Big Bus Tours Philadelphia — Attraction in Philadelphia

Our experience with Big Bus Tours wasn't that great and sadly our trip to Philadelphia was our Christmas gift to our 11 and 13 year old kids- so it made matters worse. We were having a wonderful tour until we decided to hop off. We were dropped off at 1:30 at stop 2 and were told the next bus would be there at 2:00 to pick us up. Fifteen minutes before 2:00 we went back to the curb to wait on the bus. We went early to make sure we wouldn't miss it. We waited and waited and waited until finally at 2:20 we chose to walk a block or two, rather than continue to just keep standing there in the rain, down to stop 3 and catch the bus there. To make a long story short it was 2:45 and no Big Bus Tours bus to be seen anywhere. So we continued to be proactive and walk instead of stand there and wait. We made it to stop 5 and still with no bus in sight I called the company to ask what was going on. I explained that we had been waiting for, at this point, a whole hour and had not seen the first bus. The lady I was speaking with told me that we could either continue to wait on the next bus (for who knows how long) or walk multiple blocks back to the first stop and wait on a bus there. That was the best she could do. So we ended up having to walk several more blocks, in the pouring rain, to get to the Reading Market before it closed. We had already wasted an hour of our day waiting and were running out of time. We finally made it to the market, but were exhausted and soggy (even with umbrellas) from all the walking we had to do. When we left the market we had to wait another 30-45 minutes on a bus to take us back to our hotel. And even at the terminal market stop the driver of the bus only waited 1 or 2 seconds and almost left us because he didn't immediately see us. We wanted to tour more of the stops but at this point we were just done. Our kids were drenched, so were we and we were afraid of being stranded again. Just not a good time and definitely not a good Christmas memory.

*Edited to respond to your reply. Our inconvenience wasn't because of the rain. In fact, when I called the office to ask where all the buses were I asked if the rain was hindering the routes. She politely said no, it wasn't because of the rain and that a bus should be by soon - and gave us the option of waiting for it or walking back to stop 1. Our tour guide also never mentioned any delays due to the rain, or any delays at all for that matter. As for your app, I downloaded it twice (once in November when I initially booked our trip and then again on our way there) and Philadelphia wasn't even an option when choosing cities. The closest city it listed was Washington D.C. which was no...

We hopped on at a stop halfway through a tour (so possibly we missed a talk about rules in the beginning?). I saw another passenger quickly move across the aisle while the bus was in motion. No one said anything so I figured it was ok to do. Probably 15 minutes later, I quickly switched seats (because I realized there were fewer people on one side of the bus after a group left the tour and I could have more space) while the bus was in motion and the man conducting the tour stopped what he was talking about and scolded me extensively -over the microphone for everyone to hear even though I was now sitting diagonally in front of him- to never do that ever again (getting up while the bus was in motion) and how he could get in big trouble if anyone had seen me switch seats and I could have gotten hurt and that it was a rule that should never be broken and it was all said in a condescending tone (it wasn't hostile or angry but it was as though he had lost all patience with me). He then continued with the tour discussing history and for whatever reason (I had not moved again whatsoever) stopped mid sentence and again repeated to me to not switch seats while the bus was moving. The whole time I was apologizing and said I didn't know and that I now understood the rule. 30 minutes later, after more people exited the tour and there were more seats available, during a stop I asked if it was safe for me to move seats bc I wasn't sure if the bus was going to start moving again soon and he said "Do not get up when the bus is moving" again over the microphone. I could understand this behavior if I had known the rule and ignored it anyway but he didn't go over the rules every time new people got on the bus and from what I saw (or didn't see) there was no obvious signage stating the rules. A brief "Ma'am please do not stand while the bus is in motion- its for safety" with my acknowledging I heard him say it would have been perfectly sufficient for me to follow the rule. This maybe wouldn't be embarrassing to other people but I was every...

The hotel concierge made arrangements and booked tickets for our group of 8. She also arranged for the company to send a private van to the hotel to pick us up and take us to Stop #1.

Our van driver could not have been nicer and we got quite the tour from him even before getting to stop #1.

Once on the bus, we were able to sit upstairs as it was a beautiful day. This particular bus had no cover, so it was windy when we were riding, but not a problem. We enjoyed it very much.

Bus #1 tour guide was great as was the driver. It was a crazy day as there were some events with streets closed. We got off at the Rocky statue. We were told they wait for you for about 5 minutes so that you can get back on, but this was not the case for us. We got off and waited maybe 15 minutes for the next bus.

While waiting, we had a nice man from Big Bus Tours letting us know where the bus was and how we could track the bus on our phones (I was not able to find it before the bus arrived, so I don't have that information but apparently it is available).

Bus #2 tour guide was also great as was the driver. This bus had a partial cover on the upper level and even though it was cool out, it was sunny and so inside the covered part was like a greenhouse, very hot and uncomfortable, so avoid those seats in the sun if you can.

We got off at the last stop (Stop 18) and walked a few blocks back to our hotel.

I've been to Philadelphia before, I wasn't really interested in a tour and didn't really pay attention to anything other than the Rocky steps. It was a beautiful day and a nice way to ride around the city. Not sure it was worth $34 (I assumed $34 due to booking through the hotel), but if you really want a tour, this is probably a good,...