Big Bus Madrid Panoramic City Tour

Spain trip

Nice overview of Madrid. Would recommend. Great way to see the layout of the city. Guide was very informative.

Excellent Recommended. Live commentary. Great staff.

Excellent. Recommended. Live commentary, so no need for earphones- we prefer live commentary. Friendly and Helpful staff. Good seats and views. Open top but some seats were covered- which we chose. Excellent tour round Madrid, well explained in English and Spanish. Informative and interesting. 90 minutes tour roughly. Great views from top of bus. Staff helped me before trip started by advising where local toilet was. At end driver called us a cab ( we’d only asked where to get one, so very kind and helpful.) Excellent and safe driving throughout.

Good locations, some difficulty with English narration

The pass by spots on this trip gave a nice overview of the city. Had some difficulty understanding the guide as she always did a long description in Spanish and then turned to a much shorter comment in English with barely a pause

Great way to see city sites.

Excellent guide and locations checked all the boxes. Especially liked the live commentary instead of earplugs and pre-recorded narrative.

Terrible experience

We had a terrible experience. We waited for a tour bus for well over an hour while (no exaggeration) eight buses from the other tour group drove by. We picked this one because the competitor had so many bad reviews. I didn’t find the tour any better. If they’re both comparable the competitor had a lot more buses in circulation. The guide was very difficult to hear. He pointed out sites but there was no background information. The driver took off before we were seated and my mom and her cane fell into the seat. We got off the bus before we completed the full tour. Waste of money. I sent three emails while waiting trying figure out what was taking so long and no one responded then or after.

Tourist trap

I was there with my children 15 minutes prior to the tour. The bus never showed up. And no refund. The craziest experience I have ever had. And Viator is apperently ok with this. Thank you for taking my money and not providing the service.

Yes, you wait longer but you get a live guide

I noticed the negative comments and decided to write an honest review. Yes, they have fewer buses than other companies, I also waited for like 30 minutes, and the next day, 17th March, one of their buses broke down (that's why the comments below are so negative!), but in general my experience was great! Unlike other companies they have a live guide and not some audioguide you listen to on headphones. They are very nice people, so if you have any issues - talk to them! All in all, you wait a bit longer, but you get a live guide experience.

Save your money go in another bus

Worst bus ever! We spent 45 euros for a short ride on a hot bus. We got off at the little market and have been waiting over an hour. We have seen 2 other red bus tours come by MULTIPLE times!!!! We are so disappointed. We have one day here and we spent an hour waiting for nothing. STAY AWAY go on another red bus!!!!!’

AVOID

Awful, waited 60 minutes for a bus service that was advertised as running every 20 minutes. The City sightseeing tour buses stopped 6 times before we saw a big bus.

Worth the money

Very good tour.worth the money! The tour guide was very knowledgeable and now’s the city very well, he did a great job.

Good overview of the city

Our guide Marina was terrific! She identified the sights along the way and gave interesting historical background as well tips about modern day culture. Because the microphone on the bus did not work, she did this in English and Spanish. Her command of English as a second language was impressive! We sat in the enclosed upper deck (Madrid was cold that morning) and were disappointed that the windshield kept fogging up impeding our view and making taking photos virtually impossible. Nevertheless, we got a good overview of the city and its different neighborhoods.

Sit on the left side of the bus

Most of the attractions are on the left side. Can be hard to hear the guide and found them to be inaudible at times. Good tour to give an overview of Madrid.

Good way to see around and get your bearings

Open top bus tour with live commentary from the friendly staff in both Spanish and English. Good way to get to see around Madrid, and figure out what you want to go back and see. Tour was an hour long, would recommend.

Good orientation tour.

Travelers should do this tour at the beginning of their visit to Madrid to get oriented to the highlights of the city. The tour guide's English was a little difficult to understand at times.

Stay clear of the company

We booked 10.15 am nothing showed up waited an hour no signs telling you where to wait total waste of time no refund totally disorganised use the Madrid bus company lots more buses and reliable

Avoid in Winter

Cold open top bus. Miserable in winter. Guide did poor job of alternating Spanish/English. Most of the commentary was not informative.

Madrid in a jiffy!

Loved the route taken that covered prominent landmarks in Madrid! Guide was excellent in sharing the history and significance of many landmarks. Also provided some useful suggestions for day trips in Madrid city. My son particularly loved the open top upper deck!

An absolute rip off - the 'hop-on, hop-off' day ticket is half the price

The biggest rip-off EVER. We bought our tickets at a kiosk outside Atocha station. The lady didn't speak any English and I hardly speak any Spanish. We thought we were buying a 'hop-on, hop-off' day ticket, something we've done in every city we've visited' for many years now. After taking our money (38 euro for two seniors) she handed us a map showing a single route, making us understand we'd bought just a single tour. She marked on the map where we had to get the bus, and I saw on the ticket that we had just five minutes to get to the stop. We walked and walked. Eventually found a bus stop showing a 'big bus' stop logo, and after about 20 minutes when the bus arrived the driver wouldn't let us on. He couldn't explain why we couldn't get on, just waved us away. We were totally perplexed and annoyed. Eventually I phoned the tourist office but the person I spoke to didn't speak much English either unfortunately. I couldn't explain where we were other than to tell him the number of the bus stop, but he didn't know where that was. Can you imagine the frustration? Eventually he said to go to the tourist office in Plaza Neptuno which we managed to find, and there was actually a bus waiting there which the driver kindly allowed us onto despite our tour time being long past. We sank into our seats with enormous relief but noted immediately that there was no headphone socket to hear any commentary. Finally having time to look more closely at the leaflet supplied with our ticket, we saw that our tour had 'live guided commentary'. When the bus finally started up, the commentary was so loud I imagined our ears were bleeding! We both put our telephone earphones in to calm the noise - being upstairs and the woman doing the commentary downstairs it wasn't possible to ask her to quieten it. Her voice could crack glass at 100 metres. Unfortunately at any volume it was impossible to discern between her speaking Spanish and English, so we were destined to spend the next 80 minutes being deafened by her screeching without understanding anything at all. We lost all interest in the tour and I played a talking book through my headphones, or tried to - the voice was still so loud I could barely hear the narrator of the book even at high volume. We found out afterwards that we could have bought a hop-on-hop-off for the entire day at a cost of 19 euros for the two of us instead of the outrageous 38 euros we paid for this ghastly experience. There were only two other people on the bus, doubtless they felt equally cheated.

Good value for money

Very informative. The tour took in all the highlights.... Great if you want to get your bearings of the city and decide where to go back to. In the winter months be sure to wrap up as it gets quite windy.

Nice overview of Madrid

This was a nice overview of the city. The guide spoke in English, and seem to really have a good understanding of all the attractions she was showing us. It would’ve been nice to get out of the bus at different stops but that’s not the type of trip this is… You are just viewing it from the bus. Still, glad we went!

It’s a must tour when in Madrid

It’s a great way to see Madrid and get your bearings to further explore the city. Guide and driver were excellent!

Fair tour that could have been better

Saw a lot of Madrid, which was nice, but never stopped or paused except at red lights. Guide gave a small amount of information in English at each point but couldn't hear it all clearly.

Great first day activity!

Tour was informative and fun, despite the rain! Our guide was pleasant and knowledgeable, and our driver knew how to navigate rush hour traffic. A great overview of Madrid!!

Paid for a trip and did not get to go

I checked in for the trip 10 minutes before 11:45am. Yet the tour operator forgot about me when he took the passengers to the bus stop, which was changed due to a parade. I stood 10 steps from the tour operator’s post for over 35minutes and then realized that he forgot about me. Because I do not speak Spanish, and there were other people also waiting for their bus tours, I did not quite know what was going on. I was very upset and did not have the time to wait for any later buses. When I asked for a refund, the tour operator asked me to go through Viator, yet it is not straightforward how I can contact Viator for a refund

Good customer experience

Visiting the overall view of Madrid. My booking was at 10:15 but was not able to attend at that time. I went in the afternoon and the representative was very understanding to change my time and booked me for the afternoon visit.

Great way to see Madrid

Had a wonderful tour. Guide was knowledgeable. Definitely a must do when you want to see the city but don't have too much time.

Great way to see the city

You can never go wrong with these types of bus tours because it gives you a good feel of the city. We decided to book with this company instead of the on and off bus because of timing. Our tour guide Adrian was very polite, professional and knowledgeable about the landmarks. This review did not get a higher rating for a couple of reasons. I didn’t want to start the review with anything not positive. We arrived 30 minutes early, for our 10:45 bus, so that we could find the meeting point near the Neptune Fountain. We looked for the bus as well as their company sign but did not see either. We found the street that is listed as the meeting point on the app; we looked for #3198. Saw a security guard nearby so we asked, some passersby overheard us and helped translate, that address number was too high for where we were, it was #8 where we were standing. Confused, we walked back toward the fountain, then noticed some buses on the opposite side of the street if the fountain (I was texting a message to the tour guide via the app). We go there, but it was the on/off buses. I asked if they knew where the Big Bus stop was; they pointed to Starbucks where we had just walked from. A bus showed up shortly after, we couldn’t board, too early, the guide said to just wait there. I sent another message to the tour guide hoping to get answer. At 10:50, no bus showed up , I texted the company this time; I received a response within a couple of minutes; explained what happened; they would try to reach the guide. 11 am still no bus, the company was still trying to reach the guide. 11:10 am the bus finally arrives. After all passengers are on and the bus gets going, Adrian introduced himself and apologized for the delay due to traffic (there were road blocks prepping the city for their national holiday parade/celebration). I suggested to the company to place signage so it’s visible. Better/quicker response is needed if the tour guide is contacted via their app. I am sure they are aware of the preparations for their holiday ahead of time, there should be better anticipation of the traffic so that they could adjust their timing to arrive early or on time. And possibly notifying the passengers of the delay would be nice especially if they are more than 10 minutes late. Maybe they need more buses? Just some helpful suggestions. Otherwise, I would still book this tour. The ride was enjoyable.

It was an excellent way...

It was an excellent way to see all the Madrid Monuments in 2 hours within a quick 3 day trip!! Our guide spoke Spanish and English and it was easy to follow along!

Not recommended

Lady who gave live guided tour did not give any meaningful information such as context, history or background for the list of places we passed. Difficult to understand her but essentially it was as if she was just reciting a shopping list to us as fast as possible.

the guide

the guide was very informative ,he provides information with both Spanish and English. the driver was good too

Bus was late and trip...

Bus was late and trip wasn’t good. Please issue a refund of fee I paid to you. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Great experience

Tour was very informative and our tour guide. Sarah took time to explain the highlights in an informative and friendly way. I highly recommend this tour to look at what Madrid has to offer.

Tour of Madrid

I participated in this tour with a friend visiting from the States. We were both satisfied with the tour and choice of sights. The tour bus guide Jesus was exceptional. He was very knowledgeable and his English was very good.

Good

Started on time. No real issues. Loved the translator was good at speaking English and Spanish. Recommend

Would prefer English commentary only

The english commentary was very difficult to follow because it was mixed with the Spanish way too often. Next I would choose english only. The tour guide was a very nice girl though

Trip through Madrid

A very good enjoyable ride through the City. My partner and I throughly enjoyed ourselves. Saw parts of the City I had not seen earlier.

Best way to see Madrid!

What a great day! The weather was perfect and the tour was great fun. The guide was so helpful and really helped me see as much as I could in my short stay! would totally recommend

Aunque nos tomó tiempo...

Aunque nos tomó tiempo encontrar el sitio de recogida, fue una buena aventura. La información dada por el guía Pablo fue precisa y entretenida.

Mine is the best!

My excellent guide. We didn't want to get off the bus to see the attractions, the trip with her is very entertaining. In the second round we will go down to some places.

Perfect

Perfect tour and the guide Emilio was number one, he was very clear in his presentation and very funny, I have never had a guide like this....Rating 10 for Emiliooo by Italia

Madrid en bus

Je recommande ce tour de Bus. Très instructif et de plus nous permet de nous situer dans la ville. Un seul mot excellent!

Pasable

Recorrido por las principales zonas de Madrid, con guía de habla inglesa y española, pocos conocimientos de historia en gral y de lo que contaba en particular

Se los recomiendo!!

La amabilidad del personal y la información de todo el trayecto hermosad las vista de desde el segundo piso gracias Gracias Bye

Catastrophe, life in danger - disaster, vida en peligro - disaster, life in danger.

Only 2 languages ​​possible with the guide on site none of the languages ​​of the 2 main border countries which are France and Portugal not even in audio guide with headphones on! A shame ! As a result, we understood almost nothing of what the guide said. The tour shows nothing interesting except buildings in the city and very few historic buildings with character! Furthermore, the driver passed numerous RED lights, cut white lines, braked suddenly and did not respect the authorized speed of 30 km per hour in some places! A real public danger! 21 euros to risk your life not understanding what the guide says and not seeing anything interesting, that's a very expensive price! Only 2 languages ​​can be played with the guide in the site, none of the languages ​​in the 2 main countries bordering France and Portugal, you can't even listen to the audio guide with some headphones! Una vergüenza! As a result, we don't understand what you decide on the guide. ¡El recorrido no muestra nada interesante excepto edificios de la ciudad y muy pocos edificios históricos con carácter! Furthermore, the driver does not have the same numbers in ROJO, short white lines, brakes abruptly and does not respect the authorized speed of 30 km per hour at any time of day. ¡Un verdadero peligro public! 21 euros to play the life without hearing what the guide says and it's not interesting, it's a very good price! Only 2 languages ​​​​possible with the guide on site none of the languages ​​​​of the 2 main border countries of France and Portugal not even in audio guide with headphones on! To shame! As a result, we understood almost nothing of what the guide said. The tour shows nothing except interesting buildings in the city and very few historic buildings with character! Furthermore, the driver passed numerous RED lights, cut white lines, braked suddenly and did not respect the authorized speed of 30 km per hour in some places! A real public danger! 21 euros to risk your life not understanding what the guide says and not seeing anything interesting, that's a very expensive price!

Mientras más conozco a Madrid, mas le amo!

Me fascinó la experiencia ya que nos permitió conocer las partes más interesantes de Madrid poder visitarlas después!

Very good “express tour” of 1 hour and 1/4 duration, through some of the main tourist attractions of the city.

Very good quick tour of the city, with a live guide (not recorded audio guide), who was very friendly and informed, and also recommended an excellent tapas place near the Fountain of Neptune. Nice bus. I would perhaps suggest cleaning the upper deck seats, as several had gum stuck to them and pigeon poop.

A éviter

Le tour ne dure qu’1h montre en main Il va super vite, les commentaires sont dit tellement rapidement qu’on ne comprend rien On ne voit quasiment aucun monument Et contrairement d’autres villes, il n’est pas possible de descendre et de prendre plus tard un autre bus Brefs, à éviter