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Manchester Tours
Manchester Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Sightseeing Tour
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Manchester Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Sightseeing Tour

By Sightseeing Manchester
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Explore the historic city of Manchester at your own pace during a hop-on hop-off sightseeing tour that allows you to create your own itinerary. Rather than following a set schedule, you can disembark the bus at one of more than 15 stops, and only enjoy the attractions that capture your attention and appeal to your interests.

Ages 0-99
Duration: 1h 20m
Start time: Check availability
Mobile ticket
Audio guide: Arabic, German, English, Chinese, French, Spanish
More

Highlights
  • See Manchester your way on a hop-on hop-off bus tour
  • Receive an introduction to the history of Manchester with onboard commentary
  • Cover more sights in less time on a double-decker bus
  • Enjoy unobstructed views of landmarks from the top deck of the bus

  • Round-trip by open-top sightseeing bus
  • Sightseeing Manchester app offering multiple languages
  • On-board Commentary
What's not included
  • Guide

  • Wheelchair accessible
  • Pushchair accessible
  • Service animals allowed
  • Near public transportation
  • Infants must sit on laps
  • Transportation is wheelchair accessible
  • Surfaces are wheelchair accessible
If you have questions about accessibility, we’d be happy to help. Just call the number below and reference the product code: 53177P1

  • Confirmation will be received at time of booking
  • Children must be accompanied by an adult
  • Most travellers can participate

  • All sales are final and incur 100% cancellation penalties.

If you have questions about this tour or need help making your booking, we’d be happy to help. Just call the number below and reference the product code: 53177P1

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About the operator
Don’t take it from us – here’s what people have to say about this operator:
  • Sightseeing Manchester
    133
    United Kingdom
    Joined in April 2017
  • janetkL630BF
    0 contributions
    3.0 of 5 bubbles
    Sightseeing Bus manchester
    The driver was friendly- the bus was on time the audio is outdated and often not in synch with what you are looking at or about to look at. Overall this tour was disappointing- definitely needs an update as currently poor value for money Torur on Sunday 9 June 2024 at 12:00 hours- drop down box not working to select tour-
    Written 10 June 2024
  • dermotm968
    0 contributions
    1.0 of 5 bubbles
    No service provided after payment
    Bought 2 tickets online but bus never came. Messaged the business on Facebook but no reply. This business may not exist. There is a free for bus provided by the city metro, take that instead.
    Written 19 October 2023
  • deborahmA5147KA
    0 contributions
    3.0 of 5 bubbles
    Mini break
    We enjoyed our stay. 2 days in the city and one in Chester was fine. The people were lovely, shopping and the food was good. We did the main gallery, JR library, the science museum( v good, especially if you have little kids), media city( bit soul less?), comedy club, pub quiz etc We enjoyed the Manchester police museum - good for an hour. Flight Club was great fun! Ticked off the list! (Wish we had done the gin distillery tour and had experienced a match) I couldn't get my bearings at all in the place but that was probably just me!
    Written 25 February 2023
  • DeleneK
    0 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Quick and easy
    Good way to see Manchester quickly. I enjoyed the tour but feel that a proper tour guide, as opposed to a recording would have been better.
    Written 20 July 2022
  • nancymZ9716WP
    0 contributions
    1.0 of 5 bubbles
    Worst service possible!!
    This service is probably the worst we've ever come across in all our years of doing city breaks!! We went for the 12md service nd as said in other reviews it just didn't turn up!! And yet this time was advertised on their website!! A shambles!!
    Written 17 July 2022
  • sops93
    0 contributions
    1.0 of 5 bubbles
    Poorly organised & hardly hop-on-hop-off
    Be careful! I bought this on Groupon, before I realised that it's literally one bus and only runs three times at day (we went in July). Then when we EVENTUALLY found it and got on it, you weren't allowed off... let me explain... The voucher said to get on at the first stop, and stated this was Town Hall/Albert Square (which their map on their website also states). We went to get on at 10:30am, and no bus. We went to get on at 12pm, and there was no bus Keen to actually get to use the voucher before our other plans that day, we decided to essentially run ahead of the bus at each stop (which don't have signs, btw). Perhaps I should get in touch with their customer service team for help? Unfortunately, I didn't have a stamp, which is what I'd need because their contact details don't include a number – just an address in Birmingham. After checking their Facebook (good job I have an account), it turned out they've changed their first stop temporarily. We went to the art gallery staff, who helped us find the stop and catch the last/only other remaining ride (2pm). As it was the last one (there's only three in the day and only one bus remember), we weren't allowed to get off so had to just sit on it for 1 hour 20 mins. Even with the discount (came to £18 for two people) this was a rip off and ended up wasting a large chunk of time on our short trip. Manchesters the best though!!!
    Written 16 July 2022
  • TheMustachu
    0 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Beautiful tour around the City
    The tour was informative and fun. I got to see a lot of interesting sights around Manchester. I went on the tour from 2 pm - 3.30 pm and the bus was full though. Maybe it would have been better to do this tour in the morning.
    Written 15 June 2022
  • E7694UBkathrync
    0 contributions
    1.0 of 5 bubbles
    Don't expect a bus to turn up.
    We decided to go to Manchester for 2 nights as a surprise for my son's birthday and as we have been on other tour buses around cities, we enjoy them and get to see everything we want. We got to bus stop with 20 minutes to spare and no bus turned up, we waited another 30 minutes and still no bus. We text for an updated timetable just incase and no reply. There was no number to contact them either. A few other family's who were also waiting not just us. We bought our ticket through Groupon as we have done many times and never an issue. We had 2 disappointed children. We ended up paying extra for the normal bus that for £10 family of 4 was very good value for money and went almost everywhere we wanted, but we waisted lots of the waiting around so missed a few things. Such a shame for a big city that they only have a unreliable tour bus company.
    Written 1 March 2022
  • toonbhoy16
    0 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Enjoyable Tour
    I enjoyed doing this tour. The commentary was informative, we saw some of Manchester's best sights (despite restrictions) and the driver was nice and friendly.
    Written 25 September 2021
  • Julie555
    0 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Excellent tour bus, saw lots
    Excellent hop on tour bus. Got a discount as booked through Groupon. lasted 90 mins. Excellent route, went into SAlford Quays, which we later drove to. Its not ear phones but the commentary comes out of speakers at back of seats. Sat at the top in the sunshine. Really enjoyed it.
    Written 9 September 2021
  • lincsabi
    0 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Good way to see the city
    We bought a ticket that lasted 48 h the whole time we were in Manchester. As it was off season the tickets were £10 each well worth it as it's an excellent way to see the key areas and learn your way around the city. Recommend this for anyone visiting Manchester.
    Written 15 March 2020
  • NorthStar546587
    0 contributions
    1.0 of 5 bubbles
    Waste of money
    Bought tickets online for 15th Sept, received email two days before telling me that the tour bus would not pick up at Town Hall due to cycle race. There was no mention that buses would not go to other stops either. Waited at Science and Industry museum for a bus that never came. Great inconvenience as husband unable to walk far. Apparently a message posted on Facebook that day about stops not being serviced but I don’t use Facebook. Unable to use tickets at all that day so wrote on two occasions afterwards to ask for refund as I am sure this cycle event must have been known about at the time I booked my tickets but no mention of limited service on that date. I have not received any reply. Everything else about our short visit to Manchester was great but we were let down by this company. Complete waste of money.
    Written 15 November 2019
  • Peter W
    0 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    A great way to see a great city!
    We took a journey on the sightseeing tour, and found it to be very interesting. The tour takes in a large part of the cities of Manchester and Salford, and the 90 minute trip is just right in terms of times. The tickets are valid for 2 days, and the usual hop on hop off system is used, and 21 stops are on the journey. The buses themselves are confortable, with cushioned seats rather than the hard plastic often found on this type of open tour bus. The front section is partially enclosed in case of adverse weather (this is Lancashire after all...!). The commentary is very good, not too long for each section, but with a great content. For the foreign speakers on board, an application can be downloaded onto your smart phone allowing the commentary to be listened to in different languages. The app also allows you to read the commentary later. Definately recommended, and at £12 per adult this is a very good value for money ride.
    Written 23 October 2019
  • Robin P
    0 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Great way to visit
    Great way to get your bearings and discover where you want to visit. A great way of getting around with regular hop on/ hop off stops. Could be a little sooner between tours, one hour is a little too long.
    Written 7 October 2019
  • william B
    0 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Break
    Went to Manchester for a relaxing break took the open top bus to see the city great value at £6 for two days. The Salford quays are worth a visit also Manchester cathedral. The town hall looks great unfortunately Was closed for refurbishment. Plenty of museums to see. Worth a short stay.
    Written 3 October 2019
See all 133 reviews
These reviews are the subjective opinions of Tripadvisor members and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

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3.0
3.0 of 5 bubbles95 reviews
Excellent
24
Very good
14
Average
24
Poor
14
Terrible
19

SteveCAFC63
Beckenham, UK657 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2020
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
Written 14 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

holidaymanWashington
Washington, UK4,872 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
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.
Written 16 August 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Paul S
4 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Sept 2023 • Couples
They seemed celebrating with big fanfare their new timetable, which looks like someone wasted their time dedicating some passion to it. Sadly they can't live up to it!

Driver was 40min late. The contact email is a black hole and the phone number goes to an answering machine. The bus is tatty and worn.

The driver eventually dragged his arse down the street with coffee in hand at 11:10am when the bus was due to leave at 10:30. Obviously there was no apology.

He then spent the time rallying the bus through the streets to make up for lost time and he was pretty relaxed about running red lights.

The tour is ok, but it misses a lot out. Simple things like the Etihad stadium for instance! You will spend much of the time in traffic starting and stopping between traffic lights and flying through areas like the Media centre.

I would recommend visitors to get a pass for the trams.

I would recommend the company go to Edinburgh to see how tours should be operated.
Written 2 October 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

ladynijo
United Kingdom282 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Not especially good and I would have been disappointed if I’d paid full price. Even at concessionary fare it was a bit of a poor experience. First, the top deck was completely full when I got on, so got stuck downstairs. Second, the recorded commentary was out of sync with the locations. Third, the commentary was minimal and to be honest, I got the impression that either not a lot of thought had been given to it, or in putting in some history to the development of the city. Maybe there isn’t much to work with in some areas but the audience is captive and there’s a story to be told. Fourth, driver was unhelpful. I got off at Media city in the middle of the day, but there was no information about bus times on the scrappy and uninformative leaflet provided. The leaflet says download an APP to get live tracking on buses and times etc, but even when I did that, no live tracking available. In the end, I got a tram back. So a bit of a waste of time and money really.
Written 9 June 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Conrad H
United Kingdom14 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2024 • Couples
Disappointing. Decided to take the tour on the day we arrived in Manchester to get a feel for the city. Unfortunately, for large parts of the tour there was no commentary, including most of the City centre which is full of buildings of historic importance. Unlike the other tours we have been on in other cities here and abroad, we passed by monuments and other landmarks in total silence and ended the tour feeling that we knew little more about the city than we did when we boarded.
Written 29 May 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

BlueGoose900
Ipswich, UK60 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Taking an open top bus in Manchester is always going to be a gamble! However, the weather was good to us on this occasion. The upper seats were already wet from an earlier shower but we dried them with the tea towel provided by the driver. A pretty good route around the city and Salford was taken that included all the pertinent sites. The experience could have been a bit better if the driver had called out what number stop we had arrived at. At £8 for concession it was very good value
Written 6 June 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Paul L
London, UK15 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2024 • Family
How extremely disappointing. Old fashioned bus with loud engine noise made it impossible to hear the commentary downstairs. The CD with the commentary kept skipping and needed to be replaced several times...very frustrating. On a positive note the bus driver was very helpful with passengers. Was really looking forward to finding out about the history, culture and architecture of Manchester....it just didn't live up to expectations. Would really like a refund.
Written 1 April 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Laura
3 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
I gave this 2 stars because we did actually get a full circuit and learned a bit about M’cr. But I WOULD NOT recommend it. Buses run just once an hour, they do not stop at the advertised stops and the stops are hard to find anyway, the commentary was confusing and didn’t match up with where the bus was so we were left guessing what was going on. When we tried to get on the bus later, the driver drove past us on the last bus of the day. We had hoped to use the service tomorrow (Monday), but the buses don’t run Monday and Tuesday. Feeling cheated that we paid full price and it’s not even possible to use the second day as advertised. Live and learn, I guess.
Written 23 June 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Rick Louw
Manchester, UK27 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
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.
Written 29 June 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Aoife
Dublin, Ireland1 contribution
1.0 of 5 bubbles
The tour itself was fine, although it was so hard to hear the commentary over the speakers being upstairs, but the worst part of the tour was our incredibly rude driver. Honestly one of the rudest people I have ever met. I never write reviews so that means a lot coming from me. I came down stairs to double check whether the bus would be stopping at a certain stop and was shouted out like a teacher scoulding a child -‘SIT DOWN!!’. I was so shocked and upset by his behaviour, it really ruined my day. Will not be recommending this tour to anyone in case they have the bad luck of getting this same incredibly rude driver.
Written 2 May 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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Manchester Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Sightseeing Tour provided by Sightseeing Manchester

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