Big Bus Tours Chicago Reviews 708

Out tour guy was amazing.... he was fun and informative and chicago is just beautiful

Overall, it was a great tour. It was easy to get on and off and the stop locations were great for newbie tourists. Also, the tour guides definitely knew their stuff and most were enjoyable to listen to.
A few negatives: the app was not working the day we went so we had to guess when the next bus was going to arrive. Fortunately, the drivers stayed on schedule so that wasn't difficult. Also, one of the guides was a stand up comedian who spent a little too much time promoting himself and telling mostly unfunny jokes. We ended up having a total of four guides though, and the other three made up for #4. I would recommend this tour for anyone wanting to see the highlights of Chicago in a day.

Very pleased with the tour guide Bingi. She was friendly and enthusiastic in giving out the touring info during the entire bus trip. Also i had some technical issues when I ordered online. The customer service staff Harvey William promptly responsed to my email and processed my request for a refund in a manner to my complete satisfaction. Overall a very positive experience with the company.

Our tour guide, Ben, was extremely knowledgeable, personable and added his own wit and light-hearted character to our tour. After the tour, I was ready to move to Chicago!
Our bus driver was also helpful in hunting some Blues haunt recommendations, not to mention he was an excellent driver!

Lance made the experience extra special for us. He's been the best tour guide we've ever experience. Even our children loved him. He was extremely knowledgeable with historical information. Had a great character and attitude, He had us laughing the duration of our tour.

No history in the narrative during the tour

we liked the guides and found the staff stationed at each bus stop to be courteous and helpful, despite the cold weather

Fantastic way to see many Chicago highlights quickly, especially for first-time visitors. Pickup is consistently on-time, and drop-off stops are numerous and convenient. Drivers are extremely friendly, and knowledgeable tour guides enjoy sharing interesting facts and trivia. Be aware that Big Bus will detour from their usual Soldier Field route stop during Bears’ home games to mitigate heavy traffic around the stadium, which is understandable. A great bargain for a reasonable price, including generous childrens’ fares for those traveling with family. And as with anything, book online for even better prices. Definitely recommend!

We had to wait on the final stop for over 40 minutes to begin our tour. Ms. B was a great tour guide.

Very informative and our guide and driver were fantastic (can't remember their names). Definitely will do it again.

Clean and in good shape buses, good drivers, interesting explanations and experienced guides, good route

Great tour of Chicago...convenient to get on and off. Guides were all great. Loved it. Thanks!

We went on a big bus tour on a Saturday, which in hindsight I would not recommend. Our first bus ride was standing room only on the lower level. We rode to Willis tower, intending on going to the skydeck. 90 minute wait. Never mind. Jump on the next bus. Not quite as packed. Got off at Millenium park. When we went to get back on, we piled in a trolley like sardines. Standing room only. About half the people in line got turned away and had to wsit 30 minutes for the nect one. Guide is telling everyone to look up, but all we see is the roof! Drivers were friendly. Every other employee obviously did not love their job. Short and rude. Mobile app is a joke. Don't bother downloading. Don't waste your time unless nobody else is on the bus with you. Finished the day walking and riding in ubers.

I had used Big Bus in Washington DC a few weeks ago and it was fabulous. It was a great day and well worth the price. I bought a premium ticket for myself and granddaughter on November 18th in Chicago and the experience was not good. The weather was terrible so the Ferris Wheel was not operating. The Christmas parade was that night so Big Bus routes shut down at 2 PM so we couldn't get to the places we wanted to see. I realize that weather is unpredictable but we should have used a taxi that day. I feel that in this situation a refund should be given. I had two totally different experiences with Big Bus.

Had a great time on the bus for my first trip to Chicago. Easy to get on and off to see the sights, enjoy restaurants. Wish I could remember the guides name, dark hair drinking Red Bull, he was funny and knowledgeable about the city. I would do this tour again!

We had a bad experience when we used the Big Bus Tours on a recent trip to Chicago. There were three of us in our group. Everything was fine for the first two stops. But then we got off at The Willis Tower where we had tickets to go to the top. The wind was terrible that day and while we were in the tower, the wind knocked all the construction scaffolding and plywood down. It fell into the streets and emergency personnel had closed all the streets around the Tower. The location of the Big Bus stop was no longer there. A police officer tried to help us and suggested we go a couple blocks down because that was where the city buses were being rerouted. We tried for an hour to find a Big Bus. We finally found a number and called it. We were told that since it was now 4:15 pm there would be no bus coming. I realize the weather conditions and resulting closer of roads in a three block radius of the Tower was beyond your control. But you would expect there to be someone from the Big Bus company there knowing they had dropped tourists off at the Tower who would need to be picked up. Our 14 stop tour was only a three stop tour and we had to get a taxi to take us back to our hotel. We were leaving the next day so we didn't have a chance to see if our passes would be honored the next day.

Sam and Pam were great! Saw all of the “must see” sights and Sam was full of great information about Chicago history. I’d recommend going as early in the day as possible as the bus really filled up later in the afternoon. Great experience overall!

Paid $72 for a bus ride around the city. That's all it was. The commentary about Chicago was not worth the cost of the tour bus. Do not recommend this tour.

This was the first time I used the bus and the experience was not so satisfiying. I took the bus at 5pm and only stoped at 5 stops,the traffic was terrible. My advice would be to take it early in the morning. For me $144 dollar for 40 minuts wasn't worth it.

We were fortunate enough to have Rich as our guide and Eddie as our driver. Enjoyed it enough that we went on it twice back to back. That was our biggest amazement, Rich had such a vast knowledge that there was still more facts that he shared on the second trip. Only one regret was that we could not go on it a third time.