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This post has moved to How to get from Johor Bahru airport to Singapore.

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Low cost bus services in the United States is mostly concentrated in the North East. With so many large cities within close proximity to each other, bus travel in this area is a viable option over flying and the train.

megabus.com started a low cost bus service in the UK and introduced the low cost bus concept to the US in 2006. They have services in the North East (including Toronto), Midwest and the West Coast. Tickets start from $1 dollar.

BoltBus is a low cost bus service operating in the Northeast. Book early enough and you can get a ticket for 1 dollar. Destinations currently served are New York, Washington DC, Philadelphia and Boston. BoltBus offer free WiFi on all buses.

Not to be outdone done by these upstarts, Greyhound have started $1 fares on the NYC-Toronto route with a service called Neon.

On top of the low cost bus operators offering fares from $1 there are a number of cheap bus companies that travel the North East corridor, including Chinatown Bus, New Century Travel and Apex Bus.

Labels: bus, usa

A Eurail or Interrail pass is often the first thought when it comes to getting around Europe with a travel pass. While a bus pass may not get you to as many places as the train, it's a far more economical option and thus a worthy consideration with the current value of the Euro.

Here are some bus pass options for travel in Europe.

Europe Wide

For pan-European bus passes there are two major choices: Eurolines and Busabout.

Eurolines is a network of bus companies across Europe that operate international services under the Eurolines brand. A Eurolines Pass offers unlimited coach travel to 45 cities across Europe. Passes are valid for 15 or 30 days travel.

Busabout is a hop-on hop-off style network that caters for backpackers. The Busabout network covers the most popular cities across western and central Europe.

Eurolines and Busabout have their distinct differences so it is a matter of weighing up what is important for you before deciding which is the right pass. Here are some advantages of the two passes.

Eurolines:
- It's the cheapest bus pass available.
- Available all year.
- Travel with locals.
- More city stops available.

Busabout:
- Travel with fellow backpackers.
- It is hop-on hop-off, but they can arrange hostels bookings and pick up and drop off at the hostel, saving the hassle of finding accommodation.

If you are planning to travel within one country there are some bus passes available from national bus lines. You will need to work out if you will do enough travel to make the pass worthwhile.

U.K

Travel across Britain with a Brit Xplorer pass from National Express. There are passes available for 7, 14 and 28 days.

For travel in Scotland Explorer Pass from Citylink has 3,5 and 8 day passes.


Ireland

Ireland's national bus company Bus Éireann has a list of Tourist Travel Passes that are valid for travel in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland (with Ulsterbus).

France

A backpacker style hop-on hop-off bus service for the south-west of France.
Ze Bus

Switzerland

Switzerland is so well connected with trains that bus travel is mostly used for the smaller places. Post Bus offer a 4-Pass tour that loops Meiringen - Grimsel Pass - Nufenen Pass - Gotthardpass - Andermatt - Sustenpass - Meiringen.

Turkey

Fez Travel is a tour company that offer a hop-on hop-off service to the most popular spots in Turkey.
Fez Travel

Labels: bus, europe

The abundant supply of low cost airlines in Europe has created the situation whereby flying can work out cheaper than getting the bus to some places.

To counter the competition from the airlines, low cost bus services have started up across Europe. Traditional bus companies have also answered the call, offering cheap bus fares in the same manner that low cost airlines sell tickets.

Here are some low cost bus deals for travel in Europe.

U.K

It's no surprise that the leading country of low cost airlines in Europe should also lead the charge for low cost buses.

Megabus offer bus tickets across Britain starting at £1, plus a 50p booking fee. The booking facility works like an airline booking service, so the earlier you book, the cheaper the ticket. Megabus is operated by Stagecoach, who also operate a train franchise in the UK, so as a bonus you can also book £1 tickets on their train services as well.

Competition from Megabus stimulated the national bus service National Express into action. They offer the £5 Funfare to many destinations in Britain. Like Megabus, the earlier you book the better chance of a £5 fare.

Citylink in Scotland have fares starting from £1 for the Glasgow - Edinburgh route.

In London getting to airport can sometimes cost more than the flight. It only made sense then that the easy group (of easyJet) introduced easyBus. They have service from central London to Luton, Stansted and Gatwick Airports.



Ireland

Eurolines go from London to Cork or Dublin from £15.

Continental Europe

Eurolines can take you from London to Amsterdam, Brussels or Paris from £15. That is especially a good deal when you consider that you travel from central locations, saving you the cost of airport transfers.

Getting the bus from London to the Continent also means you get a ferry ride in the ticket. Sail across the English Channel instead of flying over it and you get to see the White Cliffs of Dover, as well as adding another experience to your European trip.

For Eurolines deals for the rest of Europe check the promo fares from the Eurolines operators in each European country.

Touring in Germany have a special fare for the service running from Hamburg to Mannheim. The route is for Hamburg - Frankfurt - Heidelberg - Mannheim. Tickets from 9 euros for early bookings.

Orangeways is a low cost bus company from Budapest with a network covering Eastern Europe. Destinations include Budapest, Bratislava, Prague, Krakow, Cluj Napoca, Bécs, Vienna, Zagreb and Ljubljana.

Sample prices include Budapest - Prague from €15 and Budapest - Ljubljana from €8.

Labels: bus, europe

This post has moved to How to get to Luxembourg.

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This post has moved to Air Conditioned Bus Stops - Dubai.

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This post has moved to Greyhound bus stop pay TV, Philadelphia - USA.

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I was meant to be going to Oxford via megabus.com but it went all pear shaped. The bus was leaving at 12 midday and I arrived at the bus stop area at 5 to. The megabus wasn't there but there was an Oxford Tube bus.

It turns out that The Oxford Tube takes Megabus passengers to Oxford (they are both run by Stagecoach). It didn't say this on my ticket that I printed out. So I missed the bus.

Fortunately the ticket I got was a free plus 50p booking fee ticket, otherwise I might have been upset about it all. I just took it as a 50 pence lesson in reading ticket details in the future.

Labels: bus, england, london