Big Bus Tours, the global leader in open-top bus sightseeing, announced a new series of complimentary self-guided walking tours available for Hop-On, Hop-Off tour ticketholders beginning today, Monday, December 2. Four themed walking tours will be available year-round on select tickets: Historic Loop Architecture, Chicago Riverwalk, Great Public Art and Millennium Park. More than 50 different points of interest are highlighted in these four tours. Available now through January 1, Big Bus Tours will offer a bonus Holiday Season Tour. The festive tour highlights a variety of Chicago’s top holiday destinations such as Christkindlmarket, the Wreathing of the Lions at Art Institute of Chicago and ZooLights at Lincoln Park Zoo.
Upon purchasing their Big Bus Tours’ Hop-On, Hop-Off ticket, each customer will receive a unique QR code on their ticket, providing them access to the complimentary walking tours on the POPGuide app. Each walking tour offers approximately 15 indoor and outdoor sites covering up to 1.5 miles of walking for participants to explore at their own pace. All walking tours will be offered in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Chinese.
“Chicago is a city rich with history, art and architectural beauty. These walking tours will allow guests to hop off our buses and further explore the city’s unique character in an up-close and personal way,” said Big Bus Tours Senior Vice President and General Manager John Curran. “It’s the perfect opportunity for guests to discover even more of Chicago’s incredible sights at their own leisure.”
Available daily, Big Bus Tours’ Hop-On, Hop-Off experience allows visitors to explore popular destinations within Chicago’s vibrant downtown area, taking in historic sites, cultural institutions, hidden gems and more. The 11 stops featured on the Hop-On, Hop-Off Route include:
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Chicago Riverwalk
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Skydeck Chicago & Willis Tower
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Millennium Park & The Art Institute
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Hilton Chicago & Grant Park
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Adler Planetarium
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Museum Campus
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Sheraton Grand & Loews Chicago Hotels
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Navy Pier
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Water Tower & The Magnificent Mile
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360 Chicago
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Hard Rock Café & River North
A full Hop-On, Hop-Off route map is available here. Service begins at the Chicago Riverwalk (98 E. Wacker Drive) at 10 a.m. and the last bus departs at 5 p.m. daily. Pickups are available at each stop every 20-30 minutes and the full route circuit takes approximately two hours. Upon boarding, guests will receive a set of headphones to use on-board for recorded commentary in English and Spanish that complements the route. Guests are encouraged to hop on to discover and hop off at their leisure to explore the city via Hop-On, Hop-Off one-day or two-day ticket packages.
Individual tickets for all Chicago Hop-On, Hop-Off tours begin at $49.50 for adults and $35 for children ages 3-12. Tickets are available online at www.bigbustours.com and advance ticket purchases are recommended. A variety of ticket packages are also available online. Tickets are available for on-site purchases at Big Bus tour stops throughout the city. For more information, visit www.bigbustours.com.
About Big Bus Tours
Big Bus Tours is the world’s largest operator of open-top sightseeing experiences, inspiring the spirit of adventure in 26 world-famous cities across four continents. Beginning its journey over 30 years ago, with a fleet of only three buses, Big Bus Tours has expanded to a global fleet of hundreds of open-top buses, turning 6 million tourists into explorers, every year. Big Bus Tours operates in Abu Dhabi, Berlin, Boston, Budapest, Chicago, Darwin, Dubai, Dublin, Hong Kong, Las Vegas, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Miami, Munich, Muscat, New York, Paris, Philadelphia, Prague, Rome, San Francisco, Singapore, Sydney, Vienna, and Washington DC, with a sightseeing concept designed to provide a flexible approach to city discovery. Each open-top bus tour provides a hop-on, hop-off facility at a variety of interesting locations, with complementary additions to enhance the visitor sightseeing experience. In February 2015, private equity firm Exponent purchased Big Bus Tours, with a shared vision to make Big Bus Tours the number 1 thing to do in every world-famous city, and in 2016 Merlin Entertainments became a shareholder. With a unique, innovative, and entertaining digital audio guide that immerses customers in each city, the Big Bus city experience leaves every customer with a story to tell. A perfect city companion, The Big Bus Tours app includes tour highlights, city guides and map and real-time bus tracking, downloadable in the Apple and Android App stores. The Big Bus Tours Group continues to expand its product portfolio each year, both in terms of new hop-on hop-off destinations and new experiences, as evidenced by the acquisition of Tower Tours in 2023 and Tour Dubai in 2024. For more information, log onto the Big Bus Tours website www.bigbustours.com.