Review: The Eurolines Pass

Eurolines is not a company. The brand name "Eurolines" groups 32 independent coach companies operating together Europe's largest regular coach network.

With a Eurolines Pass, you can see Europe at your own pace. The pass allows you to travel around 43 cities, from western Europe to eastern Europe. All their coaches are modern and comfortable, with reclining seats and toilets. There's also regular refreshment breaks.

One thing to note about using the pass: you can only travel from one country to another. That means, you are not allowed to travel among the cities within the country using the pass. In short, this pass is very good for those who wants to visits as many capitals and major cities as possible.

There are 2 type of passes : 15 consecutive day or 30 consecutive day pass. The pass is also charged differently for 3 different seasons:

• low (5 January to 28 March, or 30 October to 10 December), 
• mid (29 March to 26 June, or 7 September to29 October)
• high season (27 June to 6 September, or 11 December to 4 January)

And of course, for traveler under 26 years old, they can opt for a cheaper price under "Youth" category. On the right is the pass prices table.

I had bought the 30-day pass. I find it saves me a lot of money but not my time. Why not saving my time? I can only book my ticket over the counter, and not at the website. This is a nuisance.

Although the pass allows you to travel across 43 cities (this number is growing as I writes), you need to be extra careful on the routes and date of travel. Not every city lets you depart to another city you wish. And in some cities, there are no everyday bus that departs to the destination you wanted. So, studying the route is sometimes a headache, but for a person like me who have more time versus money, I don't have that problem :)

Do take note that once you bought the pass, make sure to photocopy a copy of it, as you need to present the pass whenever you want to make a booking. Losing the pass (which is a piece of printed A4 paper) means you lose your expensive ticket: they won't print you another copy!

At some of the cities, you need to pay a booking fee of €3 to €5.

So, in summary, Eurolines pass is suitable for you if:

1. Most of your cities list are within the Eurolines routes
2. You don't plan to spend too much time within a country or travelling within a country
3. You don't mind sitting on the bus (in some journeys a few hours, and in some journeys you overnight in the bus)
4. You are on a tight budget
5. Your trip is around 15 days or 30 days across Europe