Eurolines bus company; the European bus company offers popular and widely considered bus passes. These passes come in either 15 days, 30 days or 60 days, and allow for unlimited travel on specific journeys within the time of the ticket.
Journeys can be booked online (ahead of time) or at Eurolines Offices – which can be found at the International Bus Stations in each city buses depart and arrive from.
During my recent trip to Europe, I spent 3 months travelling within the Schengen Zone. For one of those months, I travelled with the Eurolines 30 day unlimited travel bus pass. Was it value for the price? Let’s see
Pros
Bus Station
Arriving at clean and secure bus stations, with Eurolines booking offices, helpful staff, toilets (you must pay to use the toilet in most countries), free WiFi at most stations and close the cities metro system for ease of access into the city. All Eurolines stations that i arrived and departed from were adequate, warm and with seating comfortable enough to wait for a few hours if needed.
Predetermined Cost
Purchasing the bus pass at the start of your travel around Europe allows for you to essentially prepay your transport around Europe. This means it helps when planning your budget, and there are no extra transport costs along the way.
Less Planning
You arrive at the same bus station that you will leave from. There is no organising, researching or planning much needed in regards to transport with the bus pass. You just arrive at your destination, and before you leave the bus station simply book your next journey at the Eurolines office.
Spontaneity
The bus pass allows for spontaneity. Arrive at your destination with no plans as to where to travel to next. Simply walk up to the Eurolines office, and ask for some of the transport options you have, and choose from the options staff give you. I absolutely love doing this, and did it so many times while using my Eurolines pass.
Cons
WiFi in buses
WiFi, power points and toilets are advertised as being available on all journeys, however, a majority of the buses I travelled on did not have WiFi, or power points (or power points that worked). This was really disappointing when boarding a bus in the evening hoping to either do some blog work or catch up with friends and family online but not being able. Also making the trip rather dull at times.
Eurolines bus pass routes do not cover all European countries
There were many cities and countries I wished to visit during the time that was not included on the bus pass. Bulgaria, Albania, Montenegro, Serbia, Macedonia, Greece, and Turkey are just some of the countries not included.
Journeys must be international
Each journey you take must be an INTERNATIONAL trip. So even though, for example, Rome and Venice are both cities you can visit on the pass, you cannot book this journey because it is not an international journey. This makes your journeys quite long, and you end up zig-zagging all around Europe doing a lot more extra travelling than you normally would.
Long hours
Journeys are long. Europe may look small. And is a relatively small continent, however, the bus journeys are long. If you don’t mind long bus trips, or are fairly experienced with long journeys then you should be fine, However if not, these long trips may tier you and make your trip not as enjoyable.
Often, there are only a few buses departing certain cities each week, so you are often left waiting for a few days in a city that you are ready to move on but cannot because you have to wait until the day the next bus leaves.
Money Talks
Price of Eurolines Bus 30 Day Pass = 350 EURO / 515 AUD / 370 USD
Eurolines Bus Trips – Journey Duration – Price
Vienna – Rome (17hrs,20min) – 55 euro / 81 AUD / 58 USD
Rome – Barcelona (21hrs) – 106 euro / 156 AUD / 112 USD
Barcelona – Paris – (14hrs,45mins) – 66 euro / 97 AUD / 70 USD
Paris – Lisbon – (28 hrs) – 48 euro / 70 AUD / 50 USD
Lisbon – Amsterdam (22hrs,30mins) – 124 euro / 182 AUD / 131 USD
Amsterdam – Belgium (3hrs) – 18 euro / 26 AUD / 19 USD
Belgium – Geneva (16hrs,15mins) – 65 euro / 95 AUD / 69 USD
Geneva – Vienna (15hrs) – 75 euro / 110 AUD / 79 USD
Vienna – Bucharest(21hrs,30mins) – 68 euro / 100 AUD / 72 USD
Value = 628 euro / 925 AUD / 665 USD
Travel value – Ticket Cost = Extra Travel Value
628 – 350 = 275 euro / 404 AUD / 291 USD *extra value.
*These are just the journeys I spontaneously chose to take and of course, if you do not take as many journeys during the duration of your one month pass then your value for money will be lower.
*Prices for the monthly pass are less expensive if you travel in the low or mid-season rather than the high season, and if you are under 26 you can also purchase the less expensive Eurolines Bus Youth Pass.
For more information about Eurolines bus transport around Europe www.eurolines.com/en/
For more information about the Eurolines bus Pass, to www.eurolines.com/en/eurolines-pass/
