Economical Way Around Europe via Eurolines
I am writing this entry coz a friend asked me for advice on travelling around Europe with tight budget...perhaps this particular style won't fit everyone since it is rather tiring and requires a lot of stamina as well as patience...
Based on my own personal experience before...i had wrote about fly or rail around Europe in one of last year's entry http://travelleryangsengkek.blogspot.com/2012/04/fly-or-rail-in-europe.html...this time around...i just want to share much more cheaper way...
Its by bus...based on my recent experience of course...i only wrote based on my personal experience...so this entry might not be the most recent recommendation...coz there are people out there that had used this kind of method to travel around before...but this is just from my own personal experience...lets start...the one that i took was Eurolines...i have to say...it has vast connection to the main cities around Europe...
The promo ticket fare can go as low as EUR9 one way from Amsterdam to Paris...about 6-7 hours journey...which will be good if you don't mind the travelling time and bit sacrifice on the comfort part...perhaps some might say that one might be wasting away the time inside the bus...but the one thing i like about it was...its an overnite bus...the bus depart from Amsterdam at about 11pm and will arrive in Paris around 6am in the morning...basically one will just spent the nite away inside of the bus...which enable more saving in accommodation on top of the fare...the other good thing about it...coz the bus station is easily reached by public transport system...so another saving on the airport transfer as opposed to if one opted to fly...coz as we all aware that airports mainly outside of the city centre and will cost roughly EUR5-10 just to get to the airport from the city...
Another thing is...luggage is not a big hassle compared to if one opted to fly since weight will be a big deal of a hassle...on top of it...there's the waiting time whereas one have to arrive in the airport a good 2 hours prior to the departure time to check in...then wait for the flight and all...since the airport is not in the city centre (i know only Geneva Airport is really close to the city centre)...one have to consider the travel time to the airport as well...
Let me recap on my recent Amsterdam - Paris - Amsterdam...first of all...we actually wanted to go to some other place...but late planning kinda force us to re-route our plan...then we take a look at the cost of speed train from Amsterdam to Paris...it cost almost EUR200 return...it was few days before...so we only have ourselves to blame for it...within that time frame we had to re-plan the whole thing...so we took bus instead of train...overnite bus from Amsterdam to Paris...cost about EUR70 return which is still considerable as compared to the train cost...bear in mind it was only a few days before departure...we could get lower if we had booked it at least 2 weeks earlier (coz the other passenger in the bus told us that he booked his for EUR10 one way)...
We arrived in Paris early in the morning...took subway from the bus station to the nearest subway station to the hotel in Champs De Elysee...we saved on one nite of hotel...and it took us only roughly 30mins from the bus station to Champs De Elysee since the bus station is in border of Zone 2 and Zone 3...but still near compared to airport in Zone 5...we put our bags at the hotel concierge since its too early to check in...go around the city...then went back to the hotel to freshen up...went out again...then stay for the nite...then the next day...went around the city again...check out of the hotel...left the bags at the hotel concierge...then went around...then off to the bus station since our bus depart at 10pm and arrived in Amsterdam the next morning...overall...we had saved on two nites accommodation...had plenty of times to go around...eventho its considered quite short...was not in the rush to go to the bus station as we reached there by 9.30pm (as opposed to take flight which will have one arrive at least by 8pm *this is just an example as there's no flight between Amsterdam and Paris)...but the main point was...we had save on accommodation and airport transfer as well as luggage fee (Easyjet check in luggage fee is EUR10 upwards) in term of monetary value...and time as we can really afford to be in the bus station 30 mins before as compared to airport which will be at least 2 hours before...
Eurolines also have their fair share of promotions...aside from their low cost tickets...they also come up with Eurolines Pass for 15 or 30 days unlimited travel around Europe from EUR210 for 15 days and EUR315 for 30 days...this is their current promo...perhaps they will come up with more promo that goes along this line...hehehe...not sure...
But one thing for sure...i have to say...set aside comfort...and time...if you are really on tight budget and wish to spend more on other stuffs rather than transport...this method could be one of the most recommended method to go around Europe...all it took just good planning and time coordination...mapping the best route to go that goes along the time balance and budget in hand...it could work...i might try to do this the next time i plan to go around Europe...i can spent more on other things which i had save on transport and accommodation...coz this way i can shop more (oooopsss) as its a much more economical way around Europe via Eurolines...
T.Y.S
ps: the pics are taken from Eurolines website
Based on my own personal experience before...i had wrote about fly or rail around Europe in one of last year's entry http://travelleryangsengkek.blogspot.com/2012/04/fly-or-rail-in-europe.html...this time around...i just want to share much more cheaper way...
Its by bus...based on my recent experience of course...i only wrote based on my personal experience...so this entry might not be the most recent recommendation...coz there are people out there that had used this kind of method to travel around before...but this is just from my own personal experience...lets start...the one that i took was Eurolines...i have to say...it has vast connection to the main cities around Europe...
The promo ticket fare can go as low as EUR9 one way from Amsterdam to Paris...about 6-7 hours journey...which will be good if you don't mind the travelling time and bit sacrifice on the comfort part...perhaps some might say that one might be wasting away the time inside the bus...but the one thing i like about it was...its an overnite bus...the bus depart from Amsterdam at about 11pm and will arrive in Paris around 6am in the morning...basically one will just spent the nite away inside of the bus...which enable more saving in accommodation on top of the fare...the other good thing about it...coz the bus station is easily reached by public transport system...so another saving on the airport transfer as opposed to if one opted to fly...coz as we all aware that airports mainly outside of the city centre and will cost roughly EUR5-10 just to get to the airport from the city...
Another thing is...luggage is not a big hassle compared to if one opted to fly since weight will be a big deal of a hassle...on top of it...there's the waiting time whereas one have to arrive in the airport a good 2 hours prior to the departure time to check in...then wait for the flight and all...since the airport is not in the city centre (i know only Geneva Airport is really close to the city centre)...one have to consider the travel time to the airport as well...
Let me recap on my recent Amsterdam - Paris - Amsterdam...first of all...we actually wanted to go to some other place...but late planning kinda force us to re-route our plan...then we take a look at the cost of speed train from Amsterdam to Paris...it cost almost EUR200 return...it was few days before...so we only have ourselves to blame for it...within that time frame we had to re-plan the whole thing...so we took bus instead of train...overnite bus from Amsterdam to Paris...cost about EUR70 return which is still considerable as compared to the train cost...bear in mind it was only a few days before departure...we could get lower if we had booked it at least 2 weeks earlier (coz the other passenger in the bus told us that he booked his for EUR10 one way)...
We arrived in Paris early in the morning...took subway from the bus station to the nearest subway station to the hotel in Champs De Elysee...we saved on one nite of hotel...and it took us only roughly 30mins from the bus station to Champs De Elysee since the bus station is in border of Zone 2 and Zone 3...but still near compared to airport in Zone 5...we put our bags at the hotel concierge since its too early to check in...go around the city...then went back to the hotel to freshen up...went out again...then stay for the nite...then the next day...went around the city again...check out of the hotel...left the bags at the hotel concierge...then went around...then off to the bus station since our bus depart at 10pm and arrived in Amsterdam the next morning...overall...we had saved on two nites accommodation...had plenty of times to go around...eventho its considered quite short...was not in the rush to go to the bus station as we reached there by 9.30pm (as opposed to take flight which will have one arrive at least by 8pm *this is just an example as there's no flight between Amsterdam and Paris)...but the main point was...we had save on accommodation and airport transfer as well as luggage fee (Easyjet check in luggage fee is EUR10 upwards) in term of monetary value...and time as we can really afford to be in the bus station 30 mins before as compared to airport which will be at least 2 hours before...
Eurolines also have their fair share of promotions...aside from their low cost tickets...they also come up with Eurolines Pass for 15 or 30 days unlimited travel around Europe from EUR210 for 15 days and EUR315 for 30 days...this is their current promo...perhaps they will come up with more promo that goes along this line...hehehe...not sure...
But one thing for sure...i have to say...set aside comfort...and time...if you are really on tight budget and wish to spend more on other stuffs rather than transport...this method could be one of the most recommended method to go around Europe...all it took just good planning and time coordination...mapping the best route to go that goes along the time balance and budget in hand...it could work...i might try to do this the next time i plan to go around Europe...i can spent more on other things which i had save on transport and accommodation...coz this way i can shop more (oooopsss) as its a much more economical way around Europe via Eurolines...
T.Y.S
ps: the pics are taken from Eurolines website
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