We used Gray Line twice during our stay in Munich, firstly for the hop-on/hop-off city tour and also for the Linderhof/Neuschwanstein castle.
The city tour was €22 pp and took us to all of the places we really wanted to see - Olympic Park, BMW, Allianz Arena and Nymphenburg Palace - as well as a tour of the city centre and the surrounding districts.
Neuschwanstein Castle was the one I was most excited about as it's been on my bucket list for some time now. A long day, 8.30am to 6.30pm but worth it.
We turned up about 30 minutes early and very glad we did as it's a very popular tour. Gray Line use luxury coaches which are very nice indeed, complete with a toilet and the ability to purchase water/fizzydrinks/beer for €1.50.
Our guide, Arnold, was informative and kept us all to time - we really liked him.
We visited Linderhof which is small but beautiful, Oberammergau (lovely coffee and cake!) and Neuschwanstein in the afternoon.
Bavaria is absolutely beautiful and I'm so pleased we went.
A girlfriend and I did the Royal Castles tour from Munich to Linderhof, Oberammergau, and Neuschwanstein. Marcus was our tour guide and was entertaining and informative. The coach did not leave exactly on time, as there were hundreds of people in queue for the tour, but they have enough coaches to take everyone. I think we had enough time at every stop and could see and enjoy the sights there. I had never heard of Linderhof but it was stunning and the gardens were beautiful. Both castles have guided tours (in English) of the inside, which is nice. The stop at Oberagammergau is kind of unnecessary but I guess it gives the guide/driver a break. It's a teensy village with just a few shops and cafes (and we stopped on a Sunday so half of the shops were closed), and the guide only suggested one cafe, so of course half the bus ran there and the cafe was a bit overwhelmed, but still good. Neuschwanstein is stunning, leaves plenty of time to hike up there, do the tour, come back down and get a snack before getting back on the bus. Overall, the tour was worth it. Please note that the tour price when you book it does NOT include the castle admissions - these are an extra EUR23. (One family on our tour did not pay for the castle admissions and honestly there is NOTHING to do in these places if you dont go to the castles. So if you arent going to do the castles, do NOT take this tour.) It is worth it to have coach transportation to these places and back to Munich, as I read awful things about public transport to Neuschwanstein from Munich! Would recommend.
Well, the tour itself was ok, all interesting places covered, but there were some major minuses to it. Firstly, the audio guide worked in 1 out of 3 buses we took. On the request to do something, the guide said, that you have to understand English or German. I do speak English, but in general if they say, they have audio in other languages and then they'd be rude like this - not a good decision. Plus, the guides spoke not so understandable English, so audio guides would be so much better. So, you can take this tour, but I would not recommend it.
We would like to apologize that our audio guide system wasn´t working properly the day you took your city tour with us. (For other readers, we must mention at this point that the audio system is only for our guests who need languages other than English or German such as French, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, Italian etc., since English and German are spoken by our live guides.) We do inspect the audio system on a daily basis, but we have arranged for all buses to be checked again and hope that this problem will not reoccur. Unfortunately, even though the system is checked regularly, it can occasionally develop problems during the course of the day which is what probably happened the day you took your tour.
We are very sorry that the guide was unable to help you and that you weren’t able to hear the language of your choice that day. The fact that we have live guides on our buses is what sets us apart from the other companies on the market. Most of our guests love the commentary of our guides and tell us that is what makes a real difference. Our guides are all highly trained experts with many years of experience who all speak fluent English and German. We are sorry that you were not really able to understand the guides.
Once again we sincerely regret the inconvenience caused to you by the faulty audio system. We completely agree that you should have been able to use it that day. Thank you for writing in with your feedback. We hope you have a better experience on your next tour with us and will be able to recommend us then!
Four of us took the hop-on-hop-off bus tour by Grayline for the Munich Circle tour on a Sunday. Maybe they don't have many busses on Sunday - but apparently people waited between 20-30 minutes for a bus! It was raining the day we took the bus, so the top was closed on the upper deck. The bus was completely full and if you exited the bus to see an attraction at the stop, someone would take your seat. So we never got off! On every other bus tour I've taken, you receive earphones to plug into the audio system. But unfortunately, this bus had a live tour guide. Even though we booked a tour in ENGLISH, this guide spoke in English, German and Italian. So, by the time she translated an attraction in three languages, we had already passed it and were on to something else! I've always loved the hop-on-hop-off tours, but had this been my first trip on one, I'd never do it again!
We regret you were disappointed in your Hop On Hop Off tour of Munich, but we must point out that we always run the maximal number of buses on weekends – even on Sundays! Our buses run every 20 minutes, so if you had to wait 20 minutes for the next bus, this would be exactly correct. We at Gray Line offer a sightseeing tour of the city and not just a simple means of transportation. If you feel you need to get around the city faster than our buses run, then you need to use public transportation or take a taxi.
Of course, if it is raining, we always close the roof on the top deck of our double decker buses. This is so that our guests do not get wet. Naturally this limits the view but most of our guests are happy to stay dry and accept that this is simply something that happens with this kind of weather.
Because Munich is one of the most frequently visited cities in Germany, the sheer volume of customers all wishing to take our city tour at the same time may lead to overcrowding and waiting times throughout peak periods. With the Hop On Hop Off system, our guests can choose to get on and off at any stop they wish or simply stay on the bus, and during our busy season, this may lead to full buses. We understand that you were unhappy about this and are sorry for any inconvenience caused, but we cannot force people to leave the bus if they do not want to.
If you prefer to listen to an English recording on a headset, you are welcome to choose a different provider next time, because we at Gray Line Munich are convinced that the information provided by our live guides is far superior to any pre-recorded audio track. We are the only company in Munich which has live guides. Most of our guests are quite happy they chose a live guide instead of a recording.
We regret that there evidently was a problem with our headphone system the day you took your tour, because our guides normally do not give information in 3 languages. The headset system is exclusively for our guests who need languages other than English or German (i.e. French, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, Italian etc.) Unfortunately, you did not tell us the date of your tour nor the name of your guide, so we cannot follow up on this and find out what happened that day. We regret that because of having to speak in 3 languages, the information wasn´t provided in a timely manner.
Our Hop On Hop Off city tour offers the best way to see the most sights in Munich in a short amount of time at a fair price. Since your ticket is valid for a full 24 hours, you can ride the sightseeing buses as many times as you´d like during this time with your one ticket. We hope you come back at a less crowded time of year next time in order to enjoy your experience more.
We decided to go on the bus tour during our trip to see more of the city. Unfortunately we went to do the tour on the same day as a protest was happening in the city. We arrived and bought our tickets for the bus from the street. After buying them we were told that this was in fact the last bus of the day (due to the protest) so not to get off the bus. I wouldn't have minded this (as it wasn't their fault) but I do think we should have been told before buying the tickets.
It was a very hot day in Munich so decided to sit on the top deck. The seats were roasting! There are no headphones on the bus, but luckily I had brought my own. The guide was live in German and English, but I did find that by the time the English translation was being done we had passed whatever they were talking about. I tried the pre-recorded guide but I did feel slightly anti-social with my partner sitting next to me trying to speak to me!
It was however a good trip round the city and if we had done this on our first day it would have been an excellent intro to the city. If it wasn't for the protest I think we would have enjoyed it a bit more, however the audio for the guide was a little confusing!
We´re glad you found your Hop On Hop Off tour of Munich to be “an excellent intro to the city” – that´s exactly the way it should be! But we regret we didn´t live up to your expectations in all aspects. As far as the protest is concerned, we´re sure you understand that this was certainly beyond our control. We do agree that you should have been informed of the situation before buying your tickets, though.
We must clear up a misunderstanding about the audio system, though – it is only for our guests who speak languages other than English or German. This is the reason you were not provided with headphones. English and German are spoken by our live guides.
We are sorry if you felt you missed things because the English explanation was after the German explanation. Since we are based in Munich, Germany, and we have many German-speaking guests, most guides begin their explanation in German. Our guides always try to give all explanations so that no one misses anything, but our drivers have to keep up with the flow of traffic in the city and so it is possible that sometimes an explanation may come later than intended. This is also why we encourage our guests to use their tickets to the full extent and ride on as many loops as they like.
Thank you for your mostly positive feedback. We hope to see you again soon on another tour in Munich so we can provide you with a 100% positive tour experience then!
