If you travel to the French capital, monuments, museums, and places of interest stack up one after another. A good solution to see almost everything in a day, without dying in the attempt, is to take the Paris sightseeing bus.
This tourist service is an open-top double-decker bus that takes a tourist route through Paris with an audio guide included stopping at the main places of interest. It offers the possibility to hop on and off as many times as you want, that is, it is the Hop On Hop Off bus in Paris.
What are the advantages of the Paris sightseeing bus?
There are many differences between moving around the city by public transport and doing it on the Paris sightseeing bus. Here are what I consider the main advantages of this service:
-Direct transfer to the most touristy spots in Paris
It’s true that the metro, RER, and city bus also take you to the main points of interest in the French capital, but with transfers and climbing many stairs
The Paris sightseeing bus has 10 direct stops at the city’s most representative locations. Below, you have the detailed route.
You get off and on right in front of the monument or museum in question, so the comfort is greater and you don’t have to worry about the best combination to get there. And you can do this as many times as you want with a single ticket.
-Save time visiting Paris
If you have little time to explore the city, the Paris sightseeing bus is, without a doubt, the best option. Wanting to see such iconic and distant locations on the map as the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Notre Dame, Les Invalides, or the Grand Palais in a single day can be a headache, but it is infinitely simpler and faster with this service.
-Panoramic views of Paris
The Paris sightseeing bus fleet consists of double-decker buses with an open top. Traveling on the upper deck ensures incredible views of the French capital.
Get your camera ready because, from the top, you’ll be able to take amazing photos of Paris with a different perspective that you’ll never have walking, inside the metro, or on a conventional bus.
–Audio guides in Spanish
Don’t see the Paris sightseeing bus as simple transport because it isn’t. Seeing the city on board this service is very similar to a guided excursion thanks to the audio guide system it includes, which will tell you many curiosities and historical facts.
Upon boarding, pick up a new pair of headphones and then plug them into the jacks located next to each row of seats. Select Spanish among the 11 languages available, adjust the volume, and enjoy detailed explanations of what you’re seeing, as well as music that will make the visit even more attractive.
-Free Wi-Fi to stay connected at all times during the journey.
–App to know how long the next bus will take to arrive at your stop. The Big Bus Tours app is free and available for iPhone and Android.
I found it very useful for the map with the exact location of the stops, the schedules and, above all, because it informs you exactly where the next bus is located. This way, you’ll know perfectly if you still have time for that perfect photo in front of the Eiffel Tower or if you can stay a few more minutes inside the museum.
What are the Paris sightseeing bus stops?
The Paris sightseeing bus has a total of 10 stops on the classic route, the red line, which runs through the center and is currently (September 2022) the only one in operation. For now, due to Covid, the blue route that took you to Sacré Coeur in Montmartre is suspended.
The full length of the classic route is approximately 2 hours without getting off.
Here are the ten stops of the Paris sightseeing bus:
- Eiffel Tower (Quai Branly, next to entrance 2 of the tower)
- Champ de Mars (in the center of Avenue Joseph Bouvard, next to the roundabout)
- Opéra Garnier (15, rue Scribe)
- Louvre-Pyramides (11, Avenue de l’Opéra) Don’t let the name of the stop confuse you because the bus doesn’t drop you off right in front of the Louvre museum’s glass pyramid, but a bit before, about a six-minute walk away, next to the Pyramides metro stop, where the Big Bus Paris offices are located. Also nearby, you have the Royal Palace and Place Vendôme.
- Louvre-Pont des Arts (Quai François Mitterrand next to the bridge)
- Notre Dame (3, Rue Lagrange on the Latin Quarter side)
- Musée d’Orsay (58, Place Henry de Montherlant)
- Champs-Élysées – Arc de Triomphe (156, Avenue des Champs-Elysées)
- Grand Palais (Avenue Winston Churchill, next to the famous Alexander III bridge)
- Trocadéro
Remember that the route only goes in one direction, meaning that if you miss the stop you wanted, you would have to go all the way around again, which can take about 2 hours. Better to pay attention.
There are very interesting places like Les Invalides or Place de la Concorde next to the Tuileries where I did miss having a specific stop. This coincides exactly with a long stretch where it makes no stops from Champ de Mars to Opéra.
What are the hours of the Paris sightseeing bus?
The first buses depart at 9:45 AM from three stops: Eiffel Tower, Louvre-Pyramide and Arc de Triomphe.
The last bus departs at 7:10 PM from the Eiffel Tower stop. But, very importantly, you should know that if you want to do the complete route, the last Paris sightseeing bus that goes all the way around departs at 5:45 PM from the Louvre-Pyramides stop.
The Paris sightseeing bus runs every day of the year, without exception.
Things to keep in mind…
You can start the route at the stop that is most convenient for you. However, remember that the buses only go in one direction, so pay close attention to the order of the stops by their number and not just on the map.
It’s worth getting a seat on the top deck of the bus because the views are nothing like the lower part. If you see that the incoming bus doesn’t have the seat you want available, let it pass and wait for the next one, which usually takes about fifteen minutes. Being first in line will allow you to choose more easily.
Many buses, but not all, have a small roofed area with glass at the top in the first two rows of seats. I recommend sitting there to have shade in mid-summer or to shelter from the cold and rain in autumn and winter.
Also, if you are traveling with very young children as was my case, you have more room to leave a backpack and stroller, plus the glass gives you a greater sense of security, although the windows are sometimes not as clean as you’d like for taking photos.
By the way, the sightseeing bus in Paris does not have air conditioning, at least the Big Bus ones I took.
They do have seatbelts, but only on the upper deck seats.
Keep in mind that if you buy tickets directly on the bus, at stops like Opéra and Arc de Triomphe there was a person selling them, but they will be more expensive; save 10% by buying them in advance.
How much does the Paris sightseeing bus cost?
The price of the Paris sightseeing bus depends on the option you choose.
1-day ticket: €37.80 adults, €19.80 children aged 4 to 12 and free for children under 4 years old.
2-day ticket: €46.80 adults, €22.50 children aged 4 to 12 and free for children under 4 years old.
Ticket 2 days + cruise on the Seine: €58.50 adults, €28.80 children from 4 to 12 years old and free for children under 4.
- Important: Keep in mind that if you buy the Paris Pass card you already have the tourist bus in Paris included. Take advantage of it!
Is the Paris tourist bus worth it?
You have come this far because you are looking for reviews of the Paris tourist bus and surely you want to know if it is worth it because it is not exactly cheap. There is no right answer, so I will leave you my opinion after trying it:
If you only have one day to visit the city, yes, the Paris tourist bus is worth it. Undoubtedly, it is a great, very comfortable option to be able to see the most relevant places when time is of the essence.
If you are going with a baby stroller and want to avoid having to carry it up and down the stairs of the Paris metro time and again, where elevators are conspicuous by their absence and escalators barely exist, yes, the Paris tourist bus is worth it.
If you want to have a first contact with the French capital to get your bearings and learn some historical facts, yes, the Paris tourist bus is worth it.
And if you are a regular user of this type of tourist transport, obviously you cannot miss getting on it in one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
My experience with the Paris tourist bus
Paris has been the first destination where I have taken a panoramic bus, because I usually always move on my own using public transport. In this case, I was with three small children aged 5, 3 and 1. This made moving by metro very tiresome, as it is not very accessible with a stroller, there is no elevator (only line 14 has one) and you find very few escalators.
I spent almost two weeks in the French capital staying in a HomeExchange home swap. However, despite having plenty of time to visit the city a priori, we were forced to stop for several days because my partner was sick. I take this opportunity to remind you of the importance of traveling with insurance because France has co-payments and the European health card may not cover everything) and my eldest son had a fever one day.
That’s why, at the end of the trip, I decided to use the Paris tourist bus to be able to see in one day everything we had left unvisited. Thus, I enjoyed for a few hours the convenience of not having to carry a stroller, a baby and two very small children up and down the metro stairs. The stroller was folded when getting on the bus and picked up when getting off right in front of each point of interest.
In my specific case and with the background I just explained, it was an absolute success. I booked the tickets for the Paris tourist bus on Civitatis directly the night before. Instantly, the tickets are generated—a different one for each person—which arrive by email so you can have them on your mobile and show them before boarding the bus. Simple as that!
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