Old Town Trolley and DC Duck Tours

50 Massachusetts Ave NE, Washington, DC 20002, USA

Address:	50 Massachusetts Ave NE, Washington, DC 20002, USA
Phone:	+1 202-832-9800
Site:	trolleytours.com
Rating:	3.7
Working:	9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 4

A Private User

Last week, my friend and I decided last minute that we were going to take a trip to D.C. for her birthday and we researched the best way to see the sights in 2 1/2 days time. Right off the bat, we saw Old Town Trolley Tours and after seeing that there was currently a "Winter Special" that allowed us to use a (1) day ticket for (3) consecutive days, we thought it was a great idea. Naturally, I like to look at reviews and see what others are saying and found a few mediocre reviews. To be fair, some of the more negative reviews werent too recent and I did find a lot of recent great reviews. We were split down the middle, especially after looking at a map and seeing that most of the attractions appeared to be close together. Ultimately, we decided to take the chance and Im so glad that we did! The attractions arent very far apart, but when youre walking around all day, it is a bit much. When reading some of the other reviews, someone suggested taking the tour all the way through (the tours last about an hour) and writing down where the trolley stopped. This was a great idea. We didnt write all of the stops down, as we didnt get off to see everything, but it helped us out for the stops that we did take. We noticed in a lot of the reviews, people mentioned that at most stops, there are no signs showing exactly where the stops are and had a hard time getting back on the trolley or missed their stop completely. By riding all the way through before getting off, you eliminate the possibility of missing your stop or waiting hours. We also noticed that a lot of people mentioned that the trolleys are not frequent. We did not have this issue. Yes, we did wait a few extra minutes at a few stops, but ultimately, we didnt have to wait hours. We paid close attention to what time we were dropped off and that helped us out a lot. Especially because it was freezing- we didnt want to be outside for too long :) The tour guides, in our opinions, were great. Especially Santucci and we did have another guy that was also great. Neither of us can remember his name- he was only our driver for a short time before switching with another driver, but we do remember that he was from Wisconsin "The Cheese State" and made a joke that people call him "Cheese Head". The drivers, in a whole, are really knowledgeable and had no problem answering the questions of the passengers. They asked everyone where we were from and joked around with us. I will admit, though, that we had a driver- an older gentleman- who spoke very quickly, so we missed a few things. I also saw in one of the reviews that it was very hard to take photos from the Trolley, because the drivers zoom past. I didnt have that problem once. In fact, a lot of my pictures are from the Trolley and they came out great! I noticed, more times than not, the drivers slowed down or even came to a complete stop at a lot of the attractions, to enable the passengers to get their pictures. Overall, we were really happy with the tour. We saw everything we wanted to, and used our ticket for all 3 days! If youre visiting D.C., this is a great way to see everything.

Alice Wang

My boyfriend and I took the Monuments by Moonlight tour and we both had a great time. The two of us had walked to some of the monuments late at night once, but this trolley tour was a lot of fun mostly due to to our driver and guide, Eric. Eric really knew his history of Washington. Because this was a private free group offer we received, we didnt have to deal with any tickets/vouchers/payments that might have affect other peoples opinions of the process. We started around Union Station and of course went around the Capitol and the various congressional buildings. We also passed by the Smithsonian museums, the National Mall including the Washington Monument, and the Jefferson Memorial. Our first stop was at the FDR Memorial with a great view of the Tidal Basin and Washington Monument from across the Basin. Afterwards, we headed towards the Marine Corps War Memorial (aka Iwo Jima Memorial) and Arlington Cemetery. Eric then drove towards the Arlington Memorial Bridge and stopped briefly (no getting off the trolley) at the roundabout to get a view of Washington on one side and the Arlington House on the other. Finally, our last stop was at the Lincoln Memorial/Vietnam Veterans Memorial/Korean War Memorial. On our way back to Union Station, Eric was kind enough to offer to stop at the Metro Center and LEnfant metro stations. He even offered to stop at one couples car when they spotted it on our way back. Not knowing what to expect, I really enjoyed this trolley tour. I thought Eric was a fantastic guide. He was very knowledgeable, was a great driver (loved his joke when a hasty DC driver honked at him that by honking, said driver can now teleport in front of the trolley), and was very enthusiastic and animated. If there was any possible way of reserving guides, Id go with Eric again.

Marc Chan

8/17/2014 We had the unfortunate experience to have been stranded by the Old Town Trolley for over an hour at the White House stop. Nearly 20 people including our family waited while 2 buses by-passed our stop as they were full. Their drivers shamefully even turned away a handicapped couple. The GPS application they offered to time the pickups was completely off as well. Thankfully, Big Bus was on-site at the same stop and offered a more competitive rate and as well pickups every 10 minutes compared to Old Towns every 30. Big Bus explained that during peak season they are far worse and they pick up a good bulk of business from the stranded tourists who purchased the Old Town package. Old Towns website offered a no questions money back guarantee. So when I called to inquire on the procedure, they said to email their customer service to file a claim and the money would be returned to the credit card used for the purchase in 4 to 6 weeks. Complete Joke! In order to get our money back in a timely fashion I filed a dispute with our credit card, and this was returned to our account within 24 hours. It is disgusting that Old Town would hold vacationers money for up to 6 weeks after leaving them stranded on the street. I highly recommend you look into other tour bus options, namely Big Bus if youre considering the hop-on/hop off convenience of a DC tour. If I could give lower than a 1 star here I would.

Thelma Cox

While visiting DC while in town for busines, two of my colleagues and I decided to tour some sites. We knew we had limited time and would need to pack in as much as we could in a day. So we decided to take the trolley. The drivers were absolutely amazing with their knowledge. The customer service was absolutely amazing. I was absolutely amazed at the friendliness of the drivers. They were courteous and so helpful. With the trolley you do not need a tour planner. They are it. Well, as we ended our day, our driver was wonderful to fill us in about the ability to visit the senate gallery without a pass after 6. So we did and acutually got to see the senate pass an important bill before dismissing for the day. But, that is not all, when I got off the trolley for the day, I had left a bag of souveniers I purchased at the Museum of Natural History. My purchase was faily large so I was pretty disappointed. I called the trolley the next morning and spoke to Nazha Saihi. Not only did my driver find the bag, but he took it to a hotel he thought I had said I was staying. Well, not only did he do that, but Nazha called the hotel and had them keep the bag until they could pick it up and mail it to me. NOW IS THAT THE BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE YOU HAVE EVER SEEN OR WHAT? IN FACT THE BAG BEAT ME HOME BY MAIL. WAY TO GO TROLLEY AND I CANNOT THANK YOU ENOUGH. THERE IS NO OTHER WAY TO GO IN DC.....!!!!!!!!!!!!