Tootbus - Paris — Attraction in Paris

The only good thing about our Toot bus experience was that it gave us an overview of the depth and scope of Paris and places that sparked our interest to return to on another day for in-depth touring. Now the negative: The recording to listen to absolutely sucked. There was practically nothing about each location we were touring. Instead it was either music playing or advertisements about the olympics and history of the olympics. After eventually struggling to find the location near the Eifel tower to catch the bus, we were given a poor explanation that we would be taking a shuttle from the Eifel Tower stop to the next stop, where we would be starting the tour. There was nothing on the website warning us about this. After arriving at the start of the tour, we had to wait almost 25 minutes for a bus. Then after getting started, at our very next stop, the driver decided to take a coffee break and have us wait while she did. Now we are into the tour for 35 minutes with making only one stop. The driver was stressed already and did not need more coffee. Her driving was good but she was rude to other drivers on the rode often blaring her horn adding to the stress of the chaotic traffic. 3 hours later, without getting off at any stops along the way, we re-arrived at where we started only to wait 35 minutes for our shuttle to depart back to the Eifel Tower stop, where we started our journey. No explanation was given why we were waiting. We basically took four hours to complete what was suppose to be a two to 2.5 hour tour. Overall, this is a poorly organized compant that does not care about its clients and only cares about selling tickets. Despite not knowing about other companies that have on-off tours, I would suggest trying those instead. Thumbs...

WORST EXPERIENCE EVER. My partner and I tried TOOTBus for 2 days in Paris of September of 2023. During one of our rides, we sat near the front and we noticed that the driver we texting, surfing the internet, creating voice memos and basically, not paying attention to the road. My partner decided to record this so that TOOTBus would be able to take action. We felt very unsafe and left the bus as soon as we could. After TOOTBus asked for my opinion (literally, a robo email entitled “Your opinion is important”) I responded with the video and that we felt unsafe and asked for a refund. Their response was no to the refund and the following: “Please be mindful that in France, recording or transmitting a person’s image without their consent is a crime punishable. Therefore I am kindly asking you to delete all videos you have about the driver.”

While they did acknowledge that they would speak with the driver, their response was basically a threat. I emailed back and asked them where this was written (the law in France) and again, asked for a refund and instead of responding to that question/email they created a NEW email thread and said “I was simply give you information” and that again, no refund.

It wasn’t so much the no to the refund that got me, it was the threatening response that I got when I sent the video. And the fact that they decided to ignore my question when I asked them where this law was written (and blatantly created a new email thread instead of responding to the original thread). WHATEVER YOU DO, AVOID THIS COMPANY.

The buses are also not air conditioned so you will melt....

This is not the best way to see Paris and its landmarks. The route has been adjusted slightly for the Summer Olympics, as has the audio. I’m not sure if this affected the frequency of how often the audio “guides” spoke, but for an entire loop that lasts about 2 hours, they spoke for maybe 15 minutes the entire time? There was no commentary on the Eiffel Tower which is one of the few sights you can see from the bus (as opposed to Sacré-Coeur and the major Gare they discuss briefly).

It was difficult to find the bus stop to hop on, even at the Notre Dame where an employee selling tickets was located. The stop is several hundred meters away from the icon, but out of sight of where the employee was, so it was difficult for them to point out where it is. Even the app map shows you the landmark or icon, not the bus stop.

If you’ve experienced similar busses in American cities, like DC or New York City, it’s a much less enjoyable experience. It’s a steep price at €38 per person for what essentially amounts to a driving view of the most central arrondissements. Finally, be prepared to stop at the Arc de Triumph and Eiffel Tower bus stops for at least 20 minutes while you listen to “We Will Rock You” and “Hips Don’t Lie” over and over and over and over rather than Paris History or even silence, which would be preferable to the...