Citysightseeing Toronto Review

AVOID!! AVOID! AVOID!!

Oversold, hot, slow and irritating. City Sightseeing Toronto is a terrible experience, I cannot express enough how strongly I recommend avoiding this tourist trap.

When we bought our tickets we were told the bus would arrive every 15 minutes, you can simply hop on and off when you feel like it. We arrived at the bus stop at the Radisson next to the harbour, 45 minutes later a bus arrived. My wife and I were among 20-30 people waiting. The line isn't managed by City Sightseeing Toronto. Others cut in, jumped to the front, etc. Thankfully we were near the front, so we got the last two standing room only spots. The bus was super crowded, cramped and hot (no fans or AC). Then to top it off, the tour guide had a grating, irritating delivery. Her name was Cazz or something like that. Every word that came out of her mouth was beyond annoying. It would have been a better experience had she not talked at all. She provided no value or information which was worth the pain of listening to her. She tried too hard to be cute and entertaining, instead she came across as the most irritating "tour" guide ever. I cannot express in words properly how annoying she was. I will forever remember Toronto poorly because of her.

In fact, she was offended when I didn't tip her when we got off the bus. I'm supposed to tip a late, oversold, hot and annoying bus ride?

We decided to get off the bus before the tour ended because we couldn't take it any longer. We have 48 hours to use the bus, we won't be back again to use it during our stay in Toronto. We would rather walk or use Uber instead, even though we were suckered in to paying City Sightseeing Toronto. My wife said she felt sick on the bus, I agree with her. I feel sick we spent money with City Sightseeing Toronto. You got us once, you won't ever get us again.

Did the Niagara tour last Sunday. Our tour guide/driver was really good, explained a lot of things, made the trip a lot more fun, I rode in the back of the bus, and it was really cold, I asked the driver to turn a little bit up the temperature, but remained in the same condition, had a jacket, a hoodie, a scarf on me, so it wasn't like I was only on a t-shirt. On the contrary the city tour was great, would've liked it to be longer, but it was really comfortable.

Not enough buses running. Long waits. Full buses when arriving not letting people on adds to longer waits. I suggest public transit or uber it. Not worth $40.00 a person.

Superb. That's the way to explore a city. Make sure you opt for multiple days option. Cuz single day ride ain't gonna be enough. Cheers

We had an amazing experience in the Hop on Hop off bus with City Sightseeing Toronto.

The bus is quite pleasant, comfortable and fun besides the team on board is friendly and willing to help you with all the information that you need to make your visit to Toronto more enjoyable.

We liked the comfort of tickets valid for 48 hours that allowed us to enjoy more time at each stop. If you would visit Toronto and want to enjoy the city to the fullest, I recommend you to take this service that also includes a boat ride for around 45 minutes through the Toronto Islands and appreciate one of the best views of the city from the water.

Just a small observation that in some buses the audio system was not going well then everything else was perfect.

Unfortunately, part of the route was closed and on the second lap the tour was simply shortened. Route is otherwise worth seeing. It rained in torrents and there was no way to stay dry except a rain cape. The price also includes a boat trip to Center Iceland, which we did not do.

The boat trip was relaxing, the bus trip was a near nightmare.

I've done many of these hop-on-hop-off bus tours and this by far is the worst. The route is filled with unremarkable sights and attractions and only a few are even worth a visit. It took forever for the bus to arrive at the major stops. They employ students as guides and probably do not pay them well so they have this disgruntled look in their faces. The only saving grace was the harbor tour aboard yet another unremarkable boat. Totally not worth the $38 price.

Fabulous. This hop on hop off tour is one of the best I've ever been on. For approx 40 Canadian dollars, you get access to the buses for 48 hours AND a boat trip to the islands. The commentary on both bus and boat are super, with loads of local info shared, and they are very humorous too. I loved it. Great value. A must do when in Toronto.

The tour guide was very informative and the views of the city were outstanding!

Wow this was the worst bus ride ever!!!! it was like riding on new York subway way to fast could not see anything but blurry building OR GET HIT WITH A THREE BRANCH

Very good tour and very helpful staff. Headset audio issues lost them one star. Too distracting dealing with static, customer complaints. Non headset tour bus was better (we spoke English so okay).

A great way to spend the afternoon with the family. Pretty decent price for a city tour and boat ride!!

I've lived in Toronto for 15 years and never went on this tour. This past spring, my friend and I decided to do the tour and discover the popular Toronto neighborhoods. We loved it! We learned so much about our city and had such a good time! The only thing is that the tour bus doesn't run very often, so if you get off at a stop, you have to wait for at least one hour.

Hop on hop off is available in most major cities of the world. It s a good way of getting to know a city and normally very convenient and an alternative to public transport. HOWEVER the Toronto Hop on off we found was far too long. At just over two hours it could not be used without wasting time. We bought a 2 day ticket and found we used it once. POSSIBLY the ideal solution for larger cities, like Toronto, is to have TWO SHORTER ROUTES with an overlap in a couple of areas so you can effectively take a short cut. So was Disappointed and gave three stars.

Best sightseeing tour we have had so far!

+ For just under $ 40, there is a 48 hour bus ticket and a boat trip around the Toronto Islands
+ about 20 stops in the city, every 20 minutes comes a bus
+ it is also still live in English more complete told to the city (audio guides in different languages there are extra)

Very bad!!!!
Waited over 30 minutes in the sun and the heat at Dundas Square in a broken bus. No information.

The bus for the falls was in a really bad condition. It was probably the ugliest bus in the whole Toronto and had no seat belts. On their website they claim to have "luxurious coach" which is definitely a false advertising.

For the money we paid I expected a snack at least, but they only provided a bottle of water. Really?? How magnanimous.

In the end, the driver asked for tip. The tour was already too expensive to begin with, but we tipped however not happily.

I would NOT recommend any of their tours except the harbour boats which you can buy separately either online or off the station.

In the winter time they only stop every 2 hours. Their site says every 45 minutes. It was freezing I had no wifi as I was out of the country to call. The signs at the stops are not very visible.

Rudest managers specifically the blonde European lady whos always mad seems like she hates her lonely boring life

Fun tour of the city. All of our guides were knowledgeable, personable and energetic. They highlight a number of great Toronto landmarks and events. The hop-off/hop-on nature of the service is perfect to explore various locations and attractions, as is the frequency of the buses. I would highly recommend this to anyone visiting Toronto.

Up there with the best the guide was witty and knowledgeable top draw

A good value for your money, the bus tour ticket is good for 2 days and includes a boat cruise. Although it was especially hot the day of our tour, we sat on top deck as the view from the lower level was very limited. Our guide did a great job narrating the sites. We did not experience mechanical issues or overcrowding on our tour. I received a great overview of Toronoto and would recommend if you are a first time visitor.

It is recommended to take it if you have all day or you are 2 or more in the city. The audio in Spanish is activated when you reach the site of interest, then it is music. In the most frequented places the bus is saturated that sometimes it is necessary to wait two laps.

Very nice to go around the city without market and be able to choose our choice

The tour was okay. Our guide did not provide any additional information during the tour which detracted from our experience.
The boat tour provided a unique vantage point for the city.

Great way to se check out a town if limited time and little preparation.

Good service but it is expensive. I also think that visits should start a little earlier in the morning to take advantage of the day.

Nice tour of Toronto! We just sat on the bus and took in the whole tour the first day, then took advantage of the 48 hour ticket and used the bus to hop on and hop off as they advertise. It's a great value!

An excellent way to see the city on this guided tour. Freedom to hop on and off and a free boat cruise thrown in. Couldn't have covered nearly as much on foot in the time. Highly recommended.

Extremely amateur he service for a city like Toronto. They promise buses every 15 minutes but you must wait at least 45m or 60m to wait between one bus and another, and the service only works until 4:00 p.m. in practice.
It does not fulfill the function one expects for this type of service.
No comparison with services similar to those in London, Paris or NYC

Don't start at noon on a busy day from stop 1 but other than that it's exactly what it should be. Definitely take advantage of the Toronto Island boat tour that comes with it

Slow, mostly old buses (ours broke down), unorganized. Whilst the guides provide interesting information the lack of organization and attitudes of staff is poor. Would not use this company again.

We had a good experience with this tour. We were able to sit up top on the bus (downstairs is definitely a waste of time, with the window advertising ruining any hope of a view). The guide on the bus was informative & amusing. We also got good seats on the boat trip over to the Islands too. The guide here was learning the ropes, but was very approachable. Overall, this was a good way to get a grips with the city.

Some timing/schedule issues due to traffic and sports events, but overall, we found it informative, comfortable and staff were very pleasant. Bus stops could use better signage and some shelter from the sun would have been appreciated.

Pretty great way to tour Toronto downtown especially if you don't have much time

I fell asleep in the bus ... The boat ride happily included with the bus ride saves the note.

Not cheap, but a good solution if you are in Toronto only for two days. The buses are convenient, since you can hop on and off at any of the stops. The linked boat tour of the harbour and islands is an added bonus!

Niagra tour was perfect, the tour guide named "Alex" is so nice and funny. I had a great exprienece with them, highly recommended.

In the package I prefer the trip with boat on the lake but the buss was slow

A buddy and I had 5 hour to kill before our flight and just finished leaving the CN tower and were tired of walking. Its was our first time to Toronto and wanted to see everything. After talking my friend into it, we were not disappointed. We got to see all of downtown and more, went to the distillery district for some brews, stopped at eaton centre which was like times square, queen street, then a few blocks from union station which was the perfect timing to catch our flight. The tour guide knew his city and could hear him perfectly. It was a bit chilly because it was the beginning of November but we wore the right jacket. It was a great way to end our trip. I recommend.

Slow, without a/c and doesn't have the option for listening the tour in other language.

Ok but not the greatest guide. Not informative compared to others

Thank you City Sightseeing Toronto! We had friends up from Atlanta, Georgia and they loved it. We got off the bus at the ROM and one of our group noticed that she had lost her hearing aid. We did call the Tour phone number to explain our situation, and within 10 minutes, they called back with the news that they had found it! It was waiting for us when we got off the bus to get on the boat. Talk about great customer service!

The ticket allows you to hop on and off for two days, although it is one way only route. It also let's you take a boat tour through the islands. A good deal. If it is raining they offer ponchos but ONLY if you ride on the upper open deck. I asked them to provide us with one while we walked across the city and they wouldn't.

Audio system on bus was very poor. Midway through our tour we were switched to another bus which was English only so our out of country guests were no longer able to follow along.

Mixed experience yesterday. Four of us took the tour and after our first bus from stops 1 to 17 were of the opinion that this is the worst hop on/off tour any of us had ever taken. The boat was very pleasant and enjoyable but, like the bus we'd just been on, the commentary came across as very amateurish and at times complete waffle to such an extent it was laughable. By contrast, when we got back on the bus around 3.40 pm the tour guide Kristen/Kirsten (?) was excellent. She knew her stuff, gave pertinent and precise information with a little personal advice/suggestion for the area around each stop. We wished we'd been with her for the main part of our circuit rather than the few stops we actually had.

Too boring. For those who do not have much time it is worth to know more quickly the sights.

Avoid, Avoid, AVOID!!

I cannot comment on the tour service as i never made it to Toronto. We purchased tickets online for this service and then found out (just 12 hours later) that the sister of one of the members of our group of 4 passed away unexpectedly (at 41) and we had to cancel the tour. The hotels worked with us, other sightseeing things we had booked more in advance worked with us and these folks ran us around for several days making us email and call until we finally said we were going to stay on the phone until someone talked with us. They then told us no refund, but they would be happy to make our tickets be good at any time in the future or we could transfer them to someone else. This place seems to be very sketchy. Avoid at all costs.

We had a pretty good first day on the bus. Nice guides, helpful.
We eventually began to wonder about the maintenance/age of many of the buses.
As we were going up to Casa Loma the bus we were on was full and apparently was too old to handle the combined amount of people and slight incline at the traffic light on Spadina & MacPherson. It stalled for quite a while, causing a traffic back up. The driver eventually backed down the street some & made a rather awkward U-turn.
Day two ~ we decided to actually go to Casa Loma so we got on a bus down at Union Station. We were told that it would be about 45 minutes to get to the Casa Loma stop. Well over an hour later, we are stopped at Bloor and Spadina. This bus has a radiator leak! Our tour guide rambled on for quite a while before letting us know what was going on ~ why we had been sitting there not moving. We waited in the hot sun for a good 30 minutes before another bus came by & picked us up. It was a new bus so that was good, for our short hop up the hill. When we got back to the stop to head downtown the bus we got on was OLD. Duct tape on the flooring, pretty ratty seats....
Not sure I'd recommend this....!

The worst city tour I ever took.
Don t take this tour if it rains. It was raining inside the bus too, the windows were fogged up we couldn t see anything, the guide s microphone wasn t working, we couldn t hear anything. A total waste of time and money.
We should get a refund.

Ok, but not incredible. The tour was a little confusing on what it was talking about at any point.

It is a Very well organised tour -what an affordable way to get to see the entire city of Toronto.

The bus was quite pleasant, comfortable and the guides on board are very friendly and informative. So make sure you get into a bus which guides are boarded.

The guides added their own experience when they talked about the city's history and about the areas. Very very interesting.

Your ticket is valid for 48 hours and the harbour cruise ticket is valid for a life time.There is no expiry date for the ticket.

The cruise experience was excellent and you can see the entire Toronto sky line -it was an amazing view.

There are couple of different maps therefore take two maps.one of the maps is more detailed than the other.

You CANNOT move or change your seat when the bus is on the move.

Toronto transportation is expense therefore this is the best way to explore the city.

SIMPLE ADDITION OF "AIR VENTS" WOULD HELP SOLVE PART OF THE HEAT PROBLEM... REMOVABLE (in 3min)
Tents 3m2 for l'ete would HELP also
Staff member out of the HyattReg.Toronto was EXCELLENT

Rudest managers specifically the blonde European lady whos always mad seems like she hates her lonely boring life

Did the tour today. The girl who was our tour guide was so busy with her phone and just stated nothing but the obvious. Oh look cn tower,its so tall, so tall. Jeez. Maybe cause I am a local I expected more but God this tour was lame lol. No fun facts. She was basically like oh look annex..trendy hood. Oh look queen street another trendy neighborhood. ....boring.

This is a wonderful experience. Can't wait to come back and do it again!

The tour guides were extremely friendly and you do get to visit a number of tourist attractions. However, there was a lot of miscommunication between some of the staff members who operated the boat tour and the tour guides on the bus which resulted in extremely long wait times and missing the boat ride all together which was inconvenient. If you have time to spare, then it's OK.

A few issues with this tour!! I m from Toronto and I had a friend from Germany and I thought it would be a fun wait to show him the city as I ve done this used this tour company in Europe which was great. In Toronto I just realized it was a waste of money and not reliable. We booked for October 24th

1) we ended up walking to half the destinations because the buses were not frequent enough. Nor were we ever sure when they would come. A prefect example is we wait ten minutes at a stop and decided to start walking. Only to see the bus drive past us not two minutes later.

2) there was supposed to be a free boat ride with the tour. We asked one of the guides and he informed us that they were not running the first day, but to call and check to see if they would be running the next day as the season was done on October 31st for the boat rides. When we called to check the next day we were told that it s already the off season and there were going to be no more boat rides at all. Which was not only disappointing but one of the main reasons we booked the tour to begin with. They also told us to come back with this tickets at anytime the boats are running to get a free boat ride. The likelihood of me holding on to the transfer to for how ever long much Less my friend is unrealistic.

3) the site charged me $35. It didn t say it was in USD until after I got the confirmation email. I double checked after that it didn t show at the time USD. When I actually redeemed my ticket it said $37 CAD I was actually charged over $47 CAD. So all in all this was a total waste of money. We actually used the bus a total of 3 times (see reason 1)

The only saving grace was the guides seemed really nice.

Does not respect the planned route. Too long 4h instead of 3. Seating very uncomfortable.

Nice city tour with good information on city siteseeing. Highly recommended for tourists. Took lot of pictures and videos. Good memories.

Great way to see the city. Employees were super friendly

Great way to learn more about city and see things in a new light if you're from here. Haven't tried their boat cruise yet but it's nice that it comes free with the bus ride and doesn't expire.

I was having a hard time finding my way around Toronto because I didn't have wifi, but this tour gave me access to all of the popular tourist sites in Toronto for a good price. The guides on the buses were fun and interesting, and it was a good value for the money. They also give you a boat tour as part of the package.

Loved the bus tour. Takes about 2 hours. The bonus boat trip that was included made it a really great deal!

The Toronto tour was good. The tour guides did a great job. One of our guides, Leslie, was so informative. She gave great information. We had a guy that was really fun... Pity I can't remember his name.

I'd recommend it for travellers. The boat tour was good as well

We visited Toronto with my wife and the decision to make the Hop on Hop off Tour Bus experience was very accurate, it really is worth it since it makes it easier for you to tour the city as well as soaking you up with all the history and culture, the guides They were very friendly and fun and willing to give you all the help and information you need.

Best of all, the comfort of the tickets valid for 48 hours allowed us to enjoy each stop to the fullest and not be worried about the weather, in addition that the tickets include a 45-minute boat ride that you can take whenever you want even after 48 hours of bus tickets and you can have another panoramic view of the city from the Toronto Islands.

Great way to see the city! Never a long wait between buses. Great commentary by the guides

This tour is terrible! There are not sufficient busses and if you get off it's really difficult to get back on the bus, which are often full....so you have to wait for the next one. The boat involves a lot of waiting in lines in the hot sun. The staff don't communicate with the passangers....all in all, I would have to say it's the worst tour I've done. They could learn a lot from Europe!!!!!!

Highly recommend this tour, if you have the time, take the week long pass, that way your can get on abs off, and enjoy all the fun stops offered on this bus, or even just hang out on the bus for the ride and learn about the city. The boat tour pass is valid till you use it, so you can use it any time. I will be going again

Despite the nice staff unfortunately a rather bad experience. There was too much traffic in the city and so most of the time it was actually just stuck in traffic or the trip was interrupted due to the unnecessarily many stops. In addition, one remains relatively close to downtown and thus does not see much of the Toronto. And at 30 degrees it was definitely too hot on the upper floor. We were also told that we get a German bus, but the presenter has spoken much more in English than the German voice on the German channel. There was mostly only music.

Being from Toronto it's interesting to see the city by bus. Takes you on different tours well planned out with a tour guide on a microphone they know the city well worth it.

$175 for a few stops and not that much information.

Fun way to see the city with free boat cruise around the Toronto islands.