Big Bus or Tootbus: Paris Hop-On Hop-Off
Two separate companies run real, currently operating electric double-decker networks across central Paris, which is unusual: in a lot of cities this write-up would have to tell you the “classic hop-on hop-off bus” barely exists anymore. Here it comes down to picking the one whose nearest stop matches where you are staying.
Big Bus Paris
Big Bus runs a 10-stop Classic Route taking roughly 2 hours 15 minutes for the full loop, on electric double-deckers with free wifi on board. A 24-hour adult ticket runs from around EUR41 on a weekday and EUR45 on a weekend, with buses every 10 to 20 minutes through the day. Compare current Big Bus tour options if the Classic Route stops line up better with your hotel than Tootbus’s loop does.
Tootbus
Tootbus runs a 10-stop circular route starting at Opéra, on a fully electric fleet, with a 1-day pass from around EUR37 adult and an audio guide in 10 languages. Book a Tootbus hop-on hop-off pass if the Opéra starting point or the lower entry price tips the decision your way; both companies run buses every 10 to 20 minutes, so frequency alone will not settle it.
What a bus pass does not include
A hop-on hop-off ticket gets you past a stop near the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower or Notre-Dame, not into any of them. The Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, the Catacombs, Sainte-Chapelle, Versailles and the towers of Notre-Dame all still require a separately booked timed-entry slot in 2026, bus pass or not. Treat the bus as transport and sightseeing-by-window between stops, and book museum and monument entry as its own task.
The scam this category specifically attracts
Third-party resellers mark up official prices by 100 to 300 percent while using official-sounding names and domains, and street touts near the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and Notre-Dame sometimes offer to sell “skip-the-line” tickets in person. Neither Big Bus nor Tootbus tickets, nor entry to any major monument, is ever legitimately sold that way. Buy directly through bigbustours.com/en/paris or tootbus.com/en/paris , or through a known aggregator, never from someone approaching you on the street.
Choosing between them
If your hotel sits closer to Opéra than to the Louvre, Tootbus’s route and lower price make it the easier default. If the Classic Route’s stops match your plans better, or the wifi matters for a group with several phones running low, Big Bus is the better fit. Neither is meaningfully faster than the other over a full loop, so route match and price are the two variables actually worth comparing.
Verdict: buy the pass covering the day you plan to sightsee heaviest, not your arrival day, since jet lag and check-in logistics tend to eat the first afternoon anyway. For a slower way to cover some of the same ground, see the walking tours guide ; for the wider trip, start at the main Paris guide .
Validate your ticket the moment you board the first bus of the day. Both companies start the clock on your 24-hour pass at first use, not at purchase, so a pass bought the night before does not shrink your riding window.