Big Bus Tours San Francisco Reviews 2,444

Absolutely worthless

Awful. Terrible drivers commentary not in line with route and the most unhelpful staff ever. Do not waste your money!

The app defaults to one of the most expensive ticket options which we did not need so we ended up spending far more than we should have done. On a phone, it was not apparent that different fares could be had by scrolling through. The buses were overcrowded and there was little to no 'hop on, hop off' facility, so if you left the bus, you could not get a seat again at a future stop (at least not a good seat upstairs). Seats upstairs had only one point for headphones next to the outer seat, so if you had an inner seat, it was often blocked by another passenger, making it impossible to listen to the commentary. All in all, it was a huge waste of money, we'd have been better off taking taxis. We would never use it again and cannot recommend.

Miss communication sold as a 24 hour valid ticket where you could hop on hop off, not so much we got from 11:30 to 5pm. Len ups were huge, on board communication was poor. If you have used Europe hop on hop offs do not expect the same sort of service. And for the love do not get taken by the sales personnel. On there sale boards they also say 24 hour, they forget to tell you that you do not get to ride at night unless you pay more and oh by the way you only get to ride once at night! I have recommended the hop on hop offs all over Europe I would not this company look for another one!

Answer to your response, your advertising on your boards indicates 24 hr period, this is false, a 24 hours period would mean the period that you are open. NOT to segment a day to gain more funds. Your sales reps indicate 24 hr service even when they were asked on several occasions what that meant. They did not indicate that you could not use it at night. YOU are basically open from 9 to 5 on a class not 24hr, be an honest company and advertise appropriately!!! DON't make excuses for taking advantage of your customers. WILL NOT recommend to anyone!

Good time for the whole family! We'd highly recommend

Was nice & sunny when we went. Lots of stops. Reasonable price. We've also been on Hop On Hop Off. Either is great to avoid driving yourself but getting in a basic tour at your own pace. We would use them again.

I haven't even taken the tour yet, but my experience with this company has been very bad so far. I booked a package that includes bus tickets for two days and a ticket for a tour of Alcatraz. I was going the book the Alcatraz tour separately but decided to buy it in one package for convenience. Their website says to send them an email after the order with your preferred time for the Alcatraz tour. When I sent them my preferred time I was told that they don't have control over the time, don't guarantee any times, and the time won't be set until 10 days before the tour. Meanwhile, I can pick any time I want from the Alactraz tours website if I book directly through them. With our schedule, it doesn't work to leave the time of the tour up to chance. I asked if I could downgrade the ticket to remove the Alcatraz tour and I was told that I could not, but I could request a refund. When I requested a refund, I was told they could only process the refund after I purchase the new ticket that doesn't include the Alcatraz tour. After I purchased the new ticket, I was told it will be 7-14 business days until someone can review my refund request. It seems they lack communication and have poor business practices.

We found the Bus at right time. Enjoy the tour with my friends. Comfortable and nice. Enjoy it!

We waited at least 40 minutes for a bus to come. Sept 17, 2021 at the north golden gate stop. I asked the driver when he came about getting a refund because we were told anything over 20 minutes we were entitled to a full refund. He called me a terrible name when I past him which my husband heard because he was behind me.

We purchased Deluxe tickets paying approximately $150 for 2 for San Francisco CA. Upon arrival noticed that every single one of the kiosks or windows marked for big bus tours were closed and was early afternoon...then per the map and instructions received from an agent we were told the start time for the tour was 9 am but to arrive at 8 to start the line as it gets busy and that since it was the first day we had to get out tickets from a specific location (2 miles away from us) ...which we did to then find out early AM that they don't start until 10 am and we could've started at the location closest to our hotel.WOW!!! The tours were fine but not impressed with how the buses do not stop closer to each other in case you want to hop off and skip part of the tour (like in other cities) so you are always stuck taking the entire tour. MY MAIN CONCERN HAS TO DO WITH COVID PRECAUTIONS... Great job posting instructions about ALWAYS wearing a mask however the drivers did nothing to make sure the rule is enforced... you also do not provide disinfecting wipes for the headphone channel/volume base EVERYONE has to touch to start the pre recorded tour or make sure that everyone is sitting. Long story short we had a group of people STANDING behind us for an entire tour without masks and I even got into an argument with one of them when I finally got fed up of being touched/hit every time the bus stopped and this person hit me and my seat not to mentioned the fact that she was talking loudly over my head WITHOUT A MASK!!! We even went over very low areas that seemed very dangerous for anyone standing (not that I was worried about their safety at this point) but my point is that the driver did absolutely nothing to reinforce the supposed rules of no standing and always wearing a mask....I paid way too much to have someone basically spitting on me (until I moved) and not enjoy the night tour. Not impressed with Big Bus and even though I have used them in other cities I can honestly say I am done...

This was a good way to get around for the most part BUT we were STRANDED at Fishermans Wharf as the ONLY way to get a lift back to our hotel was to take an additional night tour.We had been on the bus all day and also did a boat ride and tour of Alcatraz so we were ready to stop sightseeing. I am handicapped and was told to walk several blocks to catch a city bus and then they left us at the wharf!
Fortunately,as I limped my way up the blocks with my young daughter,we saw an empty Big Bus with an off duty driver,Omar Martinez.Omar took pity on us and offered us a ride in the empty bus even though he was off for the day!! This guy is a saint and saved the day for us. HE is the only reason I am not pitching a fit at the Big Bus Tours company!!
Be prepared to pay extra for a Lyft ,Uber or city bus or cablecar (they were not running during our visit) to get back to your hotel(s) as it is doubtful that you will luck upon an angel like Mr.Martinez.

We were told to wait for the bus in the exact location we were dropped off and the bus never came for us. We were stranded on the Golden Gate Bridge for 2 hours. In order to get back to our car we had to get an Uber. I’m kindly asking to get a refund... because of this we were not able to do the whole tour.

Still haven't come back to me in relation to a refund for March.
Where is my refund please.

I’ve done this once, pretty nice

It’s a great experience with great guides to show you all over this wonderful city. Try to get on Blake’s bus, definitely a great guide and made our experience fun and amazing!!!

I've done others but as far as I'm concerned, Big Bus Tours is the only tour bus worth taking while in San Francisco. All around great value for the money, and excellent customer service!!

Great experience ! Great staff

The hour long wait to get on was bad enough, but the lack of communication from the staff at the stop was non existent. Keeping people in the loop would help alleviate the anger that swelled up twice and the "Manager" person on site was really rude to even his own colleagues. Once things eventually got going, the trip itself was lovely. I would recommend you find a way to recycle the earphones you hand out. That is a LOT of landfill crap you could control.

The tour through San Francisco was good. The audio piece was well thought out and informative. However, the buses lacked A/C (when you're stuck on the bottom) - the windows didn't open and thus were stiffing and all we wanted to do was get off. If you're fortunate to get a seat on the top, the tour is great! The audio jacks are older and you had to hold your headphones in the jack to get the audio. The buses still looked newer than the other tour buses/competitors, but be warned that the downstairs can be stifling on a hot day.