Hop-On Hop-Off tourist wars
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ก.ย. 2024
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Janek Rubeš & Honza Mikulka, Prague based journalists
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Hi Janek and Hanza! Your videos were shared by my dear, dear friends from the Czech Republic ( Filip and Milo) and these videos are great for new travelers to your country. I am visiting CR in October from the 18th to the 25th and I would love to meet you at cukrar Skala to have some amazing deserts featured in one of your videos 🙏🏻😍
journalist hahahahahaha
This may sound naive, but doesn't Prague have a pretty good public transport system? I seem 2 remember having no trouble getting around town what's the point of these buses then?
My family is there right now and having a great time thanks to your videos 👍👍👍👍👍
The point is to scam naive tourists of course. @@paddyjoe1884
You know right away - if any type of seller in Prague recognize Janek, that is a red flag 😂
but wouldn't that mean any locals who watch their videos are suspicious? their content isn't only watched by foreigners, they also run a channel in Czech, and literally everyone i work with downtown would recognize them, they're quite successful and the world of Prague tourism isn't that big. i've recognized him several times in old town...so maybe this is a red flag 😅
Many would recognize them. The real red flag would be the busineess that aren't happy to see them on their porch imo
Scammers afraid of being exposed in the upcoming video. Great! Janek is making an impact.
We need rubber masks with Janek face!
@@EVBell-gz8iv > but wouldn't that mean any locals who watch their videos are suspicious?
No. OP said seller, not locals.
> i've recognized him several times in old town...so maybe this is a red flag
Are you a seller?
Hop-On Hop-Off buses are for those who want a bus experience at taxi prices with the reliability of Old Town Square meat sellers
Not all of those type of tours all over the world are this type of extreme rip-off. I had - admittedly some like 10 years ago - some good experiences with those type of hop-on hop-off tours in various cities. Depends all on the company - so some research upfront might be helpful and don't buy those tickets spontaneously.
@@tetsi0815 Not in Prague.
@@janvrabec3401 I've watched the video... ;-) I was just trying to make an educated guess, why some people might book those tours.
@@tetsi0815 It's always overpriced and it's better to use public transport. At least in Europe.
@@qwe5qwe566 in any city in any country it’s always better to take the public transit
In one of THE most walkable cities in Europe, Prague is the ONE place where these Hop-On-Hop-Off buses serve no purpose. It's literally quicker to walk between every major sight in Prague, and you don't need some 24 hour, 35€ ticket to do it. In 24 hours you can literally see everything in Prague by self-guided walking tour.
Or even, if you dont like planning a lot all the places, you do a free walking tour, which charges nothing and you pay what you think it is fair
I agree with one exception. Old people who suck at walking. In these cases, find a private guide to drive you around.
The 24 hour ticket for the public transport is less than 5 Euros, for comparison...
I definitely would not say you can see everything in 24 hours - but if you only want the big photogenic hits, then yes, I guess you can.
Is there a city where these make any sense?
@@VaclavSir London maybe?
The minivan at the end looked like someone just voluntarily got kidnapped XD
They end up in some human butchery place in Eastern Europe like on the movie "Hostel" lol
this!
@@jryan9547 for that you need a Slovakian taxi with a toothless old guy.
We watched HONEST GUIDE *before* going to Praha and avoided this scam - you can too :) Public transportation was amazing with true hop-on-hop-off, almost no lines, and we easily walked around the old city! In fact, our whole week in Paha was scam-free thanks to Honest Guide! Thanks guys!
Whenever a stranger approaches me with the words: "Hello, my friend!", especially with a thick accent, I know it is time to leave. Here in East-Central Europe, we do not make legimitate business by hustling people on the street. People, who are "suspiciously friendly" are usually scammers. Locals may feel cold and dismissive sometimes, but they actually just mind their own business and respect your privacy.
Same in Germany.
"hello my friend!" Holds out hand to shake "what is your country?"
This is the first stage of owning a new suit in Singapore, of paying 50x going rate for a drum or a bowl in Nepal, etc. Etc.
Exactly, and it's not a racism when I feel weird beying greet but indian guy with red umbrella, it just feels suspicious to us.
God, we have the same plague in Kraków, except that, from what I've seen, there are fewer companies operating in our town. It makes my blood boil when they block the tram stops to conduct their shitty business. Great reporting, as always.
So start the Honest Guide Krakow!
For 35 EUR you can get a day pass for public transport and two short-medium distance taxi rides from AAA or Uber, plus if your're a tourist, you can just walk.
You can get a full week of public transport for that price, which also includes city trains and little ferries, and you'd still have some money left for ice cream.
For €35 euro you could get a 24 hour public transport ticket, go to Prague castle, buy the two tickets needed to see everything and buy a pint
in dublin 25 euro would cover an entire week of pt
@@Katie-xd1nt Moral of the story, never take the BigBus scam
@@Katie-xd1nt here in the US 25 euros is the cost of a single 100ish-mile train ride to the state capitol
funny thing: big bus operates in my city, London, too. but here they have the Elizabeth Tower (more known as Big Ben!) in the logo. this makes tourists believe its a genuine London attraction, while in reality its just an overpriced traffic jam simulator :)
thanks for the vid. we've been to Prague a year ago and we enjoyed it a lot thanks to you both.
At least in London it's a guided tour
We have them in hamburg, they are not really scammy, just kind of pointless when you can walk, or cycle anywere, and public transport is just as good, but tourists sometimes want things to feel touristy I think
We also have ferry boats you can ride for 1.80€ yet people choose to spend 20€ on guided boat tours that visit the same places the ferries go to
Why is the guy at the end sounding like a comic villain? "Hello Mr. Honest Guide" "Of course we know you" lol
Gypsy-vibe little folk.
I've just been to Prague last weekend. There are literally warnings at the airport to beware the red umbrellas. I don't get how it's still a profitable business.
because the average IQ is 100
@@Witchkingx5 which means half of population have less than 100, and I guess that's an issue xD
because some people just don't do research and just go to the first thing they see..
Old people who come to Czechia by car. (It took them 3 days because Gertrud was holding the paper map upside down)
or why it’s legal at all
"They suck... as we get started." Nice.
love this. right at the beginning im sure people missed it
I used to be part of the official tourist information staff of Budapest. We were legit but we had to also sell the tickets for all the Ho-Ho buses for a long period of time. If the salesperson brought the tourist to me it was already too late but when the tourist came directly to me to buy Ho-Ho tickets I always tried to give more context and information and alternatives. If they then decided to still buy Ho-Ho tickets, at least they had more information to base their decision on.
I always told people who were above 65 that they can use our public transport for free (it's the same in Hungary, yes) and I believe I have saved hundreds (if not thousands) of Euros for tourists in my city.
« Not all heroes wear capes »
It's not even just about the money saved, now they go home and if anybody asks about Budapest there's at least that one good interaction, no matter what else might have happened.
Oh contraire!!!! Public transport is only free for European Union senior citizens. My wife and I were "arrested" in Budapest last year for not having bought tickets for the subway. Our Viking Cruise guide also told us that those over 65 travel free and we foolishly believed her. The transport Nazis stopped us at the turnstile on the way out and demanded we pay fines. There was no one at the Oktagon Metro stop to double check nor were any signs posted. We rode three different Metro lines to get to Fõvám Tér where we were stopped by 4 ticket checkers. None of whom spoke English. We showed them our US drivers' licenses to prove our age but they didn't seem to understand. After close to half an hour of trying to communicate they used Google Translate to tell us we owed two large fines. They indicated that the free tickets were only for EU citizens. We explained that we were visitors and were misinformed. I offered to go up and buy valid tickets but these bullies refused to let me do so. We begged for a written warning which would certainly have been the case back in America. They wouldn't budge and demanded I hand them my credit card. I didn't feel comfortable doing this as I heard many stories about tourists being taken advantage of in Budapest. Eventually we did pay 12,000 HUF each in order to finally escape from their clutches. I even complained to the BKK main office after returning home. No offer to rectify things or even an apology. Non-Europeans, no matter the age, are better off buying Hop On/Hop Off bus tickets in Budapest. At least those people smile when screwing you.
Having to get scammed to expose scams is truly a sacrifice. Thank you both 💓
If you know it's a scam going in, is it really being scammed?
as a local, I'm really ashamed of this! either this is such a big corruption that no one from the city management cares, or I really don't understand it
Blame the tourist...why don't they do their own research before going? Maybe some even like this...I dunno...seems awfully expensive to pay to sit in traffic lol Just walk or take a tram. You'll see more walking anyways!
dont be...these buses are everywhere, definetely not just prague
scammers are just much more efficient at finding out loopholes and exploiting them, anywhere, anytime, than any government is able to patch them up. Making new laws takes time, especially in big cities, where there might be multiple parties affected, consultations must be held, protests must be ruled out, often opposing political fractions must come to an understanding and agreement... it takes time. And two days after the new law is introduced, scammers will find another loophole, or just blatantly ignore it, knowing that scamming will get them more money in one day than they have to pay in fines every few weeks when they get caught red-handed.
I've been on hop-on hop-off busses in several different cities in the US and have always been satisfied. They were efficient and there were tour guides on each bus giving running commentary on the sights. It can work if the effort has been put into it.
@@vitkrivan9380 sure but the prague ones are uniquely dogshit, prague is small and full of traffic
When i visited Prague the public transport was so much better than the UK, took us all over, to Prusa Research, back to town etc never waited more than a few minutes for any of them either
What part of the UK? London transport is miles ahead than the rest
@@empressdoinalot I'm in Essex but even Prague public transport is still better than London I've found
As a NYC resident we have the same big buses and hop on hop off in our city and I just dont understand why people use them. They cost up to $60 USD per day and barely move with the NYC traffic as well as useing the bus lanes reserved for offical MTA buses. Our MTA system is very intuitive having bus routes in all 5 boroughs as well as the subway system connecting everything together. It costs $2.90 per ride and caps out at $34 for the week. The rest of your trips after that is free. And this can be mixed with any offical MTA mode of transportation including, the subway, busses, trams and ferrys. Ok the MTA is not the perfect system (nor will it be) but its miles ahead any of the tourist buses that you see passing times square.
saying "Mr honest guide" as if he caught you red handed...
when actuality they're the ones caught red handed, with red umbrellas.
made me laugh that he was trying to be intimidating 😂
Just the fact that a local says they love the public transport in their city is amazing to me!. I love these videos
The driver getting out taking a picture of you gives me mafia vibes! 🤔
Your videos are really helpful when I am going to visit old castle, great square and big library in Praha.
And also "...In Prague, seniors from 60 years of age can use discounted (approx. half-price) tickets..."
65 y old
@@chantalboudreau-lemay5869 65+ is free, as Janek said in the video, 60-65 can use reduced/half-price tickets.
@@chantalboudreau-lemay5869 60+ is half of price; 65+ is free.
@@chantalboudreau-lemay5869 60y-65y 50% sale, 65y+ totally free (proving id, passport)
0:17 "They suck...as we get started" I see what you did there ;D
7:51 Meanwhile, incognito Honza is still waiting for his handshake.
Thanks to you guys! My first ever visit in Prague early this year was amazing. Prague can be easily roam around and explore by foot, and it was such an experience to see each building/architecture and to walk on it. Just taking it all in. We used the public transportation and it was such a smooth ride, no delays, we loved trams!
I know Im a tourist but tour wisely you know and Honest guide is such a big help for us! all the tips and hacks, etc.
I've done the Big Bus in London, Madrid, Paris, and Rome (all 2 years ago) and can honestly say that only London was worth it. That is because for all the rest, the buses try to cover a lot of sites but those sites are scattered so you end up spending a lot of time not seeing much of anything. The stops are also far between so if you get off to explore, you have to walk a long distance (or use the same stop) to get back on. In all the cities, traffic is an issue so you end up stopping a lot. However, London is different for a couple of reasons. Traffic is there but flows as efficiently as the English intend it to. There are many stops close by so you can short walk to the next. Plus, the entire route of the London bus has something historic or cultural to see. Bottom line, I will probably never go on a hop-on hop-off bus. I like to walk while the people I was with the last time did not.
Even in London, there's regular buses that hit most of the same sites for £1.65 per hour
I've also ridden it in Manhattan, and it was okay. If you want to go to specific places, it's better to just use public transit. But if you want to just listen to the corny soundtrack and see the "greatest hits" of Manhattan, it works. But it works best if you want to hop on and stay on.
I’ve been in one when I was in Edinburgh and Liverpool almost ten years ago. They’re great if you don’t have time and want a quick look at the sites. But if you want to go anywhere, public transportation is best.
@@dasmysteryman12I took the one in Edinburgh last year and it was combined with the castle, palace and royal yacht for 48 hours. Tour was interesting as well and I didn’t feel like I was paying too much. I used the busses a lot while exploring the city. Not sure if using the normal busses would have been cheaper, but I think it was actually the same company that runs the normal ones.
I just checked the prices, and compared to the attractions plus 2 day tickets, I saved about 1 pound by getting the combined ticket. Plus the normal busses don’t have the recorded and live tours, so it was not a scam if you visit the attractions. Just the bus compared to a day pass is a loss of 13 pounds though, not sure if the tour is worth that
Lmao, they are a scam everywhere
I thought they were ok in Sydney tbh
I am so impressed with the information you put together. The research and time you take to give the tourist an knowledgeable and enjoyable time in your city is beyond measure. Not to mention the work you do to bring the corruption to the attention of city government and tourist. Thank you. ❤😊
I came back from Prague yesterday and thanks to you we did not take the on/off. We took the tram and we paid on it with credit card but still be prepare to walk a lot and enjoy the view, great vacation
2:00 Regarding the accent, the pusher wasn't even Czech.
Ofcourse he was not Czech, these companies use their weird workers imported from all over world, I believe it's some kind of trade with white flesh and police should really look into it. I see the same thing even in fast foods, we have like 10 black people in Prague and all of them work in KFC, isn't it suspicious?
Great work! If only every tourist town had an Honest Guide TH-camr....
They do have one advantage. You can be sure your ticket is valid so you don't get fined when a public transport printing machine is broken 😜😜
I understood that reference . gif
Hahaha great point
But tickets to stock in kiosks or tabacco shops and screw machines, or use app. But be glad that we still have machines, some cities already removed them, so when you arrive to the city in sunday and everything is closed and you are older person who doesn't have smartphone and bank card, you are screwed.
In many European cities, a 7-day public transport pass would be cheaper than a day pass of hop-on hop-off
Including Prague. We don't have a 7-day pass, but if you buy 2x 72 hours + 1x 24 hours, it will cost you 780 CZK (~31 EUR), and the hop-on day-pass was 870 (~35 EUR) in the video.
@@VaclavSirThankyou for the information👍🇬🇧
That's what I loved in Pula, they normaly have that oldschool system that you pay to the driver for one ride (it cost always the same) or they use those weird tickets with chip inside (I hate it) so you don't know what is loaded there, but you can go to central bus station and buy 7day ticket for pretty good price and problem solved, you don't have to care about that.
You didn't emphasize enough that it goes completely against our public transport system. We have lots of good bus lines but they don't run nowhere near the city center for a good reason. So how on earth is this allowed?
I was in Prague last summer and we (family of 4) stayed in Flora. We bought day tickets for public transport and used busses, trams and metro. The kids traveled for free! It was perfect and we had great views from the trams. I never understand why people pay for these tourist traps....
BTW: loved the city!
It's allowed because we are stucked in 90s, everything is mafia and politicians are corrupt or they just don't have balls to ban something because it would make someone angry. There is a constant war against car people, but politicians will do nothing against cars because they know that even car-nazis are their voters.
This is really good information, but I am a bit surprised. I tend to enjoy hop-on hop-off tours, and have mostly had good experiences (including with Big Bus which are "featured" in this video) in many other cities. It's a convenient way of getting information while not putting too much effort into it. It allows me to spend my energy on the things I really want to do and see, while "passively" getting to see the main sights.
I'm happy that you gave this warning, as I would have been likely to book this otherwise (specifically with the exact same company as you used). These types of tours are certainly an aquired taste, but even if you like them that is dependant on them being well managed, cause no one likes waiting for buses or sitting in traffic.
The only place i've been where I really hated such a tour in the past was in Barcelona, which had the exact same issues. Presumably this is based on the fact that the streets just aren't well set up to support the amount of traffic it has.
I took the Hop On Hop Off in Verona and Barcelona.
The bus in Verona was well worth it. I had a planned list of activities I wanted to get donr, and the bus took me directly to those sites woithout the hassle of trying to locate them myself.
The bus in Barcelona was crap, for the reasons you stated. It was hot and there was too much traffic.
There was a hop on hop off option in Venice, Italy as well, but you would be much better off just grabbing a vaporetto and going yourself to Murano and Burano.
Maybe it depends on the city?
Why is everyone not getting this??? The tourists expect it to be what it's sold to them. Not transport! They think it's a guided tour. Like someone will be talking to them the whole time and explaining all the history, the buildings, the roads, the bridges to them. That's what they think they are paying for.
I have been on multiple hop-on-hop-off busses. They were all guided tours and if you felt that the castle sounded interesting you could hop off and stay a while. That's what I expect. Where's the guides? I would pay $35 for a guided tour. Not for a poorly made public transport
Public traffic looked SO much nicer! But when I was there I did walk to everything :D
No word or phrase to learn? I thought we'd learn "hop" or "Hop on"/"Hop off". (again always preferring it up front rather than at the end so we can recognize it in the video, if it shows up)
As a local, we call hop on/hop off buses as it is called in english. But "hop" is different story, it could be translented as "poskok" or "skok". The difference between "poskok" and "skok" is that "skok" is usually translated as "jump". But you can use both, people will understand.
Yup, they are getting sloppy. It happened in another video and was add in editing. Come on Janek! Do it up front, so you'll never forget it!
That would be "Naskoč / Seskoč" !
You wouldn't call the buses that, but it is what the text means and is telling you to do.
We don't even have Czech name for these buses because we don't need it, nobody uses it.
There's another scammy detail that is worth mentioning. They sell you a 24 hour ticket but the service only runs a limited time. Big Bus for instance only runs from 09:37 to 17:37.
That is too bad about them being so crappy there. I use HoHo buses and Big Bus when I'm in a new city just to get oriented with the city and have very good experiences everywhere but Istanbul. (I lived there at the time and took my friend on there because I can't walk well). They drove everywhere but no commentary LOL. Everyone was listening to me!
Yes, I've used them in London and Oslo. Have to say though that it's super confusing there, too. Was in Oslo last year and, even though I know the city well, my elderly mother was with me. We decided to just ride the bus around through the whole route (never even got off). But finding the right bus to get on seemed to be a theme as many passengers tried to get on and were told it was the wrong system. Definitely a hit-or-miss but I do like to take it to get oriented. I won't be taking it if/when I get to Prague!
Paying 35 Euros to just be stuck in traffic on major roads is insane. Even the busses I take for public transport give a better experience than what I saw and keep in mind that those are "functional" lines, that are meant to bring people to places they need to be like home, work, train station, hospital and so on. The boat part of it seems a bit better because you get to see the city from a different angle which you can't by yourself and it doesn't get stuck in traffic
I blame the tourists on this one.
They should do - even a little - research in advance of the best ways to get around and see the sights. For any city they visit.
Five minutes of pre-planning can save so much lost time standing around waiting and sitting in traffic.
Prague public transportation is excellent, in case anyone hasn't mentioned this before...
I guess they’re not to blame ´cause it really works in other countries, like in the province of Québec, CANADA
Do you also blame your grandparents when they fall for the obvious "Call from Microsoft"-scam? Just 1 Google search would expose that fraud, really, it was their own fault.
No, Scammers are, as always, the scum of the earth and deserve the worst for this. Trying to blame their victims is idiotic.
@@chantalboudreau-lemay5869 I've been to Quebec and Canada in general and used public transport. Unlike Toronto Montreal has a decent transit network and Quebec City is pretty small.
well a lot of people have tiktok brain so they don't check stuff out and then things like this happen.
Do you always blame the victim of scams? Even if your grandma gets a call about her hacked computer?
We purchased a 3 day Metro, Tram and Bus pass and travelled everywhere within the city quickly and efficiently for less than half the cost of the tour tickets
Thank you so much for making this video. As a tourist, it saddens me to see so many people getting scammed.
The bloody HOP on Hop off bus in Helsinki was only hop on then get off. The took my money and dumped me far away from my cruise port. As the last stop no return I had to find a cab in the rain, not an easy feat.
I have used such buses around Europe, I find it a convenient way to get around the cities I visit and to see different places. but will definitely avoid them in Prague when I visit hopefully next summer
There are some cities in the world, where those hop-on hopf-off busses actually make sense and are - at least in my option - worth the additional cost compared to the normal public transport. They can be a nice tour to give you an overview of the city and things to see and maybe revisit on your own later. E.g. the one in Kuala Lumpur was pretty nice a couple of years ago. Take the first bus in the morning, go around the whole tour without hoping off and pick what you want to see later and then go around the second time and actually hop off where you think its interesting. I did a similar thing in Panama City. So with those type of positive experiences in mind I can understand why people try this. Unfortunately there are a lot of different of those companies these days that specialize in ripping off tourists instead of wanting to provide some good experience.
Back in the summer of 2012 my sister, brother-in-law, and I took a tour of central Prague given by a guy in a 1960s Škoda Felicia cabriolet. It was a fun experience.
I did one of these buses in Berlin, and it was to-be-honest pretty decent. We really didn't have any traffic, and while we could have done the same route using the S or U-bahn, it was nice to be outside in an open-air bus on a gorgeous day. And it took us to a few destinations we were already going to go to, without really having to think about it.
My guess is that these are hit-or-miss based on the city. Prague, being pretty compact, makes this not as useful. Berlin is surprisingly spread out on the other hand.
Two sides for this story. The tourist busses are currently terrible in Prague - too many different companies, too much waiting. The other part is on Prague itself - there really should be be 0 private cars in the Old Town. I know it's inconvenience for locals, but most of tourist cities ban all but public transport in old towns.
Oh god, the amount of people trying to sell hop on hop off boat tours in Stockholm this summer has been insane. They are like litter in a crowded street.
Visited Prague for a few days last week (absolutely beautiful city), and when I got to Wenceslas Square we saw them everywhere! I was wondering what Janek was gonna make a video on! Keep up the great work!
We visited a Germany city in 2019 and went on a hop on hop off tour. We got front seat on top of the double decker bus and so we decided we go a full tour with such a nice panoramic view from the front. After the full circle, they told us we cannot continue because we were supposed to get off at places and little did we know if you complete a full circle, it is finished and you had to buy a new ticket. Shame on them for not stating it anywhere. A 24 hour ticket is way better in this case.
That's weird. I've done countless laps around London, Budapest, Athens, Tenerife, San Diego, and Paris without ever deboarding. In fact, I've gotten some great naps up on top of those buses.
I want to prepare for the Janek library test.
I have been fortunate enough to visit your fair city twice and will be making my third visit this December. During our visits, we have always used the public transit and had great success in getting around. I have used the hop-on-hop-off style buses in other cities, but they are not as densely packed as Prague. So a first time visitor, especially an older one, may default to using that mode of transportation not fully understanding what they are getting themselves into. Thanks for producing such excellent videos that should help people to understand the ins and outs of Prague.
If the Ministry of the Interior _only now_ is saying 40% of revenue must go to the charity, imagine how much they must have spent on kickbacks to politicians over the last 15 years to be allowed to get away with EU 0.40 per EU 35.00 ticket going to charity ( probably a charity that they draw a salary from ).
You forgot the Czech word at the end of the video again, didn't you?
You did not mention an audioguide in the busses. Are those not present anymore?
When I was in Prague for the first time more than 10 years ago, I found that a nice addon, which you dont get in a metro or a tram. But then also, it was over 10 years ago - this was probably not a scammer busines yet, more customer oriented and with more value for the money.
When I visited Rotterdam, we were advertised the free "Rotterdam City Card" with a Discount for a Boat Tour. We did it and it was brutally on time (we had to run to get it, but we managed) and the Tour was really nice! (Even if it was 4-language automated descriptions of what could be seen)
We also got a walking city tour by some locals that showed us a couple nice places and told some stories. It was also nice, and free!
I thought the whole reason to get a tourist hop on bus, is to get a tour? They tell you stuff, or there are earphones that tell you the history.
Hello Honest Guide, currently in Prague and have come up with some ideas for you. First we spent like an hour at the train station trying to figure out how to get to the C line. Maybe you could do a show on negotiating the train station. Another is the history of the public transportation, there all kinds of carriages and some seem fairly old. Maybe talk about the the system evolved. Finally, we went to the Kolkovna Olympia and had goulash and beef cheeks, 2 separate entries, they were great and for me I’d recommend it. 2 entries, 4 half liter beers and dessert with 20% tip just under $50! 😮 but the goulash came with 2 types of dumplings, bread & potato. Great trip, our favorite European city hands down. 🎉
One of the reasons I have used hop on hop off buses when traveling is for the commentary during the trip. However, I have found the recorded commentary to be lacking or not working.
The staff on the buses were indifferent to the recorded commentary not working.
The only positive hop on hop off bus experience I’ve had was in new New York, where the commentary was done by a person and not a recording.
This city is so walkable and the trams are so quick, safe, fun and cheap, don't take these busses! A week pass for unlimited public transport is only a few euros.
I think those hop on hop off tourist buses are a scam in every city. Its the same in my hometown Berlin. And the crazy part is there is actually a public Transport Bus line (line 100) that stops at every major sightseeing spot. So if you ever visit Berlin, just buy a day ticket and sit in the Bus line 100 and go off and one as you like.
We have tram number 23 in Prague that does pretty much the same, or you can buy ticket for historical tram 41. Or you can use even classic trains that can take you to many interesting places with nice view, like train bridge in center of Prague. People should do research before they arrive to a big city.
Good stuff man! Just discovered you ! A lot of people need to see this and great that you are doing it !
I’ve done the hop-on his thing in Buenos Aires and Mexico City and they were pretty good. I just had a couple of hours after work, before getting to the airport, and it was pretty convenient to do a full circuit and get a layout of the city
There are many places where it works fine
I want a Demolition Derby of all the Hop On/Off buses in one of the Prague stadiums!
Let's call it a Strahov Showdown - Hop Off Before It's Too Late
I clicked on this just because I've had both good and bad experiences, and I want to know what others' experiences are. My first hop on hop off was in Canada, Toronto. I had no idea what it was, but we got it by chance. No-one sold it to us on the street, we just happened upon the counter. They sold us student tickets without proof (I did have one, but my sister didn't), and they were lovely. It even included a day trip to Niagra Falls + Boat ride. Our entire trip was made by the Hop On Hop Off. We used it to get around the main attractions (we got super lost, haha! but the driver was lovely each time and saw us running down the street and waited because he saw us walking around lost trying to find the bus stop - the road had roadworks and the stop was just known by the drivers), got discounted or free access and the tour itself was great ON the bus. It was truly hop on, hop off, and we used it ALL day. Niagra Falls was even better; it was breathtaking and of great value for money.
Because of this great experience, we (my sister and I) ended up trying many other ones on different holidays. None of them ever compared. Our most recent was in Korea and it was AWFUL. No information on the tour, they had headphones for different languages but they didn't work for ANYONE. They should have let you know about changes to the tour when purchasing the ticket too. It wasn't hop on hop off, it was literally just a bus ride to all the stops, so people used it like a normal bus route instead of a TOUR, and I don't think they cared because there was nothing tour about it. Again, no information, no stop points to take photos, and no heads-up. The bus was dirty. We were so glad the ticket was FREE as part of the Seoul Pass but I'd never pay for that again.We just wanted to see attractions before our Seoul Pass ran out, and a lot of them were on the route and didn't even get to do that. I'll try again in Singapore later this year but I'm very much over them at this point.
I wonder what is the experience with these buses in other cities.
Back in 2005 I was for a weekend in Dublin and used the 24h hop on-hop off buses and made a good experience. It was practical as many of Dublin's sites are far away from one another and many are not (or weren't when I was there) open to the public so seeing it from the bus & snapping a picture was enough. Some are also not easily available via public transport.
There was only one company running it, there were no "volunteers" pestering tourists (we had to go to a kiosk next to one of their stops to get tickets), there was an audio guide on board (with your ticket you were given single-use headphones that you could stick to a socket in your seat, and it had 3 or 4 languages to choose from) and the waiting times were short (I think the longest we waited was at the Guinness Museum in the evening, it was some 15 minutes - but we were informed that the buses get less frequent after a certain hour). I don't remember the price exactly but it was somewhere around "a bit expensive but a good value considering the alternatives available". Overall a good experience.
But yeah, it was 2005, so pre-mobile Internet, pre-Uber and pre-convenient public transport payments, so this may be a factor. And it wasn't in Prag, which seems to be absolutely pestered to the brim with tourist tricksters.
'Guten day, I'm Honza... I mean Hans, from Paris and watashi wa totally no undercover local!'
BTW In Berlin just take the public transport busses 100 or 200; they are double decker busses, go round every few minutes, passing quite a lot of tourist spots and you can hop as much as you want for the ordinary 10 € day ticket per person that gets you everywhere in the city for 24 hours.
Yes, that's what I recommend everyone to start their Berlin visit with. Plus with the immense density of the public transit network these bus tours are pretty idiotic. I did the hop on hop off tour only once...in my home town to see what the tourist experience would actually be like :) Plus our public transport sucks.
We always do these buses when we’re in big cities, and we’ve always had great experiences! Paris, Las Vegas, London, Rome, Berlin, even my local capital Oslo, they were all very good. Well, Las Vegas was slow due to extreme traffic, but the rest was well worth the money. Takes you to all the touristy places without having to plan so much, and change bus, metro, etc. We love them! Never been to Prague though, will keep this video in mind 😊
So glad I saw that Video! We were in London once and they had Hop on-off Busses as well. They were a BLAST! Almost every 10 Minutes a Bus, both ways! And we saw SO SO MUCH!!
I've been on some hop-on-hop-off busses over the year in germany.
In general, I expect them to be a guided tour around the city. And those with live commentary are sometimes good. But those with pre-recorded commentary usually sucked badly.
In all cases, they were hideously expensive, and I usually got a better product when booking myself on a walking tour with a dedicated tour guide. Those are almost always very well done.
City Sets up public Transport for good price. Companies Set up private Transport for high price.
Дякую за вашу роботу , дивлюсь з насолодою !)
Known by scammers. Honestly a good endorsement!
2 years ago my mom and I visited Prague (again). I bought public transport tickets for us because especially my mom is used to do sightseeing with public tram or bus. Unfortunately I didn't know it is free for her, but next time I know better. 😉
I love how they always say hop on hop off like that is t the point of every method of public transport
The thing is, in Prague those buses are pure scam, but in USA for example they arent that bad. Whenever I used them they were on time, highly organized, with tour guide inside explaining what you are seeing. they also have stops at all the major attractions so its a good way to move around the city. Price in the US is similar to this one.
I dont use hop on hop off buses anymore when I travel, so I never really tried any in Europe, but I would assume they are scam like this one in prague.
Just.....walk, thats what I do. Its faster, more convenient, free and you actually get to experience the city instead of insane inner city traffic.
I used to work as a ticket seller in Berlin and gee it was a war between 5 companies. My boss at the time hated one company so much, he r'released' their tires of air. TBH I aj shocked,
If charity as well as "charity" will have to give away 40 % of the money in the near future, it might simply mean, that the tickets get more expensive, not necessarily that it stops. Maybe the higher prize will make it stop eventually, maybe not.
Thank you for showing this. I've been on this kind of busses in: Madrid, Barcelona, Paris and Rome. All of those were quite nice, helped us getting around many of the places of interest, so naturally, we would get on them on any other cities, it's good to know they are not all the same.
Thanks for the guide.
And actually the first two tourist waited for the hop on off bus are elderlies and it makes me thinking.
Are there any advice you can provide to the elderlies or travelers with elderlies, as i can imagine why they rather choosing the scam then walking which is very tiring.
Big fan of your channel, and your guides are always entertaining and useful.
My wife and I went to Europe. We wanted to get tickets to the Hop On Hop Off bus, in Amsterdam I think. The tickets were ridiculously expensive, like 80€. So, we grabbed the brochure, bought a day ticket for the public transport and went to all the stops offered by the tour. Not only it was much cheaper, it came more often, and we got dropped off right in front of our hotel.
I just started watching this one but already I love the accent Honza is using to get his ticket. 😄
My wife and 10-year-old daughter and I visited HoChiMinh City, Vietnam last year and got taken by a Hop on Hop off bus scam. There were no audio translations as were promised and the bus did a 20 minute loops and the driver said, "that's it." Everyone was super pissed off.
Never again.
I've used Hop-on Hop-off in other places and found them to be ok, but would never do in a city like Prague where most of the tourist stuff is closeby and walkable. Somewhere like Dubai where places are spread all over the city having a dedicated (and air conditioned) bus to those spots can be an acceptable expense.
Before we flew to Budapest on August 8, to start our Danube cruise, then on to Prague and Berlin, I found one of your Prague vlogs of what to do, see, and eat in your city. I do remember you mentioned to avoid the HOHO bus as a waste of time.
Our Travel agent had gifted us with HOHO 2 day passes for both Budapest and Prague, which we used. We've been using HOHO since a 2018 Sydney Australia trip--we found it gave us a very good frame of reference. Typically, we also use any subway system as much as possible, too, as well as the local busses. Always a fun adventure and zippy way to get around. We normally get a one or two day subway pass where ever we go.
We do know that HOHO can have rip off artists, granted. But our experience was absolutely NOT what you described in detail with Hamza and yourself.
On 8/20, we took the Green Line Big Bus from Old Town (4) all around, just to figure out where we were. The HOHO bus was there within 2 minutes of us getting to the stop, and was not confusing at all. The agent on the bus was very friendly and helpful, and made sure there were seats for everyone. This HOHO was never more than 50% full. We enjoyed the drive around to get our bearings. On 8/21, we took the Green Line from stop 4 to stop 2 at the modern Hilton and transferred to the Red Line double decker bus. Again, the wait was just a minute or so--there were only a few people on it. The sound system on this and the green line worked very well, and both had informative audios. We took it all around and got off at a very undefined stop 8 (Karlov) with ZERO tourists there just for a look. We had a great wander around the old Charles Monastery and Police Museum--it was great to be in a regular neighborhood with just a few local folks about. Then back on the bus to the Hilton Red Line stop 2 again to transfer back to the Green Line for one stop to Green 3 to catch the short boat tour. This was also a treat--it's the first city we've been in that also included a boat tour. Of course, it was short, since the boats couldn't go past the weir gates, but it was a very nice relaxing tour under the bridges.
Of course, both my hubby and I are very mobile, and walked everywhere we could for up-close-and-personal experiences.
Takeaways: We never had to wait more than a minute or two for the next bus. There was no traffic issue at any point in time for us. The weather was great both days we were there. There were never any crowded busses. Asking information from the HOHO ticket sellers was productive--we already had tickets, so no issue.
So, I understand where you are coming from. Public transportation is great and we always use that, but we really enjoy the ease of the HOHO busses. One thing I hope to do sometime is find a personal guide that can give us 'insider' info on things to do and see. There's SO MUCH!
I think I’ve done a hop on, hop off tour once. It was in Los Angeles and it was part of a citypass. It was fine for that reason - it didn’t cost us anything extra on top of what we had already done. I don’t think I’d ever do this as a standalone.
My favourite experience of Prague was doing a walking tour back in 2013. I wish I could remember the name of our guide, but she was lovely, funny, and it was just such a great way to get to know the old town area
Wow, how cool is is that seniors can travel on every bus for free. Respect, Prague 😍
First, why did you feel you had to leave when you realized that the driver got a picture of you being thereby? So what? Second, unfo, despite this new law you mentioned those scambags will still find another way to do their nasty job into the square..
Wait, we can make them go bankrupt by downloading an app? That sends 50cts to charity? That needs a better explanation.
Had the best of times in your beautiful country thanks to you !!
I loved the hop on hop off. Saw things i wouldnt have seen. But i was a return tourist (secobd trip)
I will never forget my stay in Prague about 10 or 15 years ago. On the first night, I went to have a drink alone in a gay bar. After 15 minutes, three guys approached me to tell me in broken English that tourists were not welcome in this bar. Very intimidating. After finding a slightly more civilized café, I returned to my hotel. The porter asked me for money to get my room key back because it was past midnight. During this horrible week in Prague, the locals tried to scam or rob me with surprising creativity. I've traveled a lot but never felt as insecure as in this city.
When I was a kid, when we would go to Europe, my dad would always make us take public transit instead of hop on hop off despite my mom, me and my siblings would say. I felt so jealous of everyone on the bus. I’m thankful that he raised us that way, now I pity people being stuck sitting on a bus in a beautiful city, herded around like sheep to the next location!
The only time we got had in Prague was the little tram that’s a classic tram. I think I think we paid $50 for five of us, but we only used it once probably our fault but I guess we willingly walked into that one. Also, I tried so hard to look for pickpockets but really from my experience a super safe city no vagabonds and we also found a nice cheap grocery store. Unlike those other little ones you mentioned the charge five dollars for a bottle of water.