The bus: Europe's most underrated form of transportation
I recently got back from a six-week backpacking trip around Europe. Based on the route I decided to take, I went with a combination of buses and trains for intercity travel. I feel like the modes of transportation that I chose worked perfectly for me and the type of trip that I was on.
I feel that when people think about traveling around the continent of Europe, train travel or budget airlines often are the first transportation modes to come to mind. While I think that these methods can be great depending on your type of trip and budget, I think many forget about the bus being an option which is why I've decided to write this post. First I'll talk a bit about the bus network in Europe and then I'll talk about why I believe it is often the superior choice over train and plane travel.
Europe's bus network
Throughout the continent, there are a variety of different bus companies, ranging from large-scale operations with hundreds of routes, to more locally focused companies. The largest bus company that most people are likely familiar with is the Flixbus. Flixbus is a huge company, with thousands of destinations in Europe. Personally, Flixbus is the company that I used for all of my bus journeys on my recent trip. However, there are other companies that offer low cost bus fares throughout Europe such as BlaBlaBus and other local carriers.
Why you should consider the bus
There are so many reasons why the bus could be a superior travel choice compared to trains and planes. Below are some of the main reasons why I frequently opted for bus travel.
The most obvious reason is going to be the price. The price of some of these FlixBus routes are ludicrously low. For example, I took the bus from Venice Italy to Rome and paid $6.99 CAD. This bus ride was almost seven hours so that works out to a dollar an hour! For comparison, the train from Venice to Rome takes about four hours and costs between $65-$85 CAD. While that FlixBus was the cheapest one I took throughout my trip, I did have plenty of other affordable rides. Brussels to Paris took four hours and cost $16.99, Milan to Venice was four hours and $8.99.
Another reason why I chose the bus was because you never had to worry about luggage. All FlixBus tickets include a large bag (which they will stow underneath the bus) and a carry on that you keep with you in the cabin. This meant that I never had to worry about if my bags would meet the carry-on requirements for budget airlines like Ryanair or EasyJet and I could carry as many liquids as I wanted.
One more obscure reason why I enjoyed my bus journeys was because there was a bit of an element of surprise. If you go on the FlixBus website, you can see where your bus will be making stops to drop people off and pick more people up, but any other breaks are made at the driver's discretion. This meant that I never knew when, where, and for how long the bus might stop. While I realize that some people definitely might not consider this to be a benefit of this type of travel, I really enjoyed it! I always found it to be so fun wandering around the rest stops, stretching my legs, and at times taking in some crazy views. This is definitely something that you don't get with train travel, and I found it to be a fun little perk.
Another pro is that, most times, the bus stop will be closer to the city center than an airport, for example. This meant that I could always get to the bus station using public transport, saving me on Ubers as well as time.
Downsides to the bus
Like every other form of transport, there are some negatives regarding the bus, which are important to consider.
I would say the biggest downside to the bus is the amount of time it takes. Personally, I was willing to sacrifice speed for a lower cost of travel, but if you only have a shorter amount of time and want to see a lot of destinations the bus may not be the best option for you. I also wasn't looking to cover a lot of ground or jump around to a bunch of different destinations. If you are looking to do either of these things, then train or air travel might make more sense.
To Conclude
Overall, I've been very happy with my experience traveling through Europe via bus, and hope that it is something that you will now take into consideration for your future travels!
If this post did change your mind and you are now looking to learn more about different companies, their routes, and prices, I've attached some useful links below.
Flixbus Routes
Rome2Rio (compare different travel methods and prices)