When we visited Bucharest we wanted to see as much as we could in one day. We wanted to see all the most important attractions, on a budget. We wanted the best Bucharest bus tour.
Hop On / Hop Off Bus Tours
We love hop on hop off bus tours. We have used them in London, Amsterdam, Vienna, Athens and Budapest. So when we checked online and found a hop on hop off bus tour in Bucharest, we were very happy. Now we knew there was a cheap way to see all the best tourist attractions in Bucharest.
This bus tour is slightly different to the others we’ve used. In all the other cities you normally get two or three different bus routes, with a boat tour as an optional extra. In Bucharest however, the city sightseeing bus tour is just a single bus route, and no boat option.
So the hop on hop off options are a bit limited in Bucharest. But to compensate for lack of options, the price is drastically discounted. This is probably the best priced of all Bucharest tours that money can buy.
What’s the Cost for a Bucharest City Tour Bus?
The bus to choose is the Bucharest City Tour bus. At the time of writing, this is the only hop on hop off bus tour option in Bucharest. Those other cities we toured had 2, 3 or even 4 different bus tour companies to choose from. So the choice is quite easy in Bucharest.
Tickets cost 25 Romanian Lei for adults, and which is about $8.50. And kids are only 10 Lei. And tickets are valid for 24 hours. That makes this bus an absolute bargain. To get your ticket, just find a bus stop and pay the driver or ticket collector.
Audio Commentary
One other feature that we really like on hop on / hop off buses throughout Europe is the guided audio tour. Normally you get a free set of earphones on the bus, then plug it in and listen to a historical guided tour of the city. It’s wonderful to hear the guided commentary as you drive around and see all the attractions. Audio tours are normally in 15 to 20 different languages.
Bucharest city hop on / hop off bus is different. We asked the ticket collector if audio commentary is available on the bus. She apologized and informed us that the portable audio units are only in French or Italian. None in English.
Our ticket collector said we can download a guide in English for free, however we were unable to locate this (I must admit, we didn’t try very hard). Headphones are not provided on this bus, you need to bring your own. Since we didn’t bring headphones we had our first hop on / hop off bus without audio guided commentary.
Free Map
Like all the other hop on hop off bus tours, we were issued with it terrific free map. All the main attractions are listed, with a photo and a bit of a description. Very useful, but kind of difficult to unfold in a bus seat.
Companion App for Smartphone
One thing that’s not included on this tour is a companion app for your smart phone. Not a big problem because the map is so easy to follow, and folds up neatly to fit in your handbag.
The thing we really liked about companion apps in other cities is the ability to locate a bus stop easily. The communion apps normally come with a live map showing the location of the buses, and the directions to the nearest bus stop. Not in Bucharest, since there’s no app available (not in July 2018, anyway). But anyone with some basic Google Maps skills, a smart phone and a map should be able easily find a tour bus stop.
Tour Bus Stops
There are 14 bus stops, and buses run every 15 minutes. What really annoyed us in some of the other cities is that the hop on / hop off buses finished too early. 5:30 to 6:00pm seems to be the norm throughout Europe. No problem in Bucharest however, because the hours are from 10 am until 9:30 or 10 pm.
We jumped on at bus stop number 6, the CEC, on the edge of Bucharest Old City. We didn’t have to travel very far to get to the number one attraction in Bucharest, the Palace of the Parliament at bus stop number 7. This is the main attraction that I really wanted to see, so we got off the bus at stop 7.
In mid July the weather was around 32°C and sunny. We found ourselves in the middle of the day without not much shade around. We were literally cooking on the top level of the double decker bus, without any shade. So when we got to the Palace of the Parliament we decided to take the tour, which last for one hour and 15 minutes. It was so comforting to escape the heat of the day in this lovely air conditioned palace.
Overall we spent about three hours in the Palace of the Parliament including the standard palace tour, having a cuppa, and waiting for the tour to start. I guess that goes with most stops involving a tour, you should probably allow around 3 hours per stop.
Back on the Bus
The tour was a lot more physical than I thought, lots and lots of stairs to climb. By the end of it we found that we were quite exhausted, and with aching feet. Time to get back on the bus for a rest. Time to head to the bus stop just around the corner from the Palace.
It is such a relief to sit down on the bus after some strenuous walking on a hot summer day. Except that it is very hot sitting on the top level of the bus, without any shade. You really do need sunscreen on this bus tour during summer.
Northern End of the Circuit
Our next stop was to be at the north end of circuit where the Village Museum and the King Michael of Romania Park are located. Traffic was very thick by this time, around 4 pm. Bucharest is known for having terrible traffic problem problems, especially at peak hour. Same as practically every capital city on the planet, I guess.
The full bus circuit takes about 50 minutes in light traffic. In peak hour traffic, we figured it will take around two hours to do the full circuit, back to our starting point at bus stop number 6.
We never actually made it past bus stop number 8 on this day. Instead we ended up having a late lunch, relaxing and heading home ready for tomorrow’s touring activities. The north end of the circuit will have to wait for another day.
That’s the beauty of this inexpensive bus tour, if you don’t do the full circuit it’s not a big deal.
Overall Rating of the City Sightseeing Tour
So how does the Bucharest city to hop on hop off bus rate? Overall it’s a fairly basic bus tour. The buses are comfortable enough and have an open roof. Pretty much the same quality as you find in any other major city.
You’ll get great photo opportunities from the top level, because there is no roof to obstruct your view. And there truly are lots of magnificent sights to admire in Bucharest. The quality of these bus tours are comparable to any other we’ve been on, in other cities.
It was a bit too hot and sunny for us in the middle of the day, in the middle of summer, in July. It would be much more comfortable in the shoulder seasons at the start or end of summer. Or to start earlier in the morning, say 10 am.
The prices are outstanding, it really is very cheap to do a full circuit of this beautiful city. There are plenty of great attractions to see along the way, and it doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg.
So Many Attractions to See
So many attractions in fact, that unless you are as fit as an amazing race contestant, you’re not likely to see them all of Bucharest’s best tourist attractions in one day. You’re probably going to need two days to see most of the attractions in Bucharest, if you take this bus tour.
The good thing with this bus is that they run every 15 minutes, so you’ll never have to wait too long for the next bus. If you’re trying to figure out what to do in Bucharest, we thoroughly recommend taking the City Sightseeing Tour Bus.
Just have a look online at the bus route map and decide which stops you want to get off at, because you might not have time to see them all. Especially if you do a tour inside a museum or palace along the way. We say you should definitely give the Bucharest City Sightseeing Bus ago. Maybe even twice!
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