Philadelphia - Big Bus Tours

http://eng.bigbustours.com/philadelphia/home.html

In a heavy tourist city there may often be multiple tours, and it can be somewhat confusing.

We ended up with the Big Bus company, and that was mainly because it came with our City Pass.  That is nonetheless a combination that I recommend, and we were happy with it.

There were two points of confusion, which aren't necessarily horrible. One was finding the right bus. We requested a hotel pickup, which they do via a shuttle van. We got in the van, and they picked up some others, and then we were directed to different buses at the departure point. Was it that we got on a van that was coming for someone else? There could be many shuttle vans going around at a time. Was it that the different bus companies share a shuttle service? Not impossible. I really don't know.

The other thing that was confusing was that looking at the list of stops the number kept changing. I think some of the numbers were 22, 23 and 27, but I was never sure. There could be several reasons for this.

One is that some stops may be seasonal or for certain times of day. Construction in preparation for the Pope's visit made some stops unavailable too, though that would probably not affect the literature.

Another possibility is that there are stops and there are attractions, but some stops have multiple attractions. The main starting point is right by Independence National Historic Park. Not only is that an attraction by itself, but you can divide it into multiple attractions. Independence Hall itself is part of a tour of three buildings, there is also the Liberty Bell, including the site of the first presidential home, and the visitors center.

Also, on one round of the bus tour there seemed to be another stop nearby for the Betsy Ross house, Christchurch Cemetery, and Elfreth Alley, but that did not seem to be available when we wanted to go there, so we walked to all three from that main stop, and it was not that far. In the process we also passed by an old Quaker meeting house and Girard Fountain Park, and we had walked to the Lyle exhibit from there. Also, I believe we were quite near the Philadelphia Mint there.

One point of this is that Philadelphia is pretty walkable, but also there is a lot packed closely together. The tour bus will pass near some things multiple times from different sides as they try to show you everything. This can be handy as you can walk from one stop past various attractions and then board again at a different stop, which can be wonderful for time and efficiency as long as you keep your bearings.

I have said this about other cities too, but again, taking that tour first thing, so you get a chance to see where the things are that you know you want to see, but also to learn about things you didn't know about, is always a smart move.