City Sightseeing Madrid Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Tour: 24-Hour Ticket

Frustrating and uninformative waste of €€

Waste of money The staff were lovely, friendly, the following does not reflect on them at all. The tour audio on bus, when it was turned on, was out of sync with the drive and we never knew what we were supposed to be looking at. Which didn’t matter because the info they did give was minimal and boring. Terribly frustrating trying to find the route stops and hop back on the bus if you didn’t hop off there. The map they give you is useless and there is no online version. We gave up and caught the metro instead.

Poor experience

Very poor. Commentary almost none existent. Bus stops hard to identify. Buses less frequent than some other companies.On a positive note, driver and conductor were very friendly, and rote 1 in particular is a good way to orientate yourself in the city.

Horrible experience

Please DO NOT take this bus tour. The red line was fine since we did not get down. But the green line was HORRIBLE. We had to wait for 1.5 hrs till the next bus came. We made multiple calls...bad customer service. Go for Madrid City tour buses. Their frequency was every 15 to 20 minutes.

Amazing tour

Hop on and Hop off a bust that arrives every 15 minutes? - Amazing!!! The busses were right on schedule and were very clean.

Avoid !!!

I have used the City Sightseeing travel service before in many European cities and have been largely satisfied with the product. However on this occasion the service was absolutely abysmal: 1. The frequency of your buses fails to meet the frequency as per advertising 2. Many of the mapped designated pick-up points had no signage to indicate that their buses stopped there 3. Audio commentary is totally out of sync with the highlights passed 4. Staff failed to prewarn you that they could not stop upcoming points causing you to go past your desired exit points The competitor - Madrid City Tours - seemed to have 5 times more buses, so use them instead

Disjointed and lacking decent commentary

Lots of problems with this tour. Buses arrive every 15 minutes, but the commentary doesn’t always match your location. Several times the commentary was made on something that simply wasn’t there. And then it would be made on a building you’d already passed ! Too many buildings and items are simply missed off the commentary and the music which they use, is dull and monotonous. I have been on numerous tour buses around the world and this would rank as the worst I’ve been on. There has to be better in Madrid

Perfect!!

Beautiful views of the whole of Madrid, the system works perfectly and we can go up and down as many times as we want. It also included a drink and a tapa at the Mercado de la Tapa in the Mercado de la Cebada, the stall manager, whose name was María, was a sweetheart. I would take it again, a thousand times over.

Save your money and choose Madrid City Tours instead

Absolute rubbish, guides couldn't understand any guests other than Spanish ones, you work in tourism has some phrases to help.! Audioguide was constantly 2 stops later or early meaning you were NEVER looking at what the guide was saying, missed a few stops as a result. Inclusion of a free tasting the mercada was nice but due to timings and buses being totally unreliable we wasted about 1 day of our 2 day tickets AND the walking tour as the bus couldn't make it to the stop... Total waste over time and money... Get the Madrid City Tours buses instead they are regular and on time

Poor commentary, stuck in traffic, we walked faster

Having used the City Sightseeing buses throughout the world we chose to buy tickets for the Madrid one. There are a few other similar bus companies also working the routes but thought we would go with a company we know usually delivers. This branch is by far the most disorganised I have experienced. No one at bus stops to help guide anyone, this resulted in big queues of people from other bus companies trying to get on the bus with the wrong ticket. The sign posting of the stops is also very poor. Madrid is a busy city so we ended up sitting in traffic for a long time. The commentary is average. There were a lot of people on our bus complaining as they had waited over 40 mins for bus as not enough buses were running to accommodate the amount of tickets they have sold. We ended up getting off the bus and walking, it was so much faster than being on the bus. We walked to a cafe and had ordered drinks and were finishing our food when the bus we got off passed us. That is how slow the bus was! I would suggest that if you are able to walk between the sights. Or take a Tuk Tuk.

THROWN OFF BUS!

I bought the 24 hour Hop-on and Hop-off ticket for my husband and I for $54.70. At our first stop #1 the representative scanned my ticket which was in the confirmation email and gave my husband and I a card with a QR code to use when hopping on and off bus. We got off the bus to see a sight and then got back on another bus to finish the tour at #10. The next representative scanned my husband's card with QR code which was fine and then my card. The representative said my card had expired and I had to get off the bus IMMEDIATELY. My confirmation email stated,"Date: 2024-04-26 - Your voucher is valid for 12 months from this date." The representative said, "because I had purchased the ticket at a discount I had to use it within 3 days of purchase." No where on the email or ticket does it say that. Also why would the first representative give us 2 cards with QR codes if there was a problem. The representative said, "It wasn't her problem what the other representative did." My husband speaks Spanish and tried to explain how she was not correct. Finally she started yelling that she was calling the Police. We had no choice but to leave the bus. My husband and I have had a wonderful time in Madrid and the people have been so nice. So if you want to book a bus tour DO NOT USE CITY SIGHTSEEING MADRID BUS TOUR because you will waste your money.

Madrid on wheels

Perfect tour, friendly team, clean bus and seats, very good value for money. They also give tips on the trip - best times to visit, etc. And it is a 24-hrs validity ticket, so the trip could be split in two days - late afternoon and the next morning, for example.

Not happy with this Hop On/Hop Off bus company. Use someone else!!!

I was very disappointed with this hop on/hop off experience. The bus was supposed to arrive at stops every 20 minutes. We waited over 45 minutes. I called tour company to ensure we were in correct place. It was our first day in Spain and it took time away from us, as we had dinner reservations. I was told they would cancel so we could use another HO/HO company (which were passing by every 10 minutes), but then bus finally came almost 48 minutes after we arrived. I asked for partial reimbursement, but they refused, stating we used the ticket so they could not cancel. I was not willing to take one the next day and risk losing time, so didn’t get to utilize the 24 hours. We also made a stop that the bus chose to stop for a very long time while they helped numerous people, so we had to get off and pay for a cab, so we wouldn’t be late to our dinner. Super frustrating. Would not recommended. Two other HO/HO providers were passing by the entire time we waited and I regret choosing the one we did. Do not recommend.

Misleading and a Waste of Time/Money

Good idea but misleading. Instead, if you are able, take a Free Walking Tour. They are great! As for the bus tours, there are many companies with similar looking busses, and they only accept their ticket. So, you think there are many more busses than actual. Many busses are full, so you wait for the next bus or two busses just to get on. You sit in terrible downtown traffic. The bus stops are not marked on the street in any way, and they only pick up at a stop. We used our 24 hour pass once for 45 minutes and got off. It was a waste of 25 euros x2.

Very disappointed

Disappointing. I’d taken other tours with this company in other destinations and was happy, but this one was very disappointing. The map given to passengers was wildly mislabeled. The bus didn’t take the exact route shown on the map (which may have been due to traffic), and the audio guide was not in sync with where the bus was. Overall, I considered it a waste of time and money.

Found a Best Friend in Madrid, hey Paula!!

The best tour company ever!!! Paula Sanchez was on our bus 3 times and recommended great food and shopping while we were in Madrid. Highly recommended for a wonderful experience!

Highly recommended experience

Madrid City Sightseeing A fantastic experience in the city of Madrid, a wonder to visit with this company in its characteristic red buses around the world. The staff are very attentive, super friendly, helping and resolving many questions. Touring the main points of interest with them has been super easy And when I brought another ticket from a different city, they gave me a small discount. It was quite good in terms of quality and price. I will repeat at the next destination.

Underground staff

The bus ride itself is good. Stops at all the important spots. The staff, however, are TERRIBLE! At the end, the guide said something through the microphone that hardly anyone understood. When everyone remained seated, she stood up like a fury and screamed (yes, she really screamed!!!) that everyone had to get off the bus. No decency, no decent communication. Never again.

Better to book with other providers

At lunchtime we waited a total of 1 hour. During this time a bus came along and there was no room for us. It is best to book with the other providers, as the buses run much more frequently. In the late afternoon we were able to find free seats on a bus. The announcements in the audio guide did not match the sights at all.

I prefer to take the metro

I have used some Hip and Hop buses in other cities. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend the City Sightseeing buses from Madrid. I have never had to wait so long for a bus. Other companies' buses stopped at a stop four times more often than this company. I guess the company does not use enough buses.

Walking around Madrid

Beautiful visit you can see everything from the bus.. We first did a whole tour and then decided to go down to the various places where Carol (the staff girl) pointed us out and with her Colombian charisma was really friendly and very nice in recommending the various places to us.