Brooklyn Bus Tour: Open-Top Bus and DUMBO Walking Tour

Included

The $69 buys a 3-hour guided tour by open-top double-decker bus, the guided walking tour of the DUMBO neighborhood and the live local guide, in English only. All taxes and fees are included. You can reserve now and pay later, and you cancel free up to 24 hours before the start for a full refund.

There is no hotel pickup, no meal and no attraction entry in the price.

One Contradiction to Know About

The highlights line about hopping on and off at over 40 stops is copied from the operator's general hop-on hop-off product and does not match this tour. The route list and the description show a single fixed ride with one walking stop. Book it as a guided tour, and if you want unlimited hopping, look at the Open-Top Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Tour with Night Option from the same operator.

Times Square and Midtown

You start under the neon of Times Square at 2:00 PM, outside M&M's World at 1600 Broadway. The bus winds through Midtown, passing the Empire State Building and Madison Square Garden. These sights you see from the top deck only, with no getting off.

The Manhattan Bridge Crossing

The bus crosses the historic Manhattan Bridge. From the deck the listing promises views of the Brooklyn Bridge, the Statue of Liberty and the city skyline. The crossing is the handover point between the bus ride and the Brooklyn half of the tour.

DUMBO on Foot

In DUMBO you get off the bus for the guided walk. The guide leads you through the cobblestone streets and along the waterfront, where the Manhattan Bridge frames the Empire State Building, the classic photo spot at the corner of Washington and Water Streets. The walk then continues to Brooklyn Bridge Park for views of the Brooklyn Bridge against the Manhattan skyline.

The listing does not state where the tour ends or how long each part takes, so allow the full 3 hours and plan onward travel from Brooklyn rather than Times Square.

If Your Dates do Not Fit

The tour runs only at 2:00 PM on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from April 12 to December 31, with no year stated, and closes entirely from December 31 to March 31. Winter visitors cannot take it. If you want Brooklyn in winter, the Dyker Heights Christmas Lights Guided Bus Tour runs into the evening with a heated coach and a restroom, and includes a DUMBO skyline stop.

If You Need a Language Other Than English

The guide speaks English only, with no recorded audio in other languages listed. If you want Spanish, the Contrasts Tour of Harlem, Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn runs with a guide in Spanish and English.

If You Want to Hop on and Hop Off

This is a single fixed ride with one walk, so you cannot break the journey. The New York Premium Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Pass includes one ride on a Brooklyn route, though with recorded audio and no refunds. The top deck is open in rain or cold, so dress for the weather or pick a closed-coach tour.

If You Want More Boroughs in One Booking

This tour shows Manhattan and Brooklyn only. The Four Boroughs Bus Tour of NYC Neighborhoods adds Harlem, the Bronx and Queens in 6 hours for $84, and its DUMBO stop is shorter at 20 minutes.

Finding the Meeting Point

You redeem your ticket with Big Bus staff outside M&M's World at 1600 Broadway. The Times Square district runs from 40th to 53rd Street between 6th and 8th Avenues and averages about 330,000 daily visitors, so the area around the meeting point is crowded all day. The listing states no arrival window or pickup window, so arrive with time to find the staff among the crowds.

Planning the End of the Day

The return point and time are not stated and the route ends in Brooklyn. Back in Manhattan, the free Staten Island Ferry runs every day year round from Whitehall Terminal at 4 South Street and takes about 25 minutes, with departures on the half hour overnight.

The Cheap Alternative

An MTA local bus or subway ride costs $3 and the express bus $7.25, with one free transfer within two hours. MetroCards can no longer be bought or refilled since January 1, 2026, so pay with OMNY. After 12 paid rides in seven days the fare cap kicks in and further rides are free.

Read the hop on hop off NYC guide or the NYC night bus tour guide to weigh the ticketed options against doing it yourself.

The Walk Itself: Cobblestones, Washington Street and the Waterfront

When the bus reaches Brooklyn, the guide leads the group on foot through DUMBO, the short strip of streets between the two bridges. The walking route follows the cobblestone streets and the waterfront, and it passes the photo stop that makes the neighborhood famous. On Washington Street, the Brooklyn tower of the Manhattan Bridge is framed by brick warehouses, one of the most photographed views in the city.

The classic angle is the corner of Washington and Water Streets, where the Empire State Building sits directly beneath the bridge span. The Manhattan Bridge itself was completed in 1909, so the frame in your photo is more than a century old. The listing gives no split between the bus ride and the walk, so the guide sets the pace across the 3-hour total.

The whole tour is listed as wheelchair accessible, and the walk covers the same cobblestones and waterfront promenade that every visitor photo comes from.

If You Stay in Brooklyn After the Tour

The listing does not state where the tour ends, so plan your return before you set out. If you linger, Brooklyn Bridge Park is the place to be. From the waterfront you get the view of the Brooklyn Bridge against the Manhattan skyline that the tour builds toward, and the park sits at the foot of the bridge itself.

The bridge towers are lit by a new LED system that NYC DOT switched on, a project with 56 new lights at a cost of $2.4 million, so the view holds up after dark. Getting back to Manhattan is simple. The NYC local bus and subway fare is $3 and you get one free transfer within two hours of paying.

If you want a second guided pass through the neighborhood, the three-hour luxury night bus tour stops in DUMBO for skyline photos, and the four boroughs bus tour gives DUMBO a 20-minute stop on a longer circuit.