Yes. I often do that when visiting other cities (take the buses instead of the subway so you can see the streetscape as you go places).
In NYC most bus routes aren’t all that scenic, but here are a few I’d recommend to tourists:
- Southbound M4 from where it starts at the Cloisters all the way up in Inwood, down through Washington Heights and Harlem, and then across Central Park North and down Fifth Ave for the full length of Central Park.
- Southbound M104 from Columbia U (116th and Broadway) down Broadway through the Upper West Side, passing Lincoln Center and Columbus Circle and then down 7th Ave through the heart of Times Square.
- M8 in either direction cutting through the hearts of the East Village, Greenwich Village, and West Village.
A great idea that seems to have died about 10 years ago was the “history bus” app, which was going to provide information about historical sites along bus routes so tourists and locals alike could learn about history while taking the bus. I had their inaugural app for the M22 bus installed on my phone for a while, but never got around to actually trying it before an iOS upgrade broke it.
