City Sightseeing: is it reliable, and is it worth it?

The brand is genuine and has been around since 1999, but City Sightseeing does not run your bus. A local company does, so quality, refund rules and the place to complain change from city to city.

7.6/10
Traveller rating · 7.6/10 across 5,833 reviews

Company details checked on 5 October 2026

Miniature model of Berlin with an orange sightseeing bus Miniature model of Florence with an orange sightseeing bus Miniature model of Porto with an orange sightseeing bus Miniature model of Amsterdam with an orange sightseeing bus

City Sightseeing at a glance

  • Founded1999
  • Head officeSeville, Spain
  • OwnerCity Sightseeing Worldwide, the Seville group led by Enrique Ybarra, owner of the brand since 2011
  • How it worksA brand shared by local bus companies
  • Cities worldwide100
  • Official websitecity-sightseeing.com

Average of the ratings on Civitatis for the cities below, weighted by the number of reviews.

Is City Sightseeing reliable?

Who is behind it

  • There are two layers.
  • The brand belongs to City Sightseeing Worldwide in Seville, and its website states that it acts as agent on behalf of the bus operators.
  • The company answerable for the ride is the local one: Sightseeing Experience s.r.l. in Italy, Berlin City Tour GmbH in Berlin, City Sightseeing Amsterdam in Amsterdam.
  • Look for the operator's name on its own website or on the ticket page before you pay.

Refunds and cancellation

  • It depends where you buy.
  • The worldwide site's general terms say all sales are final, yet its ticket pages for Seville and Porto promise free cancellation up to 24 hours before the chosen date, so keep a copy of the page you booked from.
  • The Italian site gives free cancellation until 24 hours before for Rome.
  • Berlin and Amsterdam refund open tickets within fourteen days of an online purchase, and not timed ones.

When something goes wrong

  • The typical problems are suspended stops and long gaps between buses.
  • On 4 and 5 October 2026 the operators listed the Colosseo stop in Rome as suspended, Line B to Fiesole in Florence as suspended, one Porto stop closed for roadworks and another skipped at weekends.
  • In Berlin and Amsterdam there are no stop signs in the street, so you need the app.
  • Complain to the local operator first: the Italian terms give 10 days from the date of travel, and the worldwide site 14 days from the tour.

What to expect on the day

  • In the seven cities we cover, the wait runs from 15 minutes on Rome's Red Line to 90 minutes on Milan's Line C, and a loop takes from 50 to 150 minutes.
  • The last bus leaves at 16:00 in Berlin and at 21:00 in Seville, with the other cities in between.
  • Commentary is an audio guide through earphones in 8 to 18 languages, and the Amsterdam buses have closed roofs.
  • Rome's Colosseo stop and Florence's Line B to Fiesole were suspended on 5 October 2026.
  • The table below shows how travellers rate it in each city.

Good at

  • A recognisable red bus in about 100 cities, usually with a stop at the main station or square.
  • Tickets in Seville and Porto include guided walks, and in Porto a port tasting.
  • Audio guides in many languages: 18 in Amsterdam and 13 in Berlin.
  • Open-date vouchers valid for 12 months in Seville, Porto, Berlin and Amsterdam.

Watch out for

  • A different company in every city, so there is no single customer service or refund policy.
  • The worldwide site's general terms say sales are final while its ticket pages offer cancellation. Save the page.
  • A ticket is valid in one city only, and only on that operator's buses.
  • Route maps go out of date. Rome's Colosseo stop and Florence's Fiesole line are still printed and are suspended.

City Sightseeing, city by city

The same company can be worth the ticket in one city and a poor deal in the next. These are the cities we have checked.

Who is City Sightseeing

  • City Sightseeing started in Seville in 1999 as a red open-top bus brand developed by the British operator Ensignbus.
  • In 2011 Ensignbus sold the whole business to its Spanish franchisee, Enrique Ybarra, and the head office has been in Seville since.
  • The worldwide website is still sold through City Sightseeing Limited, a company registered in England.
  • It grew as a franchise.
  • Local bus companies pay to use the red livery, the name and the worldwide booking site, and they keep running their own vehicles, drivers and timetables.
  • The company says this is how it expanded so quickly: some members were existing tour operators that repainted their buses, others were new firms.
  • The brand counts about 100 locations on six continents.
  • In Rome, Florence and Milan the buses belong to Sightseeing Experience s.r.l., the Italian franchisee, bought by Busitalia of the state railway group FS in January 2026.
  • Berlin and Amsterdam are run by companies of the Dutch group Enticon.
  • Seville, the home city, and Porto are sold on the worldwide site with a local operator named on each ticket page.

How City Sightseeing tickets work

  1. Tickets are set by each local operator. The Italian cities sell 24, 48 and 72 hours counted from the first boarding, and Rome adds a 1 Day ticket that ends with the last bus of that calendar day. Seville and Porto sell a 24-hour ticket and a 48-hour one with extra walks and visits. Berlin and Amsterdam sell 24 and 48 hours only.
  2. Check which lines a ticket covers and how often they run. In Milan one ticket covers four lines, but one of them runs every 50 minutes and another every 90. In Rome the ticket also works on the yellow Omnia Vatican & Rome buses. In Berlin the second line to the East Side Gallery and the Wall Memorial needs a combined ticket.
  3. The operator's own website is normally cheaper than the list price charged at the stop. In Italy that is the Italian City Sightseeing site, in Berlin and Amsterdam the local sites, and for Seville and Porto the worldwide site. Each operator has its own phone app with live bus positions, and Italian tickets give 10% off the next City Sightseeing tour in another city.

City Sightseeing: quick answers

Is City Sightseeing a legitimate company?

Yes. It is a brand created in 1999 and based in Seville, used under licence by local bus companies in about 100 cities. The company that carries you is the local operator.

Who runs City Sightseeing in Italy, Berlin and Amsterdam?

In Rome, Florence and Milan it is Sightseeing Experience s.r.l., owned by Busitalia of the FS railway group since January 2026. Berlin and Amsterdam are run by companies of the Dutch group Enticon.

Can I cancel a City Sightseeing ticket?

It depends on the seller and the city. Ticket pages for Seville, Porto and Rome show free cancellation up to 24 hours before, and Berlin and Amsterdam refund open tickets within fourteen days of an online purchase.

Does a City Sightseeing ticket work in another city?

No. Each ticket is for one city and one local operator. A ticket for Rome is not valid in Florence or Berlin.

Is City Sightseeing the same as Big Bus?

No. They are competitors. In cities where both run, such as Rome, they use different stops and do not accept each other's tickets.

Sources

Read on 5 October 2026. Timetables and prices change with the season, so check the operator's page before you travel.

Other companies

  • Barcelona Bus Turístic

    Yes. Barcelona Bus Turístic is run by TMB, the public company behind the city's metro and buses, and it is the most frequent tour bus we cover in Spain. The catch is a strict rule: once you buy a ticket there is no refund.

  • Big Bus Tours

    Yes, Big Bus Tours is a real and long-established company, and the bus you paid for will be there. How good it is depends on the city: the service is frequent in Edinburgh and London and thin in New York and Dublin, and getting money back after you activate a ticket is hard.

  • Madrid City Tour

    Yes. Madrid City Tour is the city's official tour bus, run by two of Spain's largest coach and tour companies, and its cancellation terms are better than most. Route 1 is frequent, while Routes 2 and 3 can leave you waiting 35 minutes.

  • Gray Line Münchener Stadtrundfahrten

    Yes. Münchener Stadtrundfahrten is an old Munich company that runs the buses itself, and the same buses are sold under the Gray Line and Big Bus names. Check the cancellation terms before you book, because its published terms charge a fee that rises as the date gets closer.

  • Sights of Athens

    Yes. Sights of Athens is a licensed Greek tour company that runs its own blue buses, and its cancellation rule is clear: free up to 24 hours before. The city loop is frequent, while the Piraeus and beach lines run only six times a day.

  • Tootbus

    Yes. Tootbus belongs to RATP Dev, part of the group that runs the Paris metro, and its refund rule is one of the clearer ones: free up to 24 hours before the tour date. In Brussels the weak point is frequency, above all on the Atomium shuttle.

  • Yellow Bus

    Yes. Yellow Bus belongs to Carris, the public company that runs Lisbon's buses and trams, so you are dealing with a transport operator and not a reseller. The weak point is frequency: in Lisbon a bus comes every 40 minutes.