Hop On, Hop Off Buses

We took advantage of the "Hop On. Hop Off" buses in Funchal, Madeira and Barcelona, Spain while on a recent cruise on the Ruby Princess. We highly recommend them.

These buses provide a number of advantages when visiting a port:

• The buses stop at many of the main tourist attractions for that port.
  
• The buses are excellent platforms for shooting photos while touring the port. The buses normally have two levels with no roof or windows on the upper level of the bus.
  
• The price is usually very competitive. We paid 12 Euros in Funchal and 22 Euros in Barcelona.
  
• You can get off at any attraction you want to visit and then get on the next available bus.
  
• They provide free headsets that are used to listen to a running commentary in a large selection of languages.

There are some negatives to these buses:

• There can be large crowds waiting to board the bus at popular stops.
• You will not be able to get on the upper deck if it is full. In Barcelona they offered passengers already on the bus the option of going to the upper deck before allowing new passengers on the bus.
• Some people won't respect the lines waiting to get on the bus and will push their way past those who have been waiting in line.

We found the buses to be an excellent way to photograph the ports we visited and highly recommend them. Just keep in mind that they can be crowded at times.