Bus Tours in New York City

A Guide To The Double Decker Bus Tours in NYC

Care to indulge in the cliché tourist activity of viewing New York City from atop a double-decker bus? There have been so many companies trying to get into this business, that it seems every couple of years its a new crop of buses springing up on the streets.

Gray Line Bus Tours – City Sightseeing

Currently operating a tourist double decker service around New York City, with hop-on and hop off- at city bus stops. You can also see sales personnel on every street corner in Times Square hawking the service. Enjoy this Double Decker tour with over 50 Hop On – Hop Off stops. Tours include Downtown, Uptown, Night and Brooklyn Loops. plus a discounted ferry ticket to Statue of Liberty. They also offer a fully escorted city tour by motor coach. Tour includes: Lunch Ferry ticket to the Statue of Liberty and admission to the World Trade Center Memorial.

Big Bus New York

212 685 8687

Big Bus New York provides the standard fare of a double decker tourist bus roaming around NYC offering tourists a glimpse of the city from the top deck with the ability to hop on or hop off at any major landmark or city bus stop

Bus Tours NYC

1441 Broadway Suite 6113 
New York, NY 10018
646-669-7244

More of the same big red buses roaming around NYC streets and stopping at city bus stops. You will see the usual famous landmarks such as Empire State Building, Times Square and Rockefeller Center. Offers the usual hop-on hop-off tours in New York City. Standard fare open top on the second deck.

Big Taxi Bus Tours in NYC
Big Taxi Bus Tours in NYC

Big Taxi Tours

One minute this bus company was here, the next it was gone. The phone numbers now rings at their competitors offices and tourists have long forgotten about this NYC start up bus company. Coming soon NYC Hot Dog Bus Tours.

NYC Duck Bus Tour
NYC Duck Bus Tour

New York Duck Tours

Not actually a double decker bus at all, but this amphibious bus roamed around NYC and should get an honorable mention. After picking up tourists along its route it would then would take a dunk right into the Hudson River. Much like all the other duck tours in many other cities (including Boston), this Gray Line version was a lot of fun and tourists loved being gawked at by the locals, while driving around in this ridiculous looking bus/craft. Problem was the fast-flowing Hudson River is no safe place for pretenders and the Coastguard wouldn’t let the craft into the water for fear of it capsizing and killing all the tourists. Would have been a NYC PR nightmare for the city and Gray Line bus tours, so they dodged a bullet.

First NYC Double Decker Bus
New York Apple Tours – The First NYC Double Decker

New York Apple Tours

It all began when the New York Apple Tours sightseeing company brought the first double decker buses to NYC in 1996. They were old buses shipped directly from London and they were a little run down, but had lots of charm. They lasted for five years in NYC, but had problems with the quality of the spares that they had for their old London double decker buses. After a local mechanic used an inferior quality nut on a bus wheel repair, the wheel then fell off when taking a corner too fast. It wasn’t far behind that New York City took away their license to transport passengers and then all their wheels fell off the company, but they are remembered as being the first double decker bus company in NYC and certainly not the last.