I always take a bus tour when I visit a new city, but I was left feeling so disappointed in this one for various reasons.
The first being I cannot for the life of me fathom why people are allowed to sit on the bus without headphones and just sit and talk over the commentary - just be quiet and stop ruining it for others!
But most importantly, it made no sense to me at all that we had to change buses. I had a 48 hour ticket and this happened on both days. It made NO sense, when we were settled and comfortable. Not only that, we were put off a relatively modern and clean and comfortable bus, on to something dirty and really outdated. There was actually a drain hole where I was sitting filled with fluff - I had to move it was so offputting.
For some unknown reason, even though the weather was relatively warm, the driver and tour guide wouldn't put the top down meaning we missed a lot of the architecture and tops of buildings, particularly the Parisian Cafe which is apparently the most beautiful cafe in the world. I wouldn't know because we were packed like sardines and couldn't look up to see it.
The second bus had like a plastic sheet over the windows, meaning it was very very blurry and hard to see anything. I see no reason at all why the tops can't come down - it was at least 14 degrees. I've been in Paris with the top down and Belfast with much much colder weather. Added to this on the second bus with the top down, it was impossible for anyone over 5 feet tall to stand up properly and when I raised this with the tour guide, she just shrugged her shoulders. It was absolutely ridiculous - couldn't see and couldn't stand up straight!
Much of the commentary didn't fit with the timing of the tour either - it was still talking about the Parisian Cafe long after we were already approaching Margaret Island.
Overall I didn't feel the tour guides cared very much about the people on their buses and that any concerns raised were just too bad. Basic manners and care for people's safety and enjoyment wouldn't go amiss!! Much improvement and staff training needed!