TopView Sightseeing Reviews 

I booked a bus tour with TopView and, unfortunately, what started as a good experience around NYC was completely ruined at one of the stops.

The female driver got off the bus to announce the stop, but she didn’t explain it properly and then failed to get back onto the bus. We therefore got onto the bus ourselves and scanned our tickets, as we had been instructed to do. She then came back and started shouting — so much so her dentures nearly fell out — at us and another family, saying “the nerve” of us getting onto her bus.

She then made us get off the bus, despite us having a baby with us, and questioned why the baby didn’t have a ticket. The driver should know TopView’s own policies regarding babies and tickets instead of confronting customers over something that is the company’s responsibility to communicate clearly.

The way she spoke to us was extremely rude and completely unnecessary. Being shouted at and made to get off the bus with a baby was unacceptable and made us feel very uncomfortable.

What should have been an enjoyable NYC experience was completely ruined by this interaction. I hope TopView takes this seriously, looks into the driver’s behaviour, and ensures its staff are properly trained on both customer service and the company’s ticketing policies.


Terrible service from bus driver! Yet the audacity of this horrible lady she expected us to tip. She can go and get some training before she asks for a tip.

I did the NYC Skyline Night Tour on 5/31. I paid ~$10 extra to have a live tour guide, as opposed to the pre-recorded audio tour. Not only was my tour pre-recorded, not live, I'm 99% sure that the audio tour was read by AI. I reached out to customer service about getting refunded the $10 difference in early June and haven't heard back. Also my bus left about 40 minutes later than scheduled, they seem unprepared for the number of people waiting for a tour.

Bad service, bad communication. After they took your money you are on your own. They dropped you far away from your destination and let you walked to catch your ferry. Could not find the designated stop to go back because of the road constructions (no information in advance).
We were already on the bus but because we could not find our ticket immediately we had to get off and waited for another bus :( (after 2 hours walking searching for the designated stop) instead of asking to sit and find our tickets. AND VERY RUDE as well as if we are the most stupid people because we could not find the designated stop!! Hellooo it's your daily job and route, its easy to say "its very easy"
My advice just used the subway, much cheaper, easier and faster!!!

We have several issues:
1) website is horrible - I could write an essay about that!
2) maps were not offered
3) no a/c inside; no fans; no open windows; it was unbearably hot and there were no seats upstairs.
4) audio was skimpy - too much music; not enough explaining what we were passing and seeing.
5) sometimes the audio mentioned a site/building that was coming up when we passed it already.
6) the driver should have been announcing the number of the stop because without that, we had to figure out where we were.
7) our driver never told us the route had stopped, and we were sitting upstairs with everyone, waiting, until finally another customer from below, came up and told us the driver was done, even though it was not the last stop, When we came down we asked the driver why he did not tell us he was not going further, and why he wasn't going further, and he said he thought we were "chilling", and we could try another bus 2 ahead of us, no explanation for why he stopped.
8) We waited much longer than the 15 minutes promised for buses.
9) drivers were rude to other passengers (not us).

The bus tour was dire. Dreadful.
The Downtown bus driver scrapped some of the stops at the bottom of Manhattan after the driver had asked all passengers where they planned to go. This misses the fact that many passengers were on the bus just to go around the circuit.
Eventually we got off at stop 14 to head to 15 for Uptown. No signage for this stop. Just a guess where it might be. We eventually asked another group of people if they were waiting on the Uptown Top View bus. They had the same issue identifying the stop.
They were waiting for the Uptown and had been for a while.
We waited for about 15 mins more when we seen a Top View employee and asked when the next Uptown bus was. He said at least another hour. Maybe one hour and a half. He wasn’t sure.
We all asked was there anywhere else we could get a bus quicker. Nonchalantly it was a flat no.
No apology and off he left quickly.
Total waste of money and a waste of an afternoon. I think if they channeled the eagerness that they have for selling tickets into running the service to a better standard it would help place their energy in the right place. I would never use them again.

Absolute worst bus tour. I have gone on two other NYC in the past and they were fantastic. This was awful. First- we had to wait over 45 minutes to load a bus. Don’t even try to get off because you will never make it back on.
Second- what tour? The short audio snippets are a joke. You’re basically paying to sit on a hot miserable bus. Take the subway instead.
There is no way to contact customer service through phone. You have to email. Not holding my breath for anyone to ever respond to my email.

Horrific.
Scam. Don’t let the street sellers rip you off.
Waited nearly 2 hours for a bus, kept being told 5 more minutes. Requested a refund told ‘NO REFUND’. Witnessed a scream fight with staff member and customer.
Drove so fast could not see any sights, so fast at times couldn’t catch your breath. Honestly thought we would be injured by trees and branches or in a crash. Like a white knuckle ride. Then screamed at by the driver to not leave his bus a mess, as disembarking bus.
Avoid avoid avoid
Choose another bus tour company

There was no sound from the speakers making the trip worthless for us foreigners. They cut short the route. On the next bus we had to sit downstairs with no airco working and outside temperatures at about 100F. We booked for 48 hours and the next day was better but still shortcutting the advertised routes.

This is a completely scum . Police should be involved with this fraud

Absolutely dreadful! Long waits at the bus stop, rude drivers and very poorly maintained vehicles. Street sellers charge twice the online price the whole experience is a complete rip off, we caught an uber back to midtown from the world trade centre.

We booked tickets for both the downtown and uptown tours.
It was our plan to ride the whole circuit.
We waited over an hour for the uptown bus and then started walking the route. It never overtook us. I don’t believe it was running. A ripoff. Very disappointed. Would not recommend this company

I have been waiting on customer service for 5 days. There is no phone number to call. Someone from TopView reached out to me on Messenger and can’t tell me when customer service will get back to me. I wish we would have never booked with them.

If there were a rating lower than 1 star, I would give that lower rating.

When I was in New York two weeks ago, I purchased TopView bus tour tickets that included live entertainment at a higher price. However, after I got on the bus, I found out that no live entertainment was provided.

After the tour, I went to the TopView Bus Tour headquarters in New York to address the issue, but no one there could help me. They only told me to send an email and provided a customer service phone number that had no human representative available.

Following their instructions, I emailed them two weeks ago, but as of today, I still have not received any response.

This was a very disappointing experience and extremely poor customer service. The advertising felt deceptive because it encouraged customers to pay more for live entertainment that was not actually provided. I deeply regret choosing this company for my bus tour.

Have spent since coming back from New York in January 5 attempts to be refunded by this company for the theft of 3 lots of fares for myself and my family. Went to their local office where nobody tried to listen to our complaint or take any responsibility. I would all potential clients to be aware that their service is shocking please use any alternative service rather than them.

No headset commentary grumpy lady driver $120 for a drive around central park very rough driving

Absolutely the worst customer service EVER! You better be sure you are ordering/paying for exactly what you want because you will NEVER EVER be able to speak with someone or get a response from emails to make any changes, get refunds or ANY kind of help. Paid for two tix for Tea Around Town Chicago and couldn't make the reservation. They offered for us to go a different date at half the original cost, which was very fair. HOWEVER, now there is absolutely NO way and NO ONE to help us book at the discounted cost. They had me fill out a CC authorization for the 105.00 discounted amount, which I did and then . . . CRICKETS! No response, no reservation, no nothing. Think TEN times before booking ANYTHING THROUGH THIS COMPANY.

Don’t waste your money

I purchased a 3-day pass with TopView Sightseeing in New York and unfortunately had a very poor experience.

The buses frequently drove past stops without picking up passengers — even when they were not full. I found myself waiting in multiple lines with other ticket holders, none of whom were able to board. On day two of my three-day pass, I gave up entirely.

Other travellers I spoke to mentioned they had only managed to get on one bus during their entire 2-day pass, which says a lot about how unreliable the service is.

There were plenty of staff on the streets selling tickets, but once you’ve purchased, the support ends there. We were repeatedly told where to stand, only to watch buses drive past while being told “maybe the next one will stop.”

I also reached out via email to request a refund for a pass that was effectively never used, and have received no response after more than two weeks.

Overall, this felt like a very frustrating and disappointing experience. I would strongly recommend looking at alternative options when visiting New York.

Absolute scammers. Street vendors promise you a bus every 10-15 mins, where we ended up waiting at a bus stop for 1.5 hours before the bus came. They also said the last bus is at 12am where in fact it is at 6pm. You end up wasting your whole day. Better to save yourself the time and money.

Horrible experience. Had 4pm tickets to Tea Around Town NYC, got sent to wrong address...(kitchen address), then finally got to right pick up spot. Our bus had left without us (4 of us friends bday), called customer service probably 15 times without an answer. 5pm bus comes, and the server says customer service is closed but they will answer, left 2 separate messages on website and still have never heard from anyone. The 5pm bus was full so we weren't able to get on. Spoke to someone who had done the tour before and she said good luck getting any help, they have the worst customer service around, I happen to agree. Do not care if I get my money back, but would like to do the tour because my friends were here and we wanted to do something different. Would like an acknowledgement, but afraid that is asking too much seeing the other reviews.

I want to express my strong dissatisfaction with this hop-on hop-off bus service in London. Unfortunately, my experience fell far below reasonable expectations and significantly impacted my visit. Never choose this company!!

To begin with, the number of buses in operation appears to be far too low to meet demand. This resulted in long waiting times at multiple stops, making it difficult to rely on the service as a practical means of transportation around the city.

Additionally, many of the buses were running late, with no update in the app. This lack of communication created confusion and frustration throughout the day. We were frequently left waiting for buses that either arrived much later than indicated or did not come at all.

Furthermore, I find it misleading that customers are not clearly informed about the limited operating hours by the person you buy ticket from at the bus stop. The late start in the morning and early stop in the evening significantly restrict the usability of the service. Due to these constraints, it was not possible to complete multiple routes in a single day, as advertised. Consequently, we missed several attractions that we had planned to visit, which was extremely disappointing.

Overall, the service did not deliver what was promised and felt misleading in both its marketing and execution. I believe customers deserve clear, accurate information and a service that operates reliably and frequently enough to justify the cost.