If You are Traveling in a continent like Europe or a Subcontinent like INDIA and that also in a shoestring budget then you always have to be prepared & do your research well. In INDIA we have INDIAN RAILWAYS (Government Undertaking Trains) which have so many options to board for every kind of budget & according to comfort level. Anyhow Indian Railway is cheapest option to travel & then there are public buses which is also budget friendly but Airlines prices are always higher & out of pocket for so many people BUT in Europe its reverse.
In Europe Trains are expensive as compared to Buses & Airlines. In INDIA where we have fixed prices of trains & buses but in Europe prices are according to demand & supply rules. One bus journey can cost you 1 Euro/ 80 INR at one day & on other day it may cost upto 40 Euro/ 3200 INR. So if you are going to Europe for up to one week or 10 days & if you have already planned your itinerary then its better to book your transportation in advance in good price. In India we have multiple options to go from one city to a city which is just 100 Kms far but in Europe there are only fixed Bus & Train services.
One day i thought lets try to Hitch hike in France. I reached near a petrol pump in Nantes city (West France) & stand there with a board written my destination city name which was ‘Bourdeaux’. Even a bus was costing me around 15 Euro/ 1200 INR for a 3-4 Hour Journey but i already decided to take an experience of Hitch hiking. I stand over the road for 5 hours, many people noticed me, many showing ‘Thumbs up’, some of them saying ‘Bon Voyage’ which means ‘Good Luck’ but none of them offered me a trip. It was starting of April & weather was also Cold. it was 9 PM & was still waiting for my trip from last 5 hours without having anything except some Indian Snacks. It started to dark & temperature also started to drop. I saw many people staring at me. I was looking for some food but i was standing at outer side of the city so there was nothing much. Then i request few people on couchsurfing if they can host me but none of them was available at the moment to host me. In India we always find something in case of there is no bus or train as many people go in sharing jeep/car. Europe also have ‘Bla Bla Car’ a carpooling service in which the owner of the guest offer vacant seats in cheap price.
I thought lets move from here now as in general people don’t give lifts to random people due to safety & security purpose. I checked for Bla Bla cars & they were costing around 20 Euro/1600 INR for same route. I sent a request to one guy & he said he can give me some more discount but i have to reach at his place which was in city which was a little far. Then i looked for buses now there was only one bus which was at 11:30 PM & the cost was 30 Euro. I was about to lose 15 Euro/ 1200 INR because in the morning i could get the same bus in 15 Euro. As i said there was no other option so i booked that bus.
As i was in my first week of Europe trip out of my 9 weeks backpacking journey so i also didn’t have any practical idea & was in learning mode. I learnt a lot of things & hacks to travel in Europe.
In Europe Buses & Flights are cheapest mode of travel. You can get a bus ticket in as low as 1 Euro/80 INR & flights ticket in 8 Euro/ 700 INR. During my all journey in Europe 13 countries i found FlixBus service very helpful. I could say my Europe trip was not possible in that small amount of budget (20 Euro Per Day) without FlixBus service. So here i come with all details.
FlixBus is actually a German Brand & offer intercity bus services in Europe & USA. There was a news in 2019 that Flixbus looking forward to operate their services in INDIA. Flixbus also have FlixTrain & FlixCar Service. Basically Flixbus doesnot own any bus or drivers but they run in co-operation with Regional Bus Companies. They maintained their services like English Speaking Driver, Comfortable seats, AirCon, Wifi & Toilet onboard etc. I found Flixbuses very comfortable to travel. I read some mixed reviews about this bus company but personally i didn’t had any bad experience so i can recommend this to you all. In France they were very strict to use seat belts but any where else they were not that strict i thing French rules are little bit strict on this view of point.
You can book flixBus from FlixBus App or from OMIO (Formerly known as GO Euro) App which is very good app to compare prices between bus train & flights. My First Flixbus journey was from Paris to Rennes & i paid just 3 Euro/240 INR for my that 4-5 Hour Journey. My First experience was very good even bus started half hour late from Paris. Like India they don’t have such booking offices everywhere so you have to reach at the location mentioned over ticket to board your bus & there is always a sign board mentioned ‘FlixBus’ so that you can understand you have to wait here only. If buses are running late they send you a message regarding this so that you don’t get worried.
My 2nd journey with FlixBus was from Rennes to Nantes. This 1.5 Hour long bus journey costs me just 1 Euro/ 80 INR even cheaper than INDIA. I even could not imagine that i could get a bus in just 1 Euro in Europe but FlixBus made it possible for me. Actually FlixBus sell their initial few bus tickets in very cheap price so if you book in little advance you could also enjoy your such beautiful journey in such a small amount. Flixbus has good frequency of buses in Western Europe including France, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Austria & in all. In Spain they have ALSA bus service & in Portugal they have many Regional Bus Services.
My 3rd Journey with FlixBus was from San Sebastian (Spain) to Porto (Portugal). Actually i reached San Sebastian near Easter time & i didn’t knew that in Spain & in Portugal its celebrated so widely. It was holiday time in all Europe & everybody was going to travel for a week. I didn’t had any plan to go Portugal at all & my initial plan was to go Barcelona from San Sebastian but i failed to found even a single Couchsurfing host there & hostel were super expensive due to holiday time. I was a little tensed so one night i was looking at other options & came up with an idea to go Porto (Portugal) from San Sebastian & luckily i also got one CS host there but now my main concern was to sort the transportation. Due to Easter holidays the minimum price was 80 Euro. I was little tense about how to make it in Budget. After France i didn’t had much expectation from Hitch hiking.
After researching a lot i ended up again with FlixBus. So when i was doing my research i ended up with a blog about FlixBus & i got to knew that FlixBus also have a ‘InterFlix Pass’ Service.
FlixBus offeres ‘InterFlix Pass’ in just 99 Euro in which you can do any of 5 Bus journeys with FlixBus but it should have to be a Direct Bus Service. Its not like you want to go somewhere & your ticket is costing you 50 Euro & you just think to buy a InterFlix Pass to get that ticket in 20 Euro because it takes 48 hours in activation of vouchers so you have to buy this pass at least 2 days in advance. Flixbus also have connection bus services in which you have to change the bus but these vouchers doesn’t apply for such routes.
So luckily my bus from San Sebastian to Porto was under direct bus service so i bought ‘InterFlix’ pass in 99 Euro & book 80 Euro/ 6400 INR bus in just 20 Euro/ 1600 INR. My this journey was 11:30 Hours & 800 Kms long and 1600 INR was a very good price under such circumstances & that also including Breakfast. I really thanked God & FlixBus for this.
After this amazing deal my next trip with Flixbus was from Lisbon (Portugal) to Seville (Spain). This 500 Kms long 9 Hour journey costed me 10 Euro/800 INR & that was also not a bad deal.
I never booked bus in so much advance but max one week ago because i was not following any fixed itinerary & was dependent on CS for my stay. So if you are also planning to travel like then you no need to book the buses in so advance because you never know when your plan got changed.
I reached Barcelona & at the same time i received a call from my German friend. She told me that here in Germany ‘FlixBus’ offering ticket voucher in 10 Euro/800 INR in association with a Supermarket chain to promote themselves as Flixbus introduced FlixTrains at the same time period in Germany. So she asked me if i need some she can buy for me. I was surprised & felt lucky because i have such good friends & thanks to God to give me such nice person in my life. She bought 4 vouchers for me in 10 Euro/ 800 INR each. So a Interflix voucher which costed me 20 Euro each & the same type of voucher now i got in just 10 Euro. As my travel plan was long so anyhow i was going to use these all vouchers.
So i used my first this kind of a Voucher in my 5th FlixBus journey to travel Nice (France) from Barcelona (Spain) 9 hour long 700 Kms journey in just 10 Euro/800 INR.
So later on i did following journey with FlixBus
6) Nice to Venice : 600 Kms 8 Hour in 10 Euro/800 INR
7) Venice to Budapest : 750 Kms 10 Hour in 10 Euro/ 800 INR
8) Vienna to Krakow : 500 Kms 7 Hour in 10 Euro/ 800 INR
9) Krakow to Prague : 550 Kms 7 Hours 20 Euro/ 1600 INR
10) Dresden to Berlin : 200 Kms 3 Hour 10 Euro/ 800 INR
11) Berlin to Hamburg : 300 Kms 4 Hour 20 Euro/ 1600 INR
12) Hamburg to Amsterdam : 450 Kms 6 Hour 20 Euro/ 1600 INR
13) Amsterdam to Brussels : 200 Kms 6 Hour 20 Euro/ 1600 INR
Please note that prices of bus tickets are a little expensive in Germany, Netherlands, Belgium & in North France for small distances. For long distance journey you can use InterFlix pass.
Please note that Euro Rail Pass in not as cheap as how it looks. Many travelers enquire about it as its promoted in a bollywood movie ‘DDLJ’.
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RK Discovering india 