Everyone chooses the best way to travel for themselves. Someone prefers to travel by plane, significantly saving time on the road, someone likes to travel around the open spaces in their car, and someone thinks the best way to get from point "A" to point "B" is to travel by bus. It is about bus tours that will be discussed in our article. Let's try together to understand the main advantages and disadvantages of this way of seeing the world.
Bus tours
A bus tour provides an opportunity even for those tourists whose financial resources are limited to visit distant countries. If you do not have a personal car, you cannot afford to spend your vacation, moving between different parts of our vast planet by plane, then the best option for traveling on a modest budget would be a bus tour.
Thus, you can not only visit several countries in a short period of time, while saving a lot of money. This way of traveling does not even require an excellent knowledge of foreign languages.
There is another interesting way to visit the most interesting places for independent tourists - caravanning. Read more in our article.
For the first time they started talking about bus tourism back in the 70s of the last century. And the first tourists who could appreciate all the advantages of bus tours were the British. It was they who revealed to the world all the advantages of inexpensive travel on comfortable buses, which provided an opportunity to see several European countries at once for a modest fee. Well, a little later, bus routes were flooded with lovers of “dressing up abroad” who rushed to the markets of European countries in search of good clothes and other things.
The bus allows you to quickly move between countries, save money not only on the ticket, but also does not require additional cash costs for the transportation of even bulky baggage.
Where to go?
For a Russian tourist who has already managed to taste all the delights of traveling by bus, good prospects are open today. In particular, in addition to popular tours of the cities of the "Golden Ring", today you can go on weekly tours around Europe.
In summer, Black Sea tours are especially popular, which include stops in several resort towns on the seaside. Thus, every tourist gets the opportunity to spend a short vacation on the best beaches, having visited several places at the same time. And in good company, and even for modest money, such a tour becomes "worth its weight in gold."
Visiting a travel agency, everyone, without exception, will find the best and most interesting route for themselves. Trips to Scandinavia, Southern Europe, tours to the Balkan countries and visits to France and London are especially popular. Moreover, tour operators will tell you which route to choose: a quick "sprint" through the main countries with detailed excursions to the final destination, or a thorough acquaintance with everything that comes your way.
Buses will take everyone to the Mediterranean coast or to the observation deck high in the Alps. But the main advantage of such trips is that tourists get a unique opportunity to see with their own eyes all the beauties with which European roads are so richly decorated.
Seasons and prices
Bus tours are a seasonal type of travel. Basically, trips from April to October are in demand among tourists. The peak of orders falls on May and July, that is, during the vacation period. Accordingly, the price also varies. During the period of greatest demand, the cost of bus tours increases by 25%. At the same time, all experienced tourists try to choose the time for the trip, taking into account the local climate, the workload of other tourists, etc.
What should a novice tourist need to know?
For those who are just learning all the benefits of bus tours, there are some little tricks worth knowing. For example, more and more often you can find offers for online booking of tours among tour operators. Thus, you can not only pre-order a ticket for a long-awaited trip to a European country, but also choose the best seat on the bus. And this is no longer a small plus, since people prone to motion sickness do not have to sacrifice anything for the sake of such a cherished vacation.
When choosing a bus tour, you should carefully study the offers. Even such little things as the brand of the bus are of great importance. It is worth paying attention to the travel time. If the operator offers night transfers, then remember that the more nights you spend in the bus seat, the less your impression of the next country will be.
On the other hand, it is at night that the bus travels the longest distance, which allows you to see more attractions at the same time. Here you need to proceed from personal preferences and characteristics of your body.
You should also pay some attention to preparing for the trip. In particular, experienced tourists know that clothes and shoes should be taken on the road only from a series of practical and comfortable ones. They should not hinder your movements and create inconvenience during prolonged sitting.
Benefits of bus tours
The main advantage of traveling by bus is mobility. Tourists visit country after country, most of the time on the road. The overnight stay is purely formal and includes a short sleep, personal hygiene and breakfast. Everything else happens along the way.
Since bus tours are considered a budget way of travel, hotels for overnight stay are rather modest. After all, why order a 4 or 5-star hotel for one night, if tourists simply do not have time to take advantage of all its advantages?
In addition, a stopover for the night is usually chosen somewhere on the outskirts of the city. This allows you to gain a little on cost and go to the next point of your trip without any problems in the early morning.
Another advantage of bus tours is the low cost. For example, a ticket to Paris alone for a week with accommodation in an average hotel and with air travel will cost 3-4 times more than a two-week bus tour to Paris, but with passing stops in the most beautiful places in Italy, the Czech Republic and other countries. ... As a rule, such ways to see the world will cost you a modest 280-350 euros per person. And this is very acceptable!
Bus as a means of travel is chosen by those who crave adventure and are tired of their "gray", everyday life. On the way, you will be able to meet a lot of interesting people, acquire interesting and even useful connections, feel for yourself all the peculiarities of each of the countries through which your tourist route runs. Traveling around countries by bus and companies is suitable. After all, it is much easier and calmer if you have reliable friends and associates behind you!
Disadvantages of bus tours
Despite a number of advantages, bus travel has its drawbacks. In particular, the price of the trip, as a rule, includes only free breakfasts. But with lunch and dinner, you will have to decide for yourself. Basically, the bus makes several stops at cafes or restaurants, which, according to the guide, are the cheapest. But it is easy to guess that the choice for these establishments falls because the accompanying person has an unspoken agreement on the commission.
Since you are not going empty-handed, and you are not greatly limited in the amount of luggage, you can always save on food by taking with you canned food, sausages and other products that do not deteriorate quickly.
In addition, other significant disadvantages are:
- limited time for sightseeing and excursions
- following only the agreed route without the possibility of deviating from it at will
- low comfort level
- unfamiliar fellow travelers
- possible problems of obtaining a visa
- traffic jams, loss of time at the borders, possible breakdowns of the bus on the way
- changeable weather that is difficult to predict. This makes you take with you not only light, but also warm things.
