Contemplating bus travel, you might also consider Eurolines, the network of European national coach lines, which, as such, offers far more extensive routing and frequent scheduling, and their pass options are generally less expensive than Busabout. Nor should you overlook discount air – occasionally pricing even cheaper than bus. Busabout is geared to the backpacker desiring the security of, yet more independence than a tour. Rail travel offers greater freedom and flexibility; is faster, more comfortable and convenient.

I have friends who have gone with both options. I have decided that it is much cheaper for me to buy tickets for trains instead of the pass. Also, the busabout routes didn’t really fit the schedule that I wanted to do, so for me it wasn’t even an option. My friend who did the busabout really liked it. They prefered to travel by bus over rail, because there was much more to see. The friends who have gone by rail also liked it and had no complaints. Just remember that with the rail pass you still have to make reservations sometimes, and with the busabout you don’t have too. I think that it really depends on where you plan on going. Find out which is the cheapest option for you.

quote:They prefered to travel by bus over rail, because there was much more to see.

For not distracting the car drivers and noise reduction reasons you’ll see much less from motorways. You can drive through the Ruhr area – one of the biggest conurbations in Europe – without noticing it. Only the high frequency of exits are unusual. You’ll see only forest (trees and bushes on ramparts and buffer zones) and a broad selection of different noise protection wall designs.

quote:... with the rail pass you still have to make reservations sometimes, and with the busabout you don’t have too.

counter quote from the Busabout side:

quote:If you need to be in a particular town on a specific date then it’s advisable to book those sectors well in advance. If you don’t want to book your journeys in advance then that’s no problem either, however it is always advisable to book your journeys a few days in advance if possible.

a) at trains without compulsory reservation you can make it always on board. And this is the vast majority of trains.
b) if a train with compulsory reservation is really booked out (e.g. the one in the morning) you can normally make it on the next one – 1 or 2 hours later (less peak travel times). If a Busabout bus is booked you have to wait 2 days for the next one (the frequency of most of the routes).

I got an 8 week pass with busabout last year. I ws trying to make the same decision you are making now, and I had ended up choosing busabout because it boasted being cheaper than rail and flexible.
I found it wasn’t nearly as flexible as they made it out to be. They say that with their system, you can stay longer in one place if you decide you like it, then move on when you’re ready, but of course we realised it’s necessary to book your sectors as far in advance as possible. Because of this, after my friend and I left Paris for Brugge, we ended up sitting down and booking all our sectors and hostels for the rest of our trip and so it wasn’t as flexible as we originally thought it would be. I haven’t done eurail yet, but will be doing so soon. I have a feeling it will be much better. The advantage of busabout, I found, was that they drop you off at the hostel which is very good. you don’t have to worry about finding your way there from he station. this is worth considering. How are your map reading skills? Do you stress out easily when it comes to that kind of thing? If you think you’d rather let busabout do the ‘finding’ for you, then go for it.
Another thing to consider about busabout is the people. It’s good because you find you’ll generally be travelling with the same people because everyone tends to follow the same rough itinerary. This is especially good if you’re travelling alone. Some of the busabout guides were quite annoying – trying to be funny all the time… but I guess you’ll get that with those sorts of deals. And just keep in mind, if you do choose busabout, that the guides will give you their advice on where to visit and the nice places to eat and stuff which is handy. You can ask them questions and they’ll give you advice.
I guess the thing is, neither systems are perfect. Each has their positive and negative sides. there is no ‘wrong choice’. It’s just what you think will suit you more. some people will give you horror stories about their eurail or busabout experience and others will rave about it and say they had the most awesome time ever. It depends on you.
In my opinion, if you think you are more of an independant traveller – you like to do things on your own and find your own way around, then eurail may suit you more. Whereas with busabout you’re around loads of other people all the time on the bus and you’re bumping into them in the hostel or in town. Some of them you’ll get along with, and others you won’t. it’s normal. It’s very social.
good luck with your choice!
soph

Hi everyone!

I stumbled upon this topic and thought I’d reply – even though it is really late

I just got back from a Busabout trip and absolutely loved it! Soph – I understand where you’re coming from, and I agree that sometimes you do need to book some sectors in advance, but I actually didn’t experience that at all, really. I only had 1 problem getting onto a bus I wanted but that was fine – I just waited two more days and jumped on the next one. And I found it really easy to change my itinerary as I went along. I was only going to spend 2 days in Cesky Krumlov but when I arrived there I absolutely fell in love with the place. I ended up staying for a week!

Having the guides was really handy, because they pointed out everything when we arrived, so I didn’t spend my first morning with an upside down map trying to find everything! I met some amazing people onboard too, and I’ve made tonnes of new friends. But you know what? Most of the time I did my own thing. I used the Busabout loops as the skeleton of my trip but made lots of side trips to all sorts of places, and even made my own way through Switzerland and met back up with the Busabout network later. I made it work for me, and it was so easy! Took so much hassle out of planning such a big trip.

So yeah, I’m definitely in the ‘I recommend Busabout’ camp!