Top 10 Hop-On-Hop-Off City Tours

Delhi Transport Corporation, DTC, in short, has a daily sightseeing Tour of the city of Delhi. It starts at the Scindia House. After picking up passengers from Delhi Tourism office at Baba Kharak Singh Marg and ITDC Office at Janpath the bus takes the tourists on some of the prominent landmarks of Delhi. These include Red Fort, Raj Ghat, Birla Mandir, Qutab Minar, Lotus Temple, Humanyun`s Tomb and Akshardham Temple.

The Chandigarh tourism`s open roof hop-on hop-off bus takes tourists around Chandigarh for a tour of all the main spots of the "Planned City". The places covered include Sukna Lake, Rose garden, Rock garden, Punjab University, the Secretariat. The special point of the Hop-On-Hop-Off Service is that by buying a single ticket a person can board or disembark as many times as he wishes. Thus having the flexibility to see a particular spot at heart`s content. The service starts from Hotel Shivalikview in Sector 17 near the Bus Terminal. Bookings can be done at Citco Tours and Travel Wing, located at ISBT Sector 17.

Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation, MTDC, in short, offers a conducted tour of the important tourist attractions of Pune. The duration of the tour is for 4 hours. The places covered include Shaniwar Wada, Saras Baug, Raja Kelkar Museum, Aga Khan Palace and the Parvati Temple. The tickets for this tour can be had at the MTDC office at Sassoon Hospital Road or the counter operating from Pune Railway station.

Visitors to Mumbai are up for a pleasant surprise as they hop on to the Open Deck Buses to take a tour of some of the prominent and historic locations in South Mumbai. Two Buses Neelambari and Vibhavari take the visitors passing through archeologically important buildings like Western Railway HQ, Convocation Hall of the University of Mumbai, Old Secretariat, Rajabai Tower, High Court, CST Railway Station, Thomas Cook Building, Asiatic Library, Flora Fountain and the Gateway of India. Trips are operated over weekends and tickets can be had at the MTDC counter at Gateway of India and MTDC Main Reservation Counter at Madame Cama Road.

Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation aka BMTC offers swanky AC Buses for daily sightseeing tours. The modern buses with seating capacity of 35 persons offer high levels of comfort that includes vents for perfect, airflow, well-cushioned reclining seats, ample legroom, LCD monitor in front of each seat et al. A good quality public address system is in place to describe the sights on the way. The trip originates from Kempegowda Bus Station and covers Iskcon Temple, Sanky Tank, Vidhan Soudha, Vikasa Soudha, Kavipuram Cave Temples, Bull Temple, Tipu`s summer palace, Lalbagh gardens, Karanatak Emporium(for shopping), Brigade road, M G Road, Chinnaswamy stadium, Vishveshwarayai Museum, Venkatappa Art Gallery and Cubbon Park.

In Hyderabad, the city of pearls APTDC conducts a daily City tour. The tour starts from CRO, Yatrinivas, Secunderabad and terminates at magnificent Lumbini Park. The tour covers Birla Mandir, Qutub Shahi Tombs, Golconda Fort, Salarjung Museum, Nizam Jubilee Pavilion, Chowmohalla Palace, Zoological Park, Charminar and Mecca Masjid (only drive around).

A HOP on HOP off Tour is offered by Tamilnadu State Transport Corporation (Villupuram). The tour coming with the usual facility of alighting and disembarking at will takes the passengers to the most prominent places in Chennai. The tour covers High Court, St.George Fort, Marina Beach, Vivekanandar Illam, Santhome Church, Kapaleeswarer Temple, Theosophical society, Besant Nagar Beach, Ashtalakshmi temple, Tidel park, Guindy Children`s park, Birla planetarium, Panagal Park, Valluvar Kottam, Government museum, and Ripon building. Tickets can be had at the counters of Metropolitan Transport Corporation and Tamil Nadu Tourism Corporation.

The local sightseeing tour conducted by the Puducherry Tourism and Transport Development Corporation is a nice way to explore Pondicherry if you are short on time. PTTDC`s daily conducted tours cover important places in and around Puducherry. The tours start from Beach Office and a new Bus Stand. On offer are both half and full-day trips. A full day trip including lunch is also available.

Kerala Tourism Development Corporation conducts daily half-day sightseeing tours in air-conditioned coaches of the state capital Trivandrum. The tour of 5.30 hours duration starts from the Tourist Reception Centre located at Thampanoor. The itinerary covers Padmanabha Swamy Temple, Puthenmalika (Kuthiramalika) Palace, Shangumugham Beach, Veli Tourist Village and Museum, Zoo and Art Gallery.

The Orissa Tourism Development Corporation`s (OTDC) Hop-on and Hop-off service takes the tourists on a sightseeing spree of Bhubaneshwar. The spots covered include State museum, Rajamahal, Master canteen Square, Rammandir, Ekamra Haat, tribal museum Regional Science Centre, Isckon temple, planetarium, Nicco Park, National museum of natural history, Khandagiri and Udaygiri caves and others.