The Big Bus Hop-On Hop-Off is quite popular — every bus I observed was jammed full. In colder weather like we had the last week of October, the half-enclosed top section can be quite desirable with a combination of excellent views and a little protection from the wind. The tickets were affordable, running 5-10 Euros below their competition the Toot Hop-On Hop-Off buses.
Where Toot shines over Big Bus (my mother and I rode Big Bus while a couple of family members rode Toot), is in having more convenient stops and more staff available at each stop. As an example, the Toot stop for Louvre Pyramid is actually at the traffic circle inside the Louvre complex with a direct view of the glass pyramid. Big Bus lets you pick up their bus either at the company headquarters 2-3 blocks away or around the corner and down the street 2-3 blocks, just outside the Louvre complex.
The joining instructions I got said I could get on at Louvre Pyramid so that’s where I had the taxi driver drop us off — and then proceeded to watch 3 buses just pass us by with no signs of where to pick the bus up. One driver motioned behind him and said “Office, office!” as he drove off while the second driver motioned forward and drove off (the third driver didn’t appear to even see us). We ended up having to ask the 2 (!) assistants at the Toot stop where to pick up the Big Bus and got directions to their stop. This stop, #2 on their map, didn’t have anyone there to assist the driver with scanning tickets.
The monologue on Big Bus is informative but somewhat of a series of cheesy skits and occasionally gets off-sync from the bus’s actual position. My family members who used Toot were very pleased with the information on their ride.
The Big Bus attendant near Galerie Lafayette was very helpful in directing us to food and toilets while also adding in a recommendation for the view from the top of the Galerie (excellent view of the Eiffel Tower from there).
In the end, Big Bus is an affordable way to see the major highlights of Paris and get a feel for its geography but if I had it to do again, I’d probably pay the extra money to take Toot.