Sydney, Australia
10 Alfred St
N/A
Quite a traditional tour on an open top bus that took in the harbour, Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Bondi Beach and Fox Studios. It was quite nice to be able to hop on and off at each stop, but I think this is a common enough type of tour these days.
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My advice here is if there are cruise ships in the harbor find another way to get around. We purchased a 2 day package which included a “harbor tour.” The both days there were 3 cruise ships in harbor including a 5000 Royal Caribbean ship. Nothing against them at all. But the buses were absolutely packed. They simply do not have the infrastructure in place nor do they limit the number of tickets sold. The 1st used it it was standing room only. Crammed uncomfortably into the poorly air conditioned bus. The second day we took the Bondi loop. Again crammed but managed a seat on top. After a couple of hours strolling around Bondi beach we decided it was time to return to our ship. We went to the stop and there were 25-30 people on line already. After 20 minutes a fairly full bus arrived that only took about 15 people. After waiting for 45 minutes another similarity full bus came around and now there are 60-70 people waiting. 20 of us barely got on even after waiting an hour. Many of the people that were left stranded ran for the few available taxis in fear they may miss their ship leaving port. 45 minutes later and skipping every stop along the way and ignoring another 75-100 fellow travelers we made it back to the ship 45 minutes before leaving port. Again I’m sure it’s fine when there are no cruise ships. But with 10,000 cruisers in port plus the regular travelers I’d skip the hop on hop off.
Public transport is faster and cheaper, main benefit is for the semi "guided" experience it provides and highlighting some places you wouldn't know or be introduced to on real transit. Drivers are friendly and able to assist, but this makes the buses super slow at the stops. Free headset provided to listen, but the controls suck and defaults settings everytime you accidently jostle the plug. Ultimately you get what you pay for it, but just note that the buses run a limited route and during a short time period (day light only), so keep an Opal card handy if you are sojourning farther away. Unless you want the guided areas to be highlighted generally you are much better off on regular transit.
Tour was good and it stopped and pretty good locations but gaps between the buses sometimes were a bit long but the app was really great when it was working so I could plan when to get back to the stops for
A great two days and I was able to see alot and get oriented. The Australian artist music was a bit repetitive. These of artists have all recorded whole albums no need to play the same six songs over and over for 2 days
Unfortunately a very disappointing experience. We bought 2 day hop on hop off tickets. On the advice of the iventure sales woman in circular quay. Only to find out we were issued with the 24hr ticket. Still cost 58. We had used ticket for about 2hrs then planned bigger trip the next day which included the trip to Bondi. We arrived at bus stop to be told our ticket had expired. We paid another 10 to upgrade so we could go to Bondi. Total rip off. So expensive. My advice would be to use the public transport system so much cheaper. And you can explore at your own pace. The iventure cards do not save any time as most places you still have to l line up for tickets.
The bus tour highlights Sydney very well. It has plenty of stops. It however doesn’t come every 20-30 min. Some come earlier and others much later. I waited for an hour for one and then 15 min for another. One of the bus drivers was rude and wouldn’t let passengers on after we waited for 30 min in the rain. He never opened the doors. But the other drivers I had were very friendly and approachable. I guess it depends on who you get.
Great bus for hop on and hop off. Only wish it was a non smoky and cleaner air.
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