Bus Tours of Old Quebec

In reading reviews it seems the disappointed people were those expecting to easily be able to hop on and off at several stops. I can't speak to that because we took an evening tour that was NOT hop on off. It was narrated by a young woman who was very well informed and had an excellent sense of humor even getting passengers involved in waving to pedestrians. It was about 75 mins. I'd do it again. Saw so much and learned a lot. The guide stood on the top deck and did a great job even speaking in French and English.

When booking our shuttle to the Ice Hotel over the phone I was told that the shuttle had 3 departure times (morning, mid day, & evening) to and from the Ice Hotel. Upon arriving we were informed that they only have 2 departure times (morning & mid day) which really messed up our plans to spend the entire afternoon/evening at the Ice Hotel & Snow Park.

After purchasing tickets, we were told to proceed outside as a bus was leaving in just a few minutes across the street. We walked to the bus to be pointed to a waiting line of 50+ individuals. We had a limited period of time which is why we needed a hop on/hop off tour and in my travels in Dublin, New York and elsewhere, I'd never seen a line like that for the bus. The issue is they tell you you must buy tickets at the tourism office so everyone has to start at one place (not hop on/hop off typical). Can't buy tickets online same day and even if you do, you go to the tourist office to get your wristbands anyways. Worse yet, the bus was completely full and they actually warned people that getting off would make it hard to get a seat so we knew we couldn't risk getting off anywhere or we wouldn't make it to our hotel that evening. In all 12-13 stops, a total of 6 people left our bus and were immedialmtely replaces with those waiting. It turned into $40+ each for a two hour bus tour since we couldn't risk getting off. Also, of the 13 stops, it seemed at least 3-4 were at the same places because the bus follows the same route out and back from the center of the city in multiple places. Make sure you look closely at the route and feel it warrants the spend. Do not expect to be able to hop off or on. They should have nearly double the buses running to create an actual hop on/hop off tour. On a side note, upon finding the crazy waiting line initiially, we went straight back inside and asked for a refund and were told that only if we missed the second bus because of two many people, was there a chance of that. We explained the concern about not being able to get off and back on and were told we should just stay on the bus. They know they have a problem and simply don't care.

Had concerns going into the tour based on reviews about the audio volume and tour guide humor. Turns out the audio system was plenty loud and Simon, the tour guide, was very informative, interactive, friendly and had a good sense of humor. Highly recommend the 5, 6:30 or 8 pm tours which, with an Internet discount, only cost $15 per person.

Extremely disappointed. We decided to do the double decker tour and hop on and off as we've done similar tours in other cities. For $110 for 2 adults and a child it was a complete rip off. There was a 40 min wait for the bus, we got in line at 12:10 and should have been able to get on the 1230 bus but they only have 2 buses from what we could see and we had to take the 1pm bus. When we did get on they did not turn on the audio so for the first 10 minutes there was nothing until someone went downstairs and notified staff. We got off to take in the Market,20 Minutes in, and about 3pm we wanted to take the bus back but the line to get on the bus was long so we ended up walking to Place Royal as the staff had told me beforehand that the ticket was only good until 5pm. It is better to take a horse carriage ride or pay $3 to take the gondola up and down to Place Royale than waste money on the Double Decker bus tour.