

Terrible, purchased tickets on the premise not only did they cover hop on hop off but also covered a boat trip out to see statue of liberty, when we got to go on boat we were told that was not the case, audio didn't work and busses were always full. Stay away.

We booked a hop on hop off tour from TopView in October 2024. It clearly advertised an audio tour as we have enjoyed on many other bus tours in other cities.

But the audio did not work for anyone on the bus and we go off after four stops.

TopView refuses to refund for our tickets.

Choose a more reputable bus tour.

There were not enough busses for the # of tickets sold. Had to wait a long time for the bus to come and it was full so it couldn't add new people. Was only able to get off on 1 stop for an hour. Was told the busses ran consistently till 7;00pm but they stopped at 5:pm. When I complained to the supervisor Shae she at least comped me a night tour which was great.

Rating: 1 star

I had a terrible experience with this company. First of all, the customer service is beyond poor. The representative I spoke to was not helpful at all and gave me what was probably the most ridiculous solution I've ever heard. It made no sense and felt like they just wanted to brush me off instead of addressing the issue properly.

On top of that, safety standards are being compromised. Due to the rainy weather, water was leaking inside the bus, making the floor extremely slippery. To make matters worse, there were elderly people on the bus, and this created a serious hazard for them. It’s shocking that the company is neglecting such basic safety concerns. Overall, extremely disappointed and would not recommend this service to 

Total rip off. "Live app" to track buses didn't work at all during our 6 day visit. Blue route has one bus an hour and was full whenever we tried to use it apart from the day of torrential rain. Several headphone sockets not working but the commentary is pretty borig and mostly piped music anyway. Long queues allowed us to chat to other victims so we saved the effort and loss of holiday time the Brooklyn Tour would have been. "Cruise" departs from the back of a disused warehouse with no shade, toilets or refreshments. On board is cramped with rows of folding chairs set out. The guy narrating gave a good performance - just the One positive thing to be said about our almost useless pass.

The absolute worst experience i have ever had. All of the other negative reviews are spot on! Laziest bunch of unprofessional people i have ever had to interact with.