Short Trip on Busabout
If you’ve done any research at all into arranging transportation around Europe for your next backpacking adventure, you will have probably stumbled across information on Busabout. It is a bus network spanning 11 countries and operates from May to October carting backpackers from Madrid to Berlin and most points in between.

I’m not much for tours, but the hop-on, hop-off nature of Busabout appealed to me from the start. I’d always looked at the transport network as a great way for like-minded travellers to meet on board, in addition to being a convenient way to get from point A to point B. Several friends of mine had travelled Europe on Busabout and came away with glowing reviews, so I was quite keen to hang up my rail pass for awhile and check it out for myself.

Due to a lack of funds and holiday days, my Busabout experience was due to be a short one. I found a cheap fare with Ryanair flying in to Venice and out of Pisa so my Busabout experience would consist of two long journeys – one down to Rome and the other back up north to Florence.

On my first day of travel I presented my booking reference (which I printed off from the internet) and my passport and was issued with a swipe card that was to be my pass. I booked my Venice - Rome and Rome - Florence sectors and all of my accommodation online. The site is easy to use and it clearly lays out all of your bookings so you don’t mix up any of your plans. The site also tells you if buses are getting full so you can hurry up and book if you need to travel on a certain date for a popular route.

The guide was quick getting the buses loaded up and off on time and was friendly and chatty. In Florence she organised a meal out and karaoke at a bar in town and she, the driver, and pretty much the entire bus came along. Meeting people was easy as there are quite a few stops to get out and socialise. My bus was packed with Aussies and Kiwis, mostly in their 20’s but there were a few older ladies on there who I saw tearing up the dance floor the night before.

Busabout have changed their route a bit for 2006, scrapping Portugal and the link to Budapest, and have added some multi-directional legs that weren’t there in 2005. While it’s a shame to lose the bus to Hungary, I think that overall changes are good and will give more flexibility to travellers.

The only downside I can see for Busabout is their accommodation choices. According to the on board guide, large buses in Europe have to pay through the nose just for the honour of driving into the centre some of the major cities. To get around this they’ve chosen accommodation (in Italy, at least) which is a bit out of town. You’ve always got the choice to stay wherever you want, but getting back out to their accommodation for an 8am departure can be tricky.

All in all I really enjoyed my Busabout experience and would travel with them again – hopefully for longer than a week! While I do love the adventure of finding my own way, sorting out transportation can sometimes be a pain and having that hassle removed was a welcome change, especially when you're short on time as I was. There’s also something to be said about being able to roll out of bed and straight onto a bus – especially when nursing a huge hangover.

It really is a pretty damn good way of getting around Europe, especially for first time travellers or people on a tight time schedule so check it out - Busabout

By: Kirsty Henderson
November 2005