Philadelphia Hop-On Hop-Off City Tour
4.5
Philadelphia Hop-On Hop-Off City Tour
By Big Bus Tours
This Philadelphia hop-on hop-off bus tour allows you to visit all of the landmarks in the City of Brotherly Love at your own pace. Choose from a 1-, 2-, or 3-day pass, and hop off (and back on) to explore more independently whenever you like. The stops include Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, among other must-sees, and you learn about highlights from onboard guide commentary.
Lowest price guaranteeReserve now & pay laterFree cancellation
from per adult
$36.00
Ages 4-99
Duration: 2h
Start time: Check availability
Mobile ticket
English
Highlights
- Learn Philadelphia's history from onboard guide commentary
- Flexible 1-, 2-, or 3-day ticket options to fit your schedule and budget
- Included map of the routes to help you explore further and find the stops
- Complimentary shuttle between many Center City hotels and departure points
- Live onboard commentary (English only)
- Map of route and sites
- Hop on Hop off Tour of Philadelphia
- Up to 25 stops to Hop-on and Hop-off
- 3 Ticket Types 1/2/3 Days
What's not included- Entrance fees/attraction tickets
- Food and drinks
- Gratuities
- Make your way to the central departure location, the Independence Visitor Center, for your hop-on hop-off bus tour. Alternatively, you can hop on at any of the stops around the city with your voucher for your 1-, 2-, or 3-day pass in hand. Find a seat in the closed cabin or the open-top level, which offers panoramic views of the passing sights. Listen to the commentary from your onboard guide, which details the long and important history of Philadelphia and its role in the formation of our nation. Stops include the Liberty Bell, the U.S. Mint, City Hall, the Philadelphia Zoo, and the rocky steps at the Museum of Art. Stay on the bus for the entire loop, or disembark at any stop to explore further on your own.
- Wheelchair accessible
- Stroller accessible
- Service animals allowed
- Infants must sit on laps
If you have questions about accessibility, we’d be happy to help. Just call the number below and reference the product code: 5096PHIHOHO- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Schedules may differ slightly during peak and off-peak times
- Please advise at time of booking if wheelchair assistance is required
- Most travelers can participate
- This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund
- For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours in advance of the start date of the experience.
- A note from Philadelphia Hop-On Hop-Off City Tour
- Customers are advised to visit the Big Bus website to find out more about our new health and safety measures and up to date Bus Stop Locations.
What you can expect during your visit- Gear/equipment sanitized between use
- Regularly sanitized high-traffic areas
- Guides required to regularly wash hands
- Hand sanitizer available to travelers and staff
- Transportation vehicles regularly sanitized
- Contactless payment for gratuities and add-ons
Community- Safety precautions are provided by the property and are not checked by Tripadvisor for accuracy.
- Which attractions will I visit with Philadelphia Hop-On Hop-Off City Tour?
- During this experience, places you will visit include:Discover and book Philadelphia Hop-On Hop-Off City Tour on Tripadvisor
- How much is Philadelphia Hop-On Hop-Off City Tour?
- Philadelphia Hop-On Hop-Off City Tour price starts from $36.00. Discover and book Philadelphia Hop-On Hop-Off City Tour on Tripadvisor
- What is the Philadelphia Hop-On Hop-Off City Tour cancellation policy?
- Philadelphia Hop-On Hop-Off City Tour cancellation policy: For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours in advance of the start date of the experience. Discover and book Philadelphia Hop-On Hop-Off City Tour on Tripadvisor
- Which company provides Philadelphia Hop-On Hop-Off City Tour?
- Philadelphia Hop-On Hop-Off City Tour is hosted by Big Bus Tours. Read reviews, discover additonal experiences or contact Big Bus Tours on Tripadvisor. Discover and book Philadelphia Hop-On Hop-Off City Tour on Tripadvisor
- If you have questions about this tour or need help making your booking, we’d be happy to help. Just call the number below and reference the product code: 5096PHIHOHO
Reserve your spot
from $36.00
About the operator
Don’t take it from us – here’s what people have to say about this operator.
Pathfinder793287
00Bus tour is a great overview of the City
We were lucky that we travelled on a warm day. It's a nice way to get an overview and make note if stops you want t…
SharonBarling_Ar
00Nice trip
It was crowded on our bus and had to wait for a couple of stops before we could get on top. It was a fun trip and …
Senioronabudget
00Not favorite
There are two hop on hop off bus lines. The two were working toogether on our visit. We were not as happy with bi…
Dalia S
00Nice way to see the city
Great combination of live guides and recorded audio. I wish working hours are little bit longer. Still helps a lot.…
Monkeesmom
00Always a "go to!"
Big bus was great! They sent a van to our hotel to pick us up and bring us to the beginning of the tour. One exce…
BagmanNZ
00Ok
It's been a long time since I used one of these buses after a bad experience on one in Las Vegas (do not use the Ve…
660mariahs
00Great way to learn about the city
We took this tour to get a better feel for the city and it was wonderful. Our tour guide was very informative and h…
112555555555555
00Route change
I understand route changes because of traffic or construction, but when you are given a new stop and you go there a…
Greendevil72
00Philadelphia tour
Mike and Kelly are the best team in town!!! Great trip! My wife and I with her niece and husband had a great trip w…
Christian S
00Good, but not great
It is only one bus line with several stops. 24 hour ticket is more than enough to get the full advantage/experienc…
Tatiana K
00Very good service!
It was a pleasant surprise for me this time after I have bad Big Bus tour experience in Miami. First of all - they …
Stacey B
00Bus tour of Philly
Did Big Bus Tour today & would recommend. Guides were very knowledgeable, staff friendly & bus drivers amazing mane…
shelzel
00A great thing to do on your trip to Philly!
Loved it!! Such a great way to see the sights and the staff was so nice and knowledgeable....funny too! Really enjo…
Ellen P
00Best Tour!!!
Just took a night tour on the Big Bus in Philly. Amazing tour with all my besties. Joey P made it all possible with…
Anne W
00A way to see the city
My sister was visiting from Florida and we did this tour on the bus. It was fun and interesting. We only got off on…
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Detailed Reviews: Reviews order informed by descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as cleanliness, atmosphere, general tips and location information.
Popular mentions
4.5
1,221 reviews
Excellent
728
Very good
270
Average
104
Poor
54
Terrible
65
Carolyn R
Edmonds, WA169 contributions
Apr 2022
Our family had a great experience doing this tour. We were only in Philly for a day and a half, so this was a perfect way to see a majority of the sites expediently. Our tour guide was a college student who knew ALOT about the city's history (and was really funny), so it made for an enjoyable tour. We lucked out that it was a warm, sunny day in early April to tour. You see the city and the major sites. We found it was easy to hop on/off, especially as you are allowed to ride the other company's bus as well. I recommend doing this tour your first full day in the city and do it first thing in the morning -- it was less busy. We caught the bus at the Independence Hall stop. The only thing that we found challenging was buying the tix using our mobile device. There was a glitch (maybe it was our phone) but it was a frustrating experience. Would do the tour again, and probably do one of the night tours they offer. Great experience.
Written April 26, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Sheri M
7 contributions
Jul 2022 • Couples
Overall we had a good experience. The tour guide was knowledgeable and we enjoyed the 2 hour ride with commentary. The down side is that as the day goes on the buses fill up and you may not be able to get back on at a stop. I would recommend a one day ticket. On subsequent days buy a $5 ticket for the Philly Phlash which is a hop on hop off bus run by the city. It makes the same stops and is air conditioned. It was never too full to catch a ride on. Bottom line- book a one day tour and figure out the sights you want to see but on subsequent days, save your money and take the Philly Phlash.
Written July 28, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
DrCindy87
Tacoma, WA513 contributions
We’ve done this kind of tour all over and what always makes or breaks it is the narrator or lack thereof. Sometimes it’s just trying to plug in those worthless head phones. This time we had live narrators on every bus. The little red headed girl was so great we just stayed on her bus as long as she was there. Tipping always seems to be a question as they all ask you to tip but if you tip each time you hop in and off it all adds up. This time I only tipped the best one and tipped her well but I suspect that’s not ideal strategy.
Written September 24, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
John & Eliz Travel
Chesterfield, UK47 contributions
Jul 2022
Easy to find just down from Jefferson station, the closest SEPTA station to the main tourist centre.
A bonus is that you can ride both the main tourist bus company vehicles from the same ticket.
The price was enough but no more than you would expect for a hop on hop off bus in a major city.
While the service was on the whole really good and the drivers excellent, our tour guide called Hillary was a big negative.
To begin with she started to do a horrendous English impression after asking where we were from and hearing we were from England. I am sorry but no real English person says "Tally Ho"!!!!
She then went on to try and stir up tensions with a family who were Germany on the bus by telling us at the top of her voice "to say hello to the Germans".
As the tour continued she kept using the building of Philadelphia by Londoner Mr Penn as an excuse to say how dirty and chaotic London was / is. We aren't from London so this didn't cause offence but the woman obviously had a huge problem with the British.
We would recommend the bus tour as a great way to see the tourist attractions of Philadelphia but if you are British and Hillary is your guide, get off and get the next bus.
A bonus is that you can ride both the main tourist bus company vehicles from the same ticket.
The price was enough but no more than you would expect for a hop on hop off bus in a major city.
While the service was on the whole really good and the drivers excellent, our tour guide called Hillary was a big negative.
To begin with she started to do a horrendous English impression after asking where we were from and hearing we were from England. I am sorry but no real English person says "Tally Ho"!!!!
She then went on to try and stir up tensions with a family who were Germany on the bus by telling us at the top of her voice "to say hello to the Germans".
As the tour continued she kept using the building of Philadelphia by Londoner Mr Penn as an excuse to say how dirty and chaotic London was / is. We aren't from London so this didn't cause offence but the woman obviously had a huge problem with the British.
We would recommend the bus tour as a great way to see the tourist attractions of Philadelphia but if you are British and Hillary is your guide, get off and get the next bus.
Written July 21, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Daniel K
1 contribution
Apr 2023
The tour was disappointing. The tour guide spent 25% of the time hustling the customers for tips and donations for himself and for one of the guides upcoming birthday party. Another 25% was spent laughing and talking to people on the street that he knew trying to be cool. The historical items that were supposed to be covered were lightly covered if at all.
Written April 20, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Mary E
3 contributions
My friend and I came from Baltimore to Philly for a day trip and had planned to tour Philly. As we had waited at the stop in 20 degree weather for over an hour we decided to call them and were then notified of cancellation due to inclement weather. There was no rain, wind, or snow so I really don’t understand the “inclement weather.” We were notified of a cancellation via a message from trip advisor until 10:53am the same day of the trip., when buses were to start running at 9am. This really spoiled the trip!
Written February 4, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Ellie Schmidt
1 contribution
Aug 2022 • Friends
The Hop On/Hop Off Bus system in Philly was a very, very poor experience for my family who was visiting from Ireland & LA. We have had fabulous tours in many cities in US & Dublin, but these busses were not properly air conditioned. Many had NO functioning air & the inside temp was unbearable. In Boston they have roofs to protect from sun, but these do not ,which makes top seating not a choice for sun sensitive people. Therefore the inside was needed by us, but it was an oven.
Also, although it was advertised as busses coming every 20 minutes when I called after waiting 35 minutes, I was told that the busses do not come that often. We wasted our time & money on this tour we had looked forward to & we were greatly disappointed.
Also, although it was advertised as busses coming every 20 minutes when I called after waiting 35 minutes, I was told that the busses do not come that often. We wasted our time & money on this tour we had looked forward to & we were greatly disappointed.
Written August 9, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Giorgio13
Houston, Texas154 contributions
May 2023 • Family
Very informative. Suggest riding it a complete circuit and then stopping where you want so you get all the commentary. The first guy we had was laid back, the Asian girl we had next took every chance she could to ask for a tip which was very annoying since she did it even when no new people got on. She literally stood by the exit with a ticket jar in case you didn’t hear her the first 20 times.
Written May 31, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Sara A
1 contribution
Jul 2022 • Family
Poorly run. Terrible customer service. Their online map and claimed stop locations are not correct. The locations for the stops on their chart do not match where the bus actually stops. This makes it tough to find the location your supposed to be at to catch the bus. Some stops including Cathedral Basilica of St. Peter’s did not have a sign at all for where the bus stops. Two buses passed us and didn’t stop where the map listed. We waited over an hour, and no bus stopped there. We walked in the heat, including with my 66 year old father who had double knee replacement to the next stop. The route maps also says it stops at South Street, but when we got dropped off at that stop and asked where was South Street, the driver had no clue. We also waited over 50 mins to get a bus to leave that same stop and just ended up getting an Uber. They simply do not have enough buses operating. Their map locations are incorrect. Their customer service is also unhelpful and non responsive. I spoke to two separate customer service reps- Caitlin (where the chat disconnected), and Alexei who said you might be waiting 60 minutes at each stop. He didn’t acknowledge the lack of accurate information online, lack of signage throughout the route and didn’t care about our experience at all. Go with another company (City Sightseeing seemed to have buses come more frequently). Waiting for Big Bus tours will take up half of your day (without exaggeration) if you are trying to go to multiple stops. Waiting for their buses, took 2 1/2- 3 hours of our day. Again, no exaggeration.
Written July 3, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Mutti
Doha, Qatar41 contributions
Sep 2022 • Couples
Ticket purchased and small print after purchase informed us of changes. Small print CYA...disappointed. Very bad sales technique! Nearly $100 spent, not value for money and angry information was not disclosed before purchase by Ticket Sales Operative. If you want to refund 6 adult tickets we would say NO!
Written September 5, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Bishwas Mishra
Harrisburg, PA42 contributions
What is the time of boarding? Also place of boarding?
Annisa K
3 contributions
For the tour we booked, your first boarding had to be at the Bourse House. That's where they verified your ticket and gave you all the pertinent information. We boarded at 10am...check with the tour company for up to date details
Does the ticket work for the red bus too?
Jane B
8 contributions
I believe so.I was in two different types of bus tat day!
marysherryy
1 contribution
Is there air conditioning on the buses?
Joel R
Papillion, NE295 contributions
Yes, there is A/C in the enclosed lower level. However, the upper level is where the action is. Enjoyable activity. Will make an effort to take advantage of similar tours in other major cities.
I reserved 3 adult tickets for June 9 and June 10. I paid for them via credit card but have not received any confirmation or tickets.
I reserved 3 adult tickets for June 9 and June 10 but did not get a confirmation. I did pay for them via credit card. Are the tickets sent by email or?????????
How do I schedule a shuttle to the first point to redeem my ticket? I am at one of the center city hotels on Arch Street
Do the multi day tickets have to be used consecutively and what time is the last pick up?
