I can either book a direct 3 hour flight or take a 36 hour bus trip across 1K miles changing buses 2 times in 2 different non English speaking countries but in big cities, so I assume young people and public facing employees at the bus exchanges to speak some of it…
I’d have to wait between 3 and 5 hours to board the next bus. Optimist me says great! I could go sightseeing, but with a large and heavy backpack this might not be a good idea…
Then there’s food, which at bus stations or in tourists areas is neither good nor cheap no matter where you are, personal hygiene, pickpocketing… I’d be traveling solo.
And more noob questions: are travelers allowed to eat in the bus? Am I allowed to bring my own food?
I’ve read the post again and this looks like a really stupid idea… but did you ever do something like this? Any regrets?
Can you do trains instead? Having ridden thousands of miles in busses I can tell you it gets extremely cramped and uncomfortable, and this gets worse the longer you’re on it. Sleeper trains in the US and Canada are really nice. Not sure about Europe.
So this a video about a young couple traveling across the United States on Greyhound.
That being said, the only reasons to pick a bus over a plane is due to cost or the inability to drive.
Travelling 1600km by bus is… urgh, a bit painful. Even if you get a nice bus, where you can comfortably sleep, with plenty stops, lacking annoying loud people, you’ll probably feel glad once you hop off. Doubly true when returning home.
If you’re still doing it: a book, a fully charged phone and/or laptop (remember earplugs!), comfy clothes makes it more bearable. Don’t assume the person next seat wants to chitchat, or can chitchat about interesting topics.
It’s a good idea to have a water bottle and something to snack on, even if you can stop midway to buy food. My go-to snack was nutrient bars - they take almost no space, they’re discreet¹ and filling enough.
so I assume young people and public facing employees at the bus exchanges to speak some of it…
Don’t assume; look for that info. Preferably on a city level if possible/available, but if you can’t find it at least on country level.
Also take in mind that plenty people don’t feel morally obligated to shift languages based on outsiders’ convenience, even if they do speak it².
- A big “fuck you” to the muppet on a 600km bus travel that I did, who decided to eat pork rinds while in the bus. That “CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH” was aggravating.
- I’ve seen this two times. In two different countries. I’ve seen the opposite too, people going the extra length to help you out, so don’t take it as a general rule, just keep it in mind.
I went from Atlanta Georgia to Detroit Michigan once. It was supposed to be 14 hours. It was 28. I didn’t sleep at all during the trip and crashed for half the day afterwards.
I vowed never to take Greyhound long distance again and never did.
It was supposed to be 14 hours. It was 28.
I feel like this can’t be emphasised enough: the bus travel will take more time than they claim it to.
You don’t speak the local language; are you looking to learn, to try to connect with the locals? An extended bus trip can provide that. If you’re just trying to get from one place to another, personally, I’d take the plane.
Edit: did cross-county USA twice by bus: NYC to SF, and a few years later LA to Philly. It was an interesting experience. I’m glad I did those trips, and I’ll by happy to not ever have to do them again.
I have a friend who’s taken the bus cross country a few times. He just loads up his laptop with movies, books and games and catches up on his “me time.”
Although, having layovers in a country where I don’t speak the language would definitely be a deal breaker for me.
No. I took a bus from NYC back to California and it fucking suuuuuucked! Take a train or a plane instead.
Trains are also pretty miserable for long distance trips. We took an Amtrak from Chicago to LA once for a family vacation a long time ago. It was so miserable that we flew back.
Got to see a lot of the country, though! I’d like to imagine that trains have gotten more comfortable in the last 20 years, but the realist in me very much doubts that, so I probably won’t be doing any long train rides again any time soon.
I don’t know about Amtrak, but America is infamous for it’s bad train situation. I know ICE in Europe is very decent, luxurious even.
Travelling from NL to Poland by touring bus sucks so bad IMO; it’s cramped, it shakes and vibrates so much, it often doesn’t smell great, there’s one tiny toilet for everyone and it isn’t clean by the end anymore, and if there’s an airco it probably won’t work. If I’d known, I’d just visit Poland a season later and save money for an airplane ticket, instead.
The one I’ve been in you could bring food and consume it in the bus, they also made a few stops at tankstations where you could buy snacks and drinks just so you could consume them in the bus.
IMO, trains and planes are better; they travel calmer, are more comfortable, and cleaner, too. At least from my sample size of 1 bus, 2 international trains and a dozen or so airplane rides (mostly to other continents).
Planes are more stressful checking in and out, but you can bring much more baggage and it’s usually cheap to do so. Trains have a fraction of the environmental impact. That’s what I base my decision on, busses are out of question for me.
EDIT I forgot the bus took far longer than it had to, I don’t recall the exact delay but a train would’ve never done that, and with a plane the delay would be me spending time on a nice® airport
2 hours by bus is already pushing it. I couldn’t image 36
