Traveling Around Europe By Bus: FlixBus review

Do you like to travel but you are on a tight budget? Find out if FlixBus is a good option to travel around Europe without spending a fortune.

Since I moved to Asia one of the things that I miss more about Europe is how easy and cheap it’s to travel there: with Ryanair, you can fly between major cities for a few euros and, if time is not a priority, since 2013 there is another great option: FlixBus. FlixBus is a German company based in Munich that offers intercity coach service in various European countries (and in the United States).

Due to its low-cost prices, some of the competitors were not happy when Flixbus started operating in Italy and tried to stop it (like the Taxi drivers lobby did with Uber) but thankfully they didn’t succeed.

How does FlixBus work

Booking a ticket is very easy and it only takes a few minutes. Right now there are about 1200 different destinations in 24 countries and in this map you can see all the cities connected by Flixbus.

All major Western European cities are well connected and you can use the map to check all possible routes. Regarding Italy, the only two regions where there aren’t many routes are the two major islands: Sicily and Sardinia. Hopefully, in the future there will be more buses. The Italian city with most connections is Milan.

Once you have chosen your departure city and destination, just click on book now to get to the next page.

From here you can choose the date, time and station of arrival, in case there is more than one in the city. Click “Book now” and continue with the payment. You can use both credit/debit cards and Paypal. One thing you have to remember is the luggage size limitation. Here’s what the site says:

Generally your ticket includes the free transportation of:

One item of hand baggage (max. 42 x 30 x 18 cm, max. 7kg)

1 travel baggage item (max. 80 x 50 x 30 cm (31.5 x 19.7 x 11.9 in), some deviations in dimensions allowed for max

If you want to travel during the night there are several night buses. They make fewer stops than day trips and therefore the trip will be much shorter. You’ll also save a night in the hotel, which is not bad.

Interflix: 5 cities for 99€

FlixBus is ideal for visiting European capitals such as Ljubljana in Slovenia.

The most interesting option in my opinion is called Interflix. It gives the possibility to travel between 5 European cities at the fixed price of 99€. The only limitations are that you can’t travel to the same city twice.

There is no shortage of options, though, as there are over 1200 destinations in 24 countries. As you have seen it’s very easy to book a ticket with FlixBus. This might be a great chance to visit Rome: one of my favorite cities.