Manchester Sightseeing Bus Tour With Dominic Monaghan

The day we went there was only three busses for the day. Its not really hop on hop off in other cities. If you get off to see a site then you have to wait for over an hour for the next bus. A bit of research and the free buses are a lot better

I am writing this review on behalf of myself and 30 children. We are a local Manchester school and recently used the sightseeing tour company for a class trip. The trip was organised to coincide with our topic “Why is Manchester a great place to live?” The trip was well organised and planned down to every minute. The children got to experience first hand what our wonderful city has to offer, learning lots about the history. Some of our children had never been on a bus till this day and seeing the joy and laughter on their faces when they walked around the corner to be greeted by an open top bus brought joy to our hearts. The on and hop off bus was clean, easy to use and most importantly on time, this enabled us to hop on and off at different stops with confidence. Phil and the drivers are well mannered, polite and very patient. They engaged with the children helping us on and off the bus, ensuring it was safe to do so before allowing the children to get off the bus. The children had an AMAZING time and we would like to thank you for such a great experience.

This isn't a bad way to see Manchester; but with a limited number of stops it is a bit restricting as to when/where you can join/jump off....plus at this time of the year there are only three trips a day, meaning it's a two hour wait between busses.....in fairness I get why as it wasn't busy, but not great for those that want a more frequent jump on-jump off experience. This would normally be £12 each, which I think is too much - but we got a Groupon for about £14 for the two of us that we bought just before joining the bus...that price was a fairer reflection of what it was worth

It was a bad experience. Stop 1 where it starts was moved and we never received any notification. There are only 3 schedules, so it is impossible to go down to enjoy some place and take it again. we had to end up using local bus. I do not recommend at all .

We did the tour in two halves, with a stop off at Salford Quays. The service was punctual, and the audio was very informative (and available on the app too if needed). My only mistake was to book our tickets through an intermediary, when I could have saved money by paying on the bus.

When my friend was visiting from Germany for a few days, we put aside Friday 12th April especially for us this service as we've done in so many other countries. We checked the online timetable aiming for the first bus at 11.15 am but it didn't come. When the 12 noon showed up we were so happy we didn't complain. We jumped off at Salford Quays with the intention of getting the last tour bus back... but this didn't show up either. We were freezing cold so I rang to complain. I was told it was our fault because we had used the online timetable which incorrectly showed the summer timetable and we should have used the paper timetable on the bus. I rang off disgusted but got a text back offering us a refund. I said thanks but our day had been ruined so I also asked for some free tickets too in order to try and do the tour again. They didn't respond so I emailed my complaint (with evidence of our tickets and the printout of the incorrect times from their website) but I've not had a response. I really hope Manchester tourism are aware of the bad repute this company are giving our lovely city. Hopefully next time my friend comes to Manchester there will be another hop on hop off bus tour company for us to use instead.

Took this bus on a Saturday afternoon. I always take a hop on hop off when visiting a new city. This was one of the most disappointing ones. Would have been greatly improved with a live tour guide as they are always more interesting and easier to hear. I didn't download the app and wish I had as a lot of the commentary was just too quiet with traffic and noise of the bus. The app would have allowed me to listen via my phone. With such a rich history there is plenty to say about the history and personalities of the city, but lots of long stretches had no commentary at all. There was no obvious way to tell the driver you want to get off, and no 'your next stop is' announcements meaning passengers dangerously walking about on top open deck. Later noticed the occasional buzzer, but not accessible from every seat. The price of the tour was reasonable, but this was a missed opportunity for the city to showcase itself.

Having not long since moved to Manchester I found the trip enjoyable and learnt plenty of things about the city. For visitors - because of the frequency of the tours and the hop on/off nature - it is also a very useful way to combine a tour with visiting the attractions outside of the city such as the Imperial War Museum and the pretty Salford Quays area and also the Old Trafford football ground which otherwise would involve using local bus services and trams. Tickets valid for 48 hours too and timetables with a map of the stops and attractions are available on the bus (and on their website).

We stayed in manchester for paddys weekend. Came from Ireland. Very dissapointed as we waited for 35 minutes for this tour bus but it never arrived! There was 5 other's waitining on it. If they decided not to run it due to weather it would have been nice if they updated their site to let people know .

I'm glad we decided to go on this tour. While I think the tour itself cld have been done more slowly, which wld give the passengers time to take more pix and possibly step off the bus just for a minute or two at particular sites, overall, we enjoyed this activity. We started at the Manchester Town Hall, the bus and tour started on time. Then we hopped off only at the Salford Quays stop for shopping and lunch, then hopped back on for the ride back to the Town Hall. The tour was informative. Just remember to bring an extra scarf or wear thicker clothing if you're gna sit on the top level of the bus. It was freeeezzzing 😂

The narration couldn’t keep up with the geo-location meaning key information was missed during the trip. We expected the bus to stop at the Manchester cathedral but this was not the case. We really wanted to get off at this point so not happy that the driver didn’t stop. Compared to other city tours I’ve been on, this one was a bit lacking.

As 'seniors' we paid £6 for this tour. Ticket is valid for 24 hours and so can be used the following day which I think is very good value. Tour takes approx 1 hour. Timetable varies summer to winter. A very good way to see the City of Manchester. Definitely recommended.

Early morning tour the best. Friendly driver. Informative overview of this town in english. no good decision to use an app for other languages. People fixed in their screens, miss the view and can’t take pics! Friendlier the audioguides (ear plugs) wishes: More stopps/buses desirable. At certain points (afternoon) buses were crowded. Better advertising in hotels! Generally, had much fun!

Did the 2.00 p..m. tour today in temperature of high twenties. We sat on the upper back seat to get a good view but soon realised that the foam inside the seats was soaking wet and seeping through the seams and damaged areas onto the back of our jeans. Because it was a hot day and the vinyl seat covers also hot, we did not notice this at first. When we did notice, we had to move seats and advised another passenger who got on during the tour not to sit there. At the end of the tour we pointed this out the driver who had a quick look and said there was nothing wrong with the seats. He wasn't the one who ended up with wet jeans though!! Apart from this, the tour was ok but not one which I would repeat because of our adverse experience.

In winter only three trips run so not much use of hop on off is possible. The round trip takes 90 mins but doesn’t include Etihad. Why not? A big frustration is it tells you about some interesting places just as it drives away. We parked for 2 mins at Nat Football Museum without anything being said about it till we drove off. Thought the commentary said it was free entry, but it wasn’t. Likewise we got the story of Lowry after leaving the Lowry and half way to Old Trafford. More said about Museum of Science after leaving the stop. We ended up there unable to get back as ours (the second trip) was the last bus going back to Salford so had to get a tram. Better value in summer.

Wet and cold day which I'm afraid wasn't made better with this tour. Extremely noisy sightseers that spoke so loudly over the recording that I had to clap my hands and tell that party to calm down (this shouldn't have been my job). The tour itself was dull with not a lot to say or any fun facts🤔 only good thing was we got on half price and we got out the rain fir a bit. Driver was pleasant

£12 pp per day. This isn't the best bus tour I've been on. There are no headphones just extremely loud speakers. I sat upstairs but inside as I was cold by my partner sat upstairs outside and eventually moved under cover from the weather. We got on at 3pm and were told that we couldn't get off as there wouldn't be any more buses that day. We didn't receive any discount for the fact we couldn't use the hop on and off system and were told our tickets were not valid for the next day. The information given on the tour was interesting but a lot of it was repeated at certain parts and didn't necessarily match what we were passing. Overall, I wouldn't use it again.

This hop on hop off is not good. Off peak time it runs every hour and a half. I used the bus mainly to get to Old Trafford because I couldn’t figure out how much a bus would cost. The bus was slightly less than me taking a cab. The upstairs seats in the open part of the bus were all wet. The commentary was ok. But we weren’t always near what they were talking about. There are a bunch of stops. It didn’t seem like the bus was stopping at them. though. Off peak there are 3 full circuits. It is kind of a waste of money. I can’t recommend it.

If you want to find out about the history of the city, this is the perfect way to do it. An excellent commentary from Dominic Monaghan takes you through the hour plus route, which explains how the city developed and you see every sight you would want to.

I booked the tour for school holidays to take my toddler son. I’ve lived in Manchester all my life and figured we love sightseeing other tourist cities, so why not do it in our own?! We loved it! Reminded me how much I love my home town and my son loved seeing all the sights from the open top bus. If you’re new to Manchester and want to see all the main sights this is a must do for you. And if you’re local I would recommend too! The route is well planned, the bus was on time, the commentary was good, and the driver was really friendly. Great value and experience all round. Would definitely recommend.

Semi-open top bus tour of the key points of the city. We boarded at Piccadilly Gardens and, because of limited Pink timetable in operation with just 3 tours a day, stayed on to the end at Manchester Town Hall. About an hour’s ride. Friendly driver, pre-recorded commentary which was easy to hear even in the open air. We gained a good overview of the city. Good value at Senior rate of £6. Top tip: wrap up warm as a bit nippy even in the English Summer.

the Hop on - Hop off bus is great value for money and well worth being able to see and hear the information about Manchester and then make a decision about what you want to go and see. We only had a day so it was a great use of time and informative. the narrator was excellent.

Bit disappointing in comparison to other city tours, the recorded commentary was dull and very patchy and the sound quality was poor. There was no warning of when stops were approaching or any way to indicate that you wanted to hop off other than trying to get down the stairs when the bus was moving. This was not very easy, one of the drivers went very fast and even jumped a red light. This tour could learn from Liverpool where the tours are cheaper and include a live, warm and welcoming guide who really gives a good sense of the place. Other than that, Manchester was interesting and I would recommend getting off at Salford Quays to visit the Lowry centre.

This is one of the best ways to see any city. I was a little bit sceptical about it because there are a number of major attractions that it doesn't go near, let alone stop at. However, starting from outside the art gallery, we were pleasantly surprised by what we could see during the 75 minute journey. There are so many fine old buildings to admire in the city and one or two new ones. Obviously better to be seen from the upper deck, as most of the best architecture is at the top of the buildings. There is on board commentary in English. You can get it in other languages via an app. The female commentator is much clearer than the male. Tickets are good value as they are valid for 2 days and can be booked online or you can buy them on the bus. The biggest problem with the hop on / hop off service, is that it is not frequent enough to be truly effective. At present, there are only three buses per day. Still we had an enjoyable day.

I was also on the 1400 tour and was the second day of my ticket The driver was most helpful on both days telling me that the tour was the last of the day which was helpful as the day before as the last one was 1500 Me and my wife sat down stairs and the driver spoke to everyone that got on and was professional in his attitude and driving All in all A good two days enjoyment for me and my wife and well worth the £6 each we paid

An 80 minute tour of Manchester city centre and out to Media City via. Salford. Overall I did enjoy my tour but I do feel that there is room for improvement. The pre-recorded commentary was played over loudspeakers that were located in the covered section at the front of the bus. At the back, in the open section of the top deck, it was almost impossible to hear anything as there were no loudspeakers anywhere near me. Like an earlier reviewer, I ended up with soggy trousers. The seat looked dry but the padding under the vinyl covering must have been wet through and, during the course of the tour, the water ended up on my trousers! There were plenty of warnings about overhead power cables for the Metrolink tramway but beware of overhanging tree branches in several locations if you are sitting on the nearside of the bus.