All Around Europe : Budget Land Transportations

Following my previous post regarding Budget Airlines in Europe, I would like to share information for Budget Land Transports in Europe. Since it's LAND transport, it will include bus, train, and car.

BUS

My - most recommended bus lines in Europe is EUROLINES.

Why? 
Because Eurolines connects every countries and big cities in Europe! So, you could just easily choose your destination country in Europe, and believe me - you could find there's Eurolines Bus go to that country!

Beside of this, Eurolines often gives lots of offers to certain destination - where the lowest fare could be 9 Euros for 1 way!! However, you should buy this via online through Eurolines website or could visit their office in the nearest city/country.

The last reason that could add your interest in Eurolines are their good services, comfortable seats, and overnight schedule. The overnight schedule usually available for more than 6 hours journey, like when I went to Krakow from Vienna. My bus departed from Vienna at 9 PM and arrived in Krakow at 6 AM. This schedule is very suitable for me - as the budget traveller. Because, by taking overnight bus, I could save at least 1 night to sleep in the hostel/hotel/mesh.

Eurolines.com is their general website, however you could find more information about bus schedules, offices, and offers for specific country in their own Eurolines website. (Like Eurolines.de for Germany, Eurolines.at for Austria, etc)

So, for the travellers who want to keep their transport's budget low, Eurolines could be your solution!

TRAIN

The most known budget land train in Europe is EURAIL.

EURAIL could connects each country in Europe by train - with only one ticket - which is called as EURAIL PASS. 

There are many types of Eurail pass, but people often buy Global pass which could connect 24 European countries in 15 days or 30 days. This global pass is very recommended for the travellers who only have limited time but want to visit lots of countries. The price for the ticket is also fair enough - and it's way cheaper than buying train tickets in each country.

However, it is suggested to buy first class ticket (and it's a MUST for people above 26 years to buy first class ticket). Because, most of the time the train is full of passengers and you could not find seats.
That's why, it's better to pay more for first class and also DO NOT forget to book your seat whenever you want to go to secure your place inside the train! You could buy the ticket by both, online through Eurail website or direct visit to Eurail's offices.

TO BE NOTED : 
There will be additional fee for booking, that is excluded from the ticket. However, the price of the ticket is still worth it.

The last thing you have to be aware of is to keep your schedule on time and plan your travel itinerary well - to make sure you always go forward in one loop - like say from Germany - Netherlands - Belgium - French - Spain - Italy - Austria - Prague - Germany. This is to make sure that you do not waste your precious time by going back and forth in the same area because you miss your destination country.

If you are looking for an easy way to travelling around Europe in a very limited time, Eurail Pass could be your solution! :)

CAR

The last choice that you could choose is by RENT a CAR or RIDE a CAR together with locals - it's called as CARPOOLING (is it the right term?)

For you who do not like to catch a train, or stay overnight in bus, you could rent a car.
There are many rental companies in Europe, but the most known is EUROPCAR.

I could not tell you a lot information about rent a car and its regulation because I've never rent a car while travel in Europe. But, the important thing that you have to know is that you need to have an INTERNATIONAL DRIVER LICENSE to be able to drive in Europe and be careful with the speed limit while you're travelling in highway road.

Sometimes, it is cheaper to rent a car if you travel in group of 4 people. But, be careful - eventhough you could rent a car in low price, do calculate your expenses for highway road, petrol and parking (because in Europe - these three things ARE EXPENSIVE!)

More information about Europcar, you could find it through EUROPCAR website.

If you do not want to rent a car, you could ride a car together with locals, CARPOOLING - or in Germany, it's called as Mitfahr.

Ride a car together (carpooling) means that you could take a ride together with locals who also have the same direction with you. For example, you want to go from Stuttgart to Hamburg on April 15th. You could search the locals who want to go to Stuttgart to Hamburg on April 15th in mitfahrgelegenheit website in Germany.

Like Eurolines, you could go to different website to look for your "car" in each country, like in Germany www.mitfahrgelegenheit.de, in UK www.carpooling.co.uk, etc)

I have tried this once, when I went to visit Munchen from Stuttgart. It costs only 15 Euros - when the train ticket might cost more than 100 Euros. Furthermore, since in Germany each city is connected with highway, you could feel safe, because you could know directly if the driver take you somewhere else. But, since it's Europe, I believe this case is rarely happened.

However, taking a carpooling have some risks, like the driver could suddenly cancel the ride in the last minute and also vice-versa, the advertisement could be released in the last minute. So, carpooling is not the right choice if you want to have a well planned travel. It is only suitable for the sudden plan during your travel.

In my case, I chose to take mitfahr because of my sudden visit to Munchen, which I planned like 2 days before the travelling day. Therefore, mitfahr is the best choice since the train ticket has obviously already reach its most expensive price.