Hop-On/Hop-Off in Cartagena, Colombia

Oct 25, 2018 - This morning, Island Princess is docking in the port of Cartagena, Colombia.

Approaching the dock in Cartagena

We have scheduled a City Sightseeing Hop-On/Hop-Off bus tour for this morning. Even though this tour is available through Princess Cruises (and most cruise lines), you can save some money by booking directly with City Sightseeing through their website.

As soon as we disembark Island Princess, City Sightseeing folks are at the end of the gangway to take our tickets and guide us onto a waiting shuttle. In fact, we were invited onto the same shuttle as those who purchased the tour through the ship's tour office. However, this shuttle may not be provided for all cruise ships visiting Cartagena. If not, City Sightseeing will direct you to the nearest Hop-On/Hop-Off bus stop where you can board the tour. The tour includes a bus tour of Cartagena as well as a guided walking tour of the Old Town. Guests can opt to do both, or either one.

Hop-On/Hop-Off Shuttle Bus

We chose to do the walking tour only. The shuttle drive to Old Town takes about 30 minutes and as soon as we disembark the bus, local merchants swarm around us selling everything from sunglasses to hats to bottled water.

Local merchants selling all kinds of items

One of the double-decker Hop-On/Hop-Off buses is just about to leave on its 90-minute tour through the city. There are 14 stops along the way where guests can "hop off", do some shopping, have lunch, explore, then "hop on" when ready to continue their tour. A bus comes around every 30 minutes or so, depending on traffic.

Hop-On/Hop-Off Bus

We have done many of these Hop-On/Hop-Off bus tours with City Sightseeing all over the world and have always found them an excellent, and affordable, way to see an unfamiliar city. But, we have never done a walking tour with them, so today Raul will guide us through Old Town.

Raul, our guide

There are about 20 guests in our walking group and everyone is given a set of ear buds and an audio receiver. This allows everyone to clearly hear the guide talking through his transmitter.

Audio receiver

The tour begins with a walk through the old city gate under the clock tower.

Clock Tower

Once inside the walls of Old Town, we begin walking through a labyrinth of narrow streets, and into expansive plazas.

Tour group walking through streets

There is some beautiful architecture to be found here, not the least of which are the elaborate churches.

Raul took us to a local chocolate museum where we enjoyed a complimentary chocolate milk drink. Many on the tour purchased chocolate items in the store.

Of course, everywhere you look there are local street vendors selling their wares. Rickee finally gave in and purchased a decorative head band. Even though the vendors are persistent, they are not aggressive or pushy. A simple "no, gracias" will send them away if you are not interested. One unique merchant was an artist who painted on a mirror with his fingers and palm, only using a small sponge for a couple of effects. He gave us a demonstration and it was amazing. He did a beautiful painting in about two minutes! We bought two of his paintings ($10) to take home as gifts.

Street artist

The walking tour took about 90 minutes and was an excellent way to see the Old Town Cartegena, which is definitely the highlight of this port city. After the tour, most guests joined the Hop-On/Hop-Off bus for the driving tour of the city, but we opted to catch the shuttle back to the ship.

The City Sightseeing Tour in Cartagena is definitely worth the modest price of less than $23(US). A Hop-On/Hop-Off bus is one of our favorite ways to see a new city.

For more information, visit their website.

Hop-On/Hop-Off Copenhagen

With one day to spend in Copenhagen after our Royal Princess Baltic cruise, we wanted to see as much as possible in a short amount of time. Copenhagen is a fascinating city with a lot to see. However, many of its attractions are spread out over a wide area. One of the best ways to see European cities is by Hop-On/Hop-Off (HoHo) buses. The concept is pretty simple: you purchase a 24- or 48-hour pass and you can get on and off the bus as often as you like. Tickets can be purchased online in advance or from on-site representatives where you board the bus or from the bus driver. The buses make regular stops every 30 minutes at Copenhagen's most popular attractions.

Red Buses HoHo in Copenhagen

A 48-hour bus pass was 195 DKK or 25€ (about $33US) per person. Compare that to $100 or more for a cruise line excursion and you see why the HoHo has grown in popularity. We boarded the Red Buses HoHo in front of the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel (look for the big SAS on the building). There are several companies offering Hop-On/Hop-Off at this location, so make sure you look for the Red Buses logo of all the flags around the top of the bus. As we boarded the bus, we were given a new set of ear plugs in a sealed bag along with a route map. The Red Buses HoHo makes 17 different stops. Each of the buses is also equipped with FREE Wi-Fi, making it an even better value.

The upper deck of the HoHo bus

When the weather is nice, and dry, there is no better place to sit than on the top deck of the double-decker bus. Not only do you get fresh air, but you have the best opportunity to take photos. It was raining when we got on the bus in Copenhagen, so a tarp was extended to protect riders from the elements. However, the sides were still open for photo taking. Information about all the landmarks you are seeing is available through the plug-in audio system and is offered in several different languages. You take your ear plugs with you when you hop off and use them again on the next bus you board.

One of the stops on the route was the famous Little Mermaid statue. Our driver stopped for 10 minutes to allow us to get out and take photos before the bus proceeded on its route.

The Little Mermaid

When the bus made a stop at the famous Nyhavn district, we "hopped off" to explore on foot. This area has lots of shops and restaurants and some great photo spots. From here, we were able to walk to the famous pedestrian shopping area, and eventually back to our hotel.

The scenic and historic Nyhavn district in Copenhagen

Cruise passengers visiting Copenhagen for the day will be pleased to learn that you can pick up the Red Buses HoHo right where your cruise ship docks in Copenhagen. Just look for the big red bus with Red Buses logo. If you want to explore the city and see all the famous landmarks at your own pace, you can't miss with the Red Buses Hop On/Hop Off bus.

For more information, go to their website at www.RedBuses.com

Originally posted on: 8/25/2014