If you’re still planning your mid-to-late summer getaway, or need some ideas for family fun at your vacation destination, consider taking the bus. No, not the local one.... one of the many interesting, entertaining and really fun group tours offered via bus and sometimes trolley in many of the top tourist destinations.

Typically I’m not a great prospect for anything involving organized group travel. So why do I love taking bus tours and theme tours of interesting cities and attractions? How can I enjoy these group tours so much, in fact, that I’m recommending it to my fellow travelers?

For starters, I have found over the years that investing in a day-long or even multi-day bus tour can help you cover a lot of ground in a big city when you have just a few days to see a lot.   Tours are a great family fun activity that everyone at every age enjoys (even hard-to-please teenagers; my 17-year-old son will roll his eyes at the mention of a tour, but it’s always one of his favorite parts of most any trip).

I’ve hopped on and hopped off many a Gray Line Tour bus in cities like New York and London. When you have a limited number of days to see these huge cities, they can be one of the best ways to at least drive by some attractions or historical sites that you can’t spend time visiting. They can also provide fantastic historic background information and the most entertaining little-known facts about even a very well-known destination.  

For instance, who knew that the star in the Macy’s logo represents a tattoo on the arm of the store founder?  I sure didn’t, not until a Gray Line bus guide in New York told us as we rode past the store on 34th Street. And if there’s one thing I love as much as a hotel upgrade, it’s a good tour guide! The most entertaining and informative need to be part historian, part comedian, and all ham.

Tours are also great modes of transportation.  You can catch one of the Gray Line Tours on a downtown loop at many spots in midtown Manhattan, ride down to Ground Zero or Battery Park for the Statue of Liberty ferry and you’ll take in so much more of NYC than you would from the subway or cab. Or hop off along the way to see the attraction you like, perhaps walk around a bit, and then catch the next bus when you’re ready to move on (it’s a great to rest your feet when you’ve been walking for hours…). It takes longer than public transportation to get from place to place, but you can see and learn about many neighborhoods you might otherwise miss.

On the Ghosts and Gravestones Tours from Old Town Trolley, we got a chance to tour the darker side of several famous historic cities.  We’ve been on three of their four tours, exploring Boston, Savannah and St. Augustine (they also offer tours of Key West). In Boston, our tour guide 'Jack the Slasher' --likely a local theater student-- was in full costume and rocking a Cockney accent playing a depraved, dead 19th-century murderer. He was absolutely hilarious as he led us around via trolley to the various haunted places and graveyards of Beantown.  In two hours we learned all kinds of new things about the lives --and deaths-- of many notorious Boston citizens and the legends behind many famous locations while enjoying a one-man show.

We had a similar ghostly evening in Savannah one summer night as we explored one of the south’s most eccentric cities and heard dozens of bizarre stories and legends (and this in a place with many bizarre stories).  We even got to see a “ghost” in one of the upstairs windows of one of the city's gorgeous homes.

Two years ago, we spent half a day driving around Dublin, Ireland, learning about cathedrals, Guinness and the bullet holes in the statue of Daniel O’Connell while enjoying our driver Declan’s very Irish accent and wit.  “What’s the difference between God and Bono?” Declan asked.  “You don’t see God walkin’ down O’Connell Street with sunglasses on, pretendin’ to be Bono,” he answered, taking a little shot at the U2 singer that Dubliners call a favorite son.

In Washington D.C., we took a ride on the DC Duck Tour, which utilizes an amphibious vehicle that covers the city by street and then glides into the Potomac River for a quick cruise.  What a surprise to learn that our tour guide, Captain Jim, was actually from our hometown in Ohio! We gave a resounding “quack!” on our duck whistle to that!

So while I might not be on board for a bus tour through Europe, I always look for a fun tour in a new city to spend at least a few hours being entertained and informed. Do you have a story to share from a memorable sightseeing tour?