Big Bus Tours

So disappointed with this company, we made the 3 loops, are pretty good .
The guides do their utmost with completely worn equipment
Don’t expect to have foreign language comments, nothing, only comment from the guides by poor speaker.
Records comments in foreign languages​are not working and the bus are very very old, but why make efforts for tourists who come only a single time. Take the money and bye bye.

This is the best of the double decker tour buses (don’t be fooled by imitations). For one flat price, I got to tour most of Miami without getting lost, renting a car or paying parking fees. Service is frequent, running about every 30 minutes or so.
My only problem is I wish they would slow down just a little bit to allow tourists to take pictures of scenic views. They rushed too quickly through everything. I also wish they offered night tours so you could see the city lit up or enjoy dinner before heading back to the hotel. 4 stars instead of 5 for these reasons.

The tour, or route I should say, itself was not bad; the service, on the other hand…
Hopped on the bus on 9^th & Collins (I think; whatever closest to the Art Deco Welcoming Center) and got on a bus with pictures on the windows. We were told to wait to get on, so whoever left on the bus can go sit on the upper deck. I got on, sat on lower deck (cuz I had no choice) and could barely see out the windows because of the stupid tint/​pictures they put on them. Whose f-​in stupid idea was that?
People who got on after me, at/​from the same stop, got standing room only. But guess what? The next stop where people got off, they were first to go upstairs. I had no chance of getting up there. This was becoming quite a frickin waste of time. I was getting irritated.
After about 4 or 5 stops, I FINALLY got to go up there; only because there was one seat left for a «skinny person». Thank goodness I fit the bill. At that given time. The view from upper deck was definitely nicer.
Stopped at Bayside to hop on another bus. Luckily this time I had no problem getting a seat upstairs.
Just when we were about to take off, the guide/​narrator shows up with a bag of ear buds and asked whether any of us needed them. Having no idea what they were for, I asked, «For???»
Without answering MY question he asks me, «Do you speak English?» (Uh, RUDE!) I answered «Yes.» And then I think he said it was for other languages or something. But I still can’t get over how rude he just was.
At one point during the tour he pointed out another tour bus/​company and started bad mouthing them. He stopped shortly after, perhaps he caught himself, but that lack of professionalism already surfaced and wasn’t something he could take back or erase.

We decided to take this tour after our cruise, since they offered to hold our luggage. We boarded a bus and we were told we were going to take a 5 minute ride to Bayside Marketplace where there would be bathrooms and places to shop. Instead, we were taken to a place in port which was empty and told to get off the bus and get on another one, and that we wouldn’t be stopping at Bayside – that the 90 minute tour would start right from the port. We were never told what was happening – I understand there was a breast cancer walk at Bayside, but the company should have told us in advance and they should have had a better back-​up plan. We took the beach tour and we were finally told once we reached stop 6. What happened to the first 5 stops? They claim they weren’t popular, so we didn’t stop. After stopping at stop 6 to try and find a bathroom – which is not an easy task – we had to wait for another bus. The top was full so we had to sit on the bottom or we were told we could wait for another bus. Because the windows are covered, you can’t see anything and the cover actually hurts your eyes. We missed half of the tour and we couldn’t do it again because we were on a schedule to get back to the airport – we didn’t have time to sit around waiting for buses. We asked if we could stop at Bayside to get lunch – we had planned this since leaving in the morning and one guy told us he would get us to Bayside so we knew we could get lunch and shop a little before going back to the airport – this way, we wouldn’t be late for the shuttle to the airport, which was supposed to leave from Bayside. Made sense, but since no one communicated the issues to us, we had to ask the tour guide. He said we would not be stopping at Bayside and that they were operating out of the port. Good thing we asked. Then, he got all snippy and told us there was a stop where we could walk 5 – 6 blocks to Bayside. We agreed, but there was never such a stop. On the way back, he asked the driver to stop at the mall and he told us that if we wanted to get back we would have to flag down a bus or walk across the bridge. We chose not to stop at the mall for fear of missing the shuttle to the airport. How stupid – we’ll drop you off here, but you need to find your own way back. Also, we never stopped at all of the stops, and the map we got from the cruise ship had different stops than the actual stops, which the tour guide claimed were just changed. Needless to say, we went back to port and caught the 12:00 shuttle to the airport instead of the 2:00 since we were starving and there wasn’t anything in port. So disappointing and not worth the 120 bucks we spent. Horrible communication – employees were clueless and so were tourists – no one knew what was going on and no one wanted to hear any complaints. Several people were complaining when we returned to port but there was no supervisor to be found anywhere. Overall, an extremely stressful and disappointing way to end vacation – do not take this tour!

No Air Conditioning inside the buses! Don’t do it unless the temperature is below 80 F. We were only able todo the red loop because of the heat inside the bus was unbearable, and lost the $ 45 day pass. Try another company and make sure it has A/​C. I only gave it two stars because it was on time and friendly employees.

We had a mixed experience on Big Bus Tours last February.
We were on a cruise where are port was Miami. Due to flights, we were unable to fly out until about 6 p.m. at night from Ft. Lauderdale. Basically you have two options upon coming back into port for the day. You can either take a tour of the Everglades or take the Big Bus around town. They will hold your luggage which is a plus and get you back to the airport.
As I had done the Everglades tours before and had never been to Miami, I thought the Big Bus Tour was a great way to go. Plus we didn’t’ really have another option with luggage. Here’s the breakdown of the good and bad.
The Good:
–They pick you up from the port, get you to where the buses leave from, hold your luggage and get you to your airport of choice (Miami or Fort Lauderdale).
–There are many choices as far as routes to take around the city.
–They have the open top which allows you to really see the city.
–The audio guides are great as they cover all languages.
The Bad:
–Tour guides are a mixed bag. Our first guide for the city was very knowledgeable and I could understand everything he was saying. But, our second guide for the beach tour was horrendous. I couldn’t hear a word he was saying as he was putting is face way to close to the mic. I just plugged my ear buds in to listen to the audio tour. But, that wasn’t the real problem. He also was trying to solicit good looking women while working and on the bus. Ridiculous and very unprofessional.
–This is a pricey tour compared to some of the other bus tours I have taken in other cities.
–Each leg of the tour can be kind of long which is great, but you can’t see very much if you only have a few hours. This is a better tour if you have more time to explore and get off at each stop.

We went on the beach and city tours today. No AC and even our driver acted like he was about to have a heat stroke. The beach tour guide (1pm) was good and enthusiastic; the city tour guide not so much. I would not recommend.

Equal parts great and horrific. We did two tours red and green (coconut grove/​lil havana and uptown design district). The drivers drove well but please folks slow or stop the bus so we can get some photos especially of public art on uptown loop tour. The guides were great especially Mr. Brown (red tour guide good too forget his name). The cons? The AC was flat out broken on both buses. July in Miami is literally unbearable hot it feels like 100. And ur trapped in a vehicle filled w warm bodies with windows that dont open? Its nuts. So we moved to top deck which is uncovered. The direct sun was brutal. We clutched an umbrella which wind threatened to blow away. I saw their competitors with a dbl decker bus w a TOP on it. Good idea. We didnt tip bc we were literally gasping for breath and limping to shade and water when ride ended no time to fiddle w wallets and ppl. I dont recommend this tour unless they put working AC on all buses (reviews from months ago cite same problems). Im guessing owners/​mgmt arent putting the support they need into their business. This could work if the company tried harder.

1^st tour bus was covered in advertisements and you couldn’t see outside. Both tour buses were extremely hot! No fans no A/​C and the top area was filled. They may have covered some good areas, but it’s hard to focus when you feel like you’re gonna pass out… NOT worth the $ 50/​per person.

Das Big Bus Tours Unternehmen gibt es so gut wie in fast jeder bekannten Weltmetropolo und darf in Miami/​Miami Beach natürlich nicht fehlen.
Wir haben das große Tour Ticket gebucht und wurden nicht entäuscht. Die Tour ging durch ganz Miami Beach sowie Miami plus die Boots Tour Star Island, das Ticket war für 3 Tage gültig und wir konnten so sämtliche Sehenswürdigkeiten Problemlos besichtigen.
Auch die Tourleiter konnten viele interessante details zu den Sehenswürdigkeiten erzählen. Aufjedenfall empfehlenswert.

I used Big Bus in Washington DC and Miami. Not recommended at all. BOTH ARE AWFUL. Not worth your time at all. Waiting time for buses are just too long.
Washington DC: We wait about almost one hour from White House North to Arlington National Cemetery. Not only that, the bus that picked us at Arlington back to the town had a confusing route and skipped many of them which made me frustrated.
Miami: Not practical at all. Waiting are just too long. Yes, if you are a patient person and spend more than 2 days in Miami, you’re good. But if you’re not, DON’T!
Overall, not worth at all!

Waited 45 minutes for the 11:45 bus from Fountainbleu. I called and Lynn said the bus is broken. On the red loop at 1:30 the bus’s air conditioning wasn’t working. FIX YOUR BUSES!

Ellie was super knowledgeable. She made the tour feel very personal like it was just us and her. Super friendly and beautiful person. I would ride the tour with her anytime.

I did the 48 hour pass, purchased it at the Art Deco Welcome Center for $ 45. As a solo traveler in Miami this was the perfect combination of transportation and touring of all aspects of Miami. The timing of the buses were good in my experience. The only issue I had was the start times of the buses listed in the pamphlet had changed to a «summer schedule» that they did not mention when I bought the tickets. So, my initial bus showed up about 30 mins after the time listed on the pamphlet. Once on, everything was on time; they were pretty strict about when they left to keep things running smoothly. I really enjoyed my city tour loop, the guide Juan was very informative and engaging. Walking tour of Little Havana was good as well. The opportunity to see the Wynwood murals and other parts of the «green loop» also fun. Armando was a hilarious and animated tour guide and really gave a nice local’s perspective of the area/​history/​arts. Overall money well spent for me.

Highly recommend for anyone coming off a cruise ship with a late flight home. Three great tours with lots of opportunity to jump off and explore by foot. Busses come through about every 20 min.

My husband and I did this tour on 2 separate portions of our vacation. We did the Green-​line only the day of our cruise, and then organized another tour for the blue and red lines after we disembarked in Miami. I’ll talk about each tour individually.
The Green Line: This was by far one of our favorite tours; with some exceptions. My husband and I are REALLY into art and art districts, so this appealed to us. They told us that this was a new tour so they were trying it out to see how people liked it. It was being sold as an «art» tour. This tour has pick-​ups every 45 minutes in midtown, and our tour guide was very knowledgeable. The graffiti art was absolutely amazing in this area. It is/​can be sketchy at times. There are strips of high-​end areas, and then not-​so-​safe areas. We were told to ask our guide and they would let us know if a stop was safe. Since they only had pick-​up every 45 mins and we have to be at port on time, we did not get off the bus; however, had we had the time we would have. My suggestion to the tour company: if you are selling this as an art tour, then I would recommend slowing down a bit at times to allow people to take photos — especially since some areas really aren’t good to be in at times. However, that being said, we loved the tour.
The Blue Line: I believe this one was Miami Beach, South Beach, etc… This was our second favorite tour. The most amazing thing for us was seeing all of the Art Deco buildings from the 1930’s. It’s like stepping back in time. We absolutely loved it. We never got off to walk around, as we were able to get shots pretty well on the top of the bus. Minor grievance: the mic went out on our tour guide as we were departing the original station. They should check them before departing; very difficult to hear him with all of the wind, honking, etc…
The Red Line: It’s marketed as Little Havana, but really only 10 minutes of it is actually in Little Havana. We got to see areas like coconut grove, and some interesting architecture, but other than that, it was really disappointing. The hubster liked this one the least. I rather liked it, but to me, this showed people how Floridians really live outside of just the downtown areas of Miami — not everyone owns a 1.5 million dollar condo. Little Havana reminded me of the neighborhoods back in Los Angeles where I grew up. To me, it felt like home. We never got off the bus, but there is a stop in Little Havana that is one Cuban restaurant after another. If you want to experience Cuban food, and are waiting for a cruise, etc… and staying in downtown, don’t go to Bayside. Come here. So many more options, and from what we were told back at the station from some people who were traveling with us from our cruise, it was much better — not touristy. My only other issue with this tour was that it was an audio tour, not a tour guide led one. We were not informed of this. We would have gladly waited the additional 20 minutes for a tour-​guide led bus.
All-​in all we loved the Big Bus tour. I think that it is a missed opportunity for the company to not sell individual line tickets. We had to pay full cost just to ride the green line, and it’s only 45 minutes compared to the 90 minutes of the other two lines. I would recommend this tour if you’re on a time crunch and want to see the most of Miami, FL.

3.5 stars
The good: They cover a ton of area — South Beach, Miami Beach, Downtown Miami, Coconut Grove, Mirracle Mile
The not so good: No interaction from the workers to the passengers. This is all canned recording and it’s fair at best. In the Southbeach area they come very close to trees… watch your head.

Great way to see the city and get in all of the important sights! I was visiting Florida and only had 1 day in Miami, didn’t really know what I wanted to see or do so this seemed like the best option.
I really wish I’d read the reviews before I’d booked and suffered through some of the horrid tour guides that I had to deal with. We did all 3 tours. First tour, the green tour was the tour that the ticket booth guy said we would love the most-we’d get to see lots of art and culture. Sounded great! Cut to our tour guide telling us that it’s only been about two or three weeks since they started this loop, and I can see why. It basically brought you through parts of Miami that the general population doesn’t really need to see. No one got off at any of the stops, because we were in the middle of nowhere. We did see some cool graffiti, but that was about it. I would not recommend the green tour. Also, the tour guide was a little cheesy, made really bad jokes and kind of seemed to just read whatever he saw («Oh, there’s Burger King”-what?) instead of actually being versed on the city.
The second guide we had for the Downtown/​City tour (Red loop) was named Ellie (I think?) and was AMAZING! She was so knowledgeable and really seemed to have a love for what she did and a love for her city. She had tons of information to share and was able to add personal touches that really made it so enjoyable. I would give her five stars!
The last tour we did was the blue/​ocean/​South Beach tour. HUGE disappointment. The tour guide, June did not seem to care about anything because it was the end of the day and the last tour. We were supposed to use headphones for a pre-​recorded tour, but the recording was all static. but none of the stops were ever announced. People missed their stops and had no clue. She basically sat there, not doing anything. I was not impressed and now know nothing about that entire part of the city.

Decided to do the Big Bus Tour while we were in Miami for 4 days at the end of Aug and I’m so glad we did. We decided to purchase the 2 day tix just so we didn’t feel rushed and if we wanted to hop back on at any time we could. There were a few things that really didn’t set well with us. After boarding at The Venetian Pool (we spent two hours there) we had a new tour guide who promoted his band (very tacky). I wanted to hear about Little Havana not his band. We actually got off in Little Havana so we could eat and get a new tour guide as well. Once we got back on we had a good tour guide again who actually talked. There were guides that would talk or you could listen to the auto-​tour. Each bus was one or the other and they were staggered. While one talked the bus 30 minutes behind had the auto tour. Once we got back to the stop to change bus to go on the «Beach Loop — South Beach» it was the last bus/​route of the day and while it was not an auto tour the guide should have been speaking and he didn’t so we didn’t get a vocal tour of the Beach Loop at all. Very disappointing. While I overall enjoyed it I don’t think I would get on a bus without the auto tour option anymore because we missed out on a lot.
I am very torn on giving this a 2 or a 3 star review because of the two tour guides.

We bought the 48-​hour All Loops Tour starting on Sat ⁹⁄₆ using the Travelzoo deal for $ 32 per person.
Totally agree with the others here — the tour guide really makes or breaks it. We took the Beach Loop twice and the City Loop once, totaling 3 guides. The people at the main ticket booth are very friendly and knowledgeable.
Unfortunately, our experience with the first guide on the Beach Loop deterred us from making the most out of our 48-​hours. On this loop, we were given headphones to hear the tour guide. We weren’t able to make out what he was saying most of the time through all of the static. There were also minutes that went by in complete silence. It felt more like a slow commuter bus than a tour. What we did make out through the static was OK, but overall we weren’t impressed.
It wasn’t until we completed the entire loop with the lackluster guide and hopped onto a new bus with a new guide that we realized we got gypped on our first loop. Our second guide was fantastic!
So remember — as other reviewers are saying — IF YOU GET A BAD A GUIDE, GET OFF AT THE NEXT STOP, WAIT 30 MINUTES AND GET ON A NEW BUS.
Our third guide on the City Loop was also fantastic. I don’t remember his name, but I do remember he is Cuban and has a personable voice. He was very enthusiastic, interactive and full of knowledge. The City Loop was so interesting, we even went back to Little Havana days later to check out some of the restaurants our guide recommended, as well as the Vizcaya Museum in Coral Gables. This tour highlights the culture that Miami has to offer, including the history of the land and its people.
Additional benefits:
They hold your luggage while you tour, they offer an airport shuttle package.
The bottom line:
If this is your first time in Miami, this is a great way to explore the highlights of the town. If you get a bad guide, hop off and wait 30 minutes for the next bus.

The tour guide makes or breaks it. I thought about writing two reviews, to represent the two different tour guides i had on the Beach-​bus tour and the Downtown-​bus tour, but… I think in the end it is luck of the draw. The cool thing is, if you get a crappy tour guide, YOU CAN JUMP OFF.
I was traveling with my 98 y. old grandmother, so we just stayed on the whole ride and sweated. The traffic on the beach-​bus was bad, and the tour guide didn’t know what to do with it. He just sort of stopped talking and we sat. in traffic. I don’t remember much of anything except trying to get a tan on the top deck.
We didn’t eat between so we got a juice and went to the bathroom at the mall. The red bull juice I got was… room temperature, which was kind of a massive let down considering it was the peak of summer in Miami.
((but that’s not BBT’s fault, just note they don’t provide any refreshment)
On the NEXT bus, the tour guide was witty and funny and making jokes and teaching us interesting information and more. I don’t think the beach-​tour lacked cool info (we visited because my grandfather was stationed there during the war, and my grandmother had some pretty cool stories of her own) but the quality of the tour guide really makes a HUGE DIFFERENCE.
TIP: try to get Michael as your tour guide. He’s kind of younger and his driver was Carlos.
More on gma’s experience: The heat kind of exhausted us all, and the total tour time took us from about 10am to 2pm, including the time we waited between tours. Otherwise they were really accessible and friendly and let us put her walker on the bus. It was a nice way to get around the city with someone who can’t walk long distances.
TIP for getting there: If you stop when you see the little stand from the road, the taxi will drop you off about 500 meters from the buses. If you don’t want to walk, get the taxi to go right up to the outdoor mall area.