Ishtar Darlington
While, often, it can be very expensive to travel by public transport, I’m not completely averse to using trains and buses to get around while I’m away (by the looks of how much fun I’m having in the picture above, I frickin love it!). As always, it’s just about knowing how to find the good deals and how to steer clear of the bad ones.
Flixbus: Flixbus is a European bus company that offers low-cost fares on thousands of routes daily within countries and across borders. The tickets can be a bit cheaper if you choose to travel by night and all buses are equipped with plug sockets, toilets and free WiFi. The buses are reliable, comfortable and, most importantly, affordable.
Megabus: Not only in Europe, Megabus also runs services in the USA and Canada. I’ve only ever used it while travelling through the UK and, although prices can sometimes be a little hit and miss, I’ve traveled 150km before for just €2! While, you can definitely get cheap tickets, there are one or two things worth bearing in mind before travelling with them. The app can be a little glitchy and difficult to use so if you can get to a computer to make your booking it will be a lot easier. Also, the onboard WiFi doesn’t always work so, if you have a long journey ahead of you, bring a book just in case. And, probably the most important (and annoying) ‘but’ of the lot, the buses have a habit of being late. I had one experience where I waited 2 hours for my bus in Birmingham to arrive in the middle of the night.
Interrailing: Now, I’ve never gone interrailing so I can’t personally vouch for how cost effective, reliable or comfortable it is but I do have a few friends who have tried it out and had an amazing time doing so. The interrail website has a few ticket options depending on whether you want to travel within one country, chug your way across Europe or go big and go global. As I said, I haven’t any experience with it but I would definitely recommend taking a look at their website to see if any of their travel options work for you.
Trains and buses: In general, normal buses and trains going any substantial distance are just not cost effective, unless you’re in a particularly cheap country. Sometimes you’ll find a good deal so it’s worth keeping an eye on local transport companies’ websites but I wouldn’t recommend relying on it if you want to keep costs down.
