Intercity buses in Europe
While Europe has had buses for well over a century, and intercity lines had their share in some countries, on the continent as a whole, intercity buses were long overshadowed by railways. This started to change in the 2010s, when several intercity bus companies expanded services across the continent.
Today, bus travel is often the cheapest mode of transportation between cities. Comfort has improved greatly since the 1980s, with air conditioning and Wi-Fi on board. However, buses mostly compete on price as they can't even hope to begin to compete on speed with high-speed rail or air travel, and legroom is usually rather limited compared to trains. Thus far, no operator has tried for the "luxury bus" segment that can be seen for example in Mexico.
UnderstandFor a long time buses in Europe were subject mostly to national regulation and an international market didn't exist or only as a small niche.
Route plannersCheck country and region articles for tips on the most useful planners. However, there are some that cover several countries:
International carriersAcross open borders, many local bus lines run short "international" routes as informally as their city services.
Countries and regionsThe market looks quite different in different parts of the continent.g. in the Balkans and in much of the Nordic countries.
Border crossingWhile many European countries are within the Schengen area, some borders are subject to passport checks. In many cases, the bus company is liable for passengers without proper documentation.
See also
Sources and licences
- Guide text adapted from the Wikivoyage article "Intercity buses in Europe" by its contributors, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read on Wikivoyage · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0