European Bus Tour

Forums › Travel (planes, train, cruise) › European Bus Tour

nzkiwiman

2585 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#242342 23-Oct-2018 13:04

In light of the European River Cruise being cancelled, the travel agent managed to find us a Bus Tour leaving Amsterdam on the 4th November, heading through Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and France before arriving in London - after some discussion with Dad (this was his trip after all) we decided to transfer to this bus tour and then try for another river cruise earlier 2019.

So, anyone done a bus tour in Europe?

My one concern is that most of the day will be spent travelling, so you arrive at the destination at night time and basically have no time to explore the town/city because the next morning you are up at dawn so you can drive to the next city and repeat .. thankfully there are a few "multi-day" stops (mostly in Italy) so this won't always be a concern. I also don't know if time in the city is all free, or there are organised activities in each place

PeterReader

6019 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#2112674 23-Oct-2018 13:04

Allow me to introduce you folks to our new travel community: TravelTalk NZ.

We hope to see you there!

I am the Geekzone Robot and I am here to help. I am from the Internet. I do not interact. Do not expect other replies from me.

allan

2044 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#2112737 23-Oct-2018 13:32

Did a 12 day Trafalgar tour through Europe back in April/May this year. Similar list of countries actually with the addition of Belgium and The Netherlands. There was a lot of bus travel (and we knew that from the outset) as it was a "once over lightly" tour, but we actually really enjoyed it. Feel free to DM if you want some further info.

robjg63

4100 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#2112738 23-Oct-2018 13:37

Yep - You have spotted the worst bit but the tours have their positive aspects too. If you can get a package that has a few multi-days you will enjoy it more.

My wife and I did one in 2002 and the bit you mentioned above could get a bit tiring - was a joy to have the odd multi night to unwind and wander off on your own. Also it was a good time to do some washing. They tend to follow the itinerary and have 'add-ons' - that's where they do evenings out to a castle/show or other interesting activity. These usually cost extra on top - if you want some 'me' time then you dont have to do them.

Meals and logistics are usually taken care of - so that part is a big plus.

They are a great way to see a lot of (touristy) places over a short time - but there is that 'hurried' aspect to them.

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

HaggisKiwi

94 posts

Master Geek

#2112740 23-Oct-2018 13:43

The major difference between cruise & bus is the near daily trudge of pack & unpack. If you're 18 - 35 & doing Contiki then you probably sleep most of the day between bus stops. Older, or those more interested in passing landscape, may stay awake BUT really most of the time is spent stuck on a bus.

It is a good way to see Europe (we did 21 day Western Europe tour around 10 years ago), but be prepared to see a lot of roads & then hurry through the next pit stop.

trig42

5816 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#2112777 23-Oct-2018 14:15

It depends on how far they are planning to travel every day.

Europe is big, but it's not huge (like Australia is huge).

You could bus Amsterdam to Cologne in three hours. Amsterdam to Frankfurt in five, Amsterdam to Berlin (which is I suspect where they'll take you?) in 7+ hours.

If you are doing more than one city per country, the travelling isn't as massive - surely they won't want you sitting on a bus for 8 hours a day?

Have you got a list of cities?

Enjoy!

rp1790

738 posts

Ultimate Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2112803 23-Oct-2018 14:57

I did a tent day bus tour of Europe in 2002 with my two 16yr old daughters. We loved it, it was fantastic. The time in the bus was my major concern and it never worked out to be bad. As someone else has said, travel time between European cities isn't that bad, pretty sure you'd be starting early and travelling for 4-6 hours at most so unlikely to be arriving late at night. We had a great host on the bus and I never felt like it was too long.

From memory, we started in London then went to Amsterdam, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy and France.

nzkiwiman

2585 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#2112810 23-Oct-2018 15:21

https://www.insightvacations.com/nz/trips/highlights-of-europe-summer-2019

This is the tour we are doing, though it is possible there are changes for 2019 that we do not know about for the 2018 "version"

During the morning in Rome/Vatican I will be also trying to play Pokemon Go as it is the monthly Community Day .. so that will be fun trying to multitask (tour + photographs + playing)

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

Geektastic

17944 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2112832 23-Oct-2018 17:59

Get a Eurail pass and do it yourself.