Dresden Tourist Traps

A what-to-do tip or a tourist trap?

If you read the description: Get in, listen to the information, get off, explore on your own, get in again, it sounds like a very good idea.

The reality, however, was different!
We bought our tickets, 20 Euro each, and wanted to walk to the nearest stop, when we were sent to another one.There was a large crowd already waiting and we didn't get in the first bus. The next one was also very crowded, but this time we managed to get in.I was sitting in the back, the engine was so loud that it was impossible to understand anything from the loudspeaker.Only when the bus had to stop at a traffic light, a few words could be heard, but I never knew should I look right or left?

We got off, had a wonderful lunch and walked back to the bus stop. Again, there was a large crowd waiting and more and people kept coming. The leaflet says a bus will come every 15 minutes, but we had to wait much longer. Finally, a bus arrived and we managed to get in.
Again I was sitting in the back, but this time the loudspeaker was better and I was able to hear what was said.

This time, the bus driver also gave us some additional information.

When the next stop came closer, we could see that there were also many people waiting for the bus. Our bus driver didn't let anyone in, but told them a second bus would be coming. To us, the passengers in his bus, he admitted he had no idea if this was true, he said he didn't want any more people in his bus.
The same happened at the next stops, even when people were getting off and there were more seats available, he refused to take anybody. He asked alighting passengers to lie and tell the waiting people outside this was a special tour ( which is wasn't).
A few stops later he stopped and told everybody to get off, since this was his final stop. We never got to do the complete round of all the hop on/hop off stops.

There's quite a discrepancy between the text in the leaflet and the reality, a discrepancy so large that it warrants putting this information in the tourist trap section. It seems to be purely a matter of luck, if you get your 20 Euro's worth or not, if you can hear the information or not, if you get picked up or not- too much depending on luck for me. I call this a tourist trap.

In Paris, for example, we paid 18 Euro for a city tour, got into the bus, got audio phones where we could select our language and had a great tour.
This time, the loudspeaker was German only, and half of the time we couldn't hear anything.

In theory, there are also some guided tours included in the 20 Euro ticket. In reality, the lines were so incredibly long, that it was impossible to make use of this additional service.

If you want to use this hop on/hop off bus, try to sit in the front of the bus. Chances seem to be higher that you can hear what the loudspeaker is saying.

http://www.stadtrundfahrt.com/web/index.php

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