Travelling with Flixbus: my experience

As many of you may have known thanks to my stories – for the record: don’t forget to follow me on Instagram! – I decided to take a weekend off to visit finally a friend I met in Australia who is living in Nice. It didn’t take me that long to decide which weekend I would have taken the ride, but a while to decide which means of transport would have best suited me in terms of times, lenght of the trip and comfort.

As everytime I do when starting planning a short trip – in the meaning of going to a destination that is not that far away from home – I follow a very precise order of websites I consult to compare prices. First of all, it takes to Italo, the train company with the most competitive train fares in Italy so far. Unfortunately, even if this company is unbeatable when it comes to go from Turin to Milan or Bologna, for the route I needed was pretty much useless. Their trains in fact do not run from Turin to Savona – the last big train station before the French border – and even if, then I would have checked for another train, from Savona to Nice. Too long and expensive, that is why I actually discarded also my second option in terms of websites to consult: Treintalia. This is the main Italian train company and its services cover basically every train station in Italy: again, no direct trains to Nice.

This is basically the prequel of my project: then, what next? In a remote part of my brain, suddenly the idea: why don’t checking for a Flixbus then? And, there we are: more than three rides per day, the stop in Turin was basically in the city center, not far away from my job and the departing hours just perfect for those who wanted to spend an entire weekend in Nice from Friday to Sunday. In 5 minutes I booked my roundtrip ticket for less than 25€, thanks to an additional 15% discount my company gave me for free.

Why travelling with Flixbus?

Flixbus actually does not need presentations: the company broke into the mobility market as a start-up, and its international growth starts happening in 2015. Up to now, Flixbus has moved more than 100 million people across more than 2000 destinations in Europe: then, despite the lowest fares – with tickets starting from 3,99€ – why should you decide to move with Flixbus?

Of course – and the same happens with flights – the less you pay the less you are authorized complaining. That is my mantra – yes, another one. But, it is also true that I am the complaining queen so if I still travel with Flixbus that means it is valuable for money – at least for me.
Here below the main reasons why.

1 | You may compensate the CO2 emissions when travelling with Flixbus

Lately I started being more interested in topics regarding how to travel green and the carbon footprint we have when travelling – this is struggling me when I take off on my plane, I promised me as an 2020 year resolution to do better. Flixbus allows you for each booking to compensate the CO2 you would produce deciding travelling with them: this means devolving this amount for projects development in rural areas for example, or regreening a forest.

2 | Buses are always super clean

It really never happened to me to find a single snack package on the floor or chips on the seat. Cleanliness for me is the really first thing to check when onboard. Also, usually Flixbus provides buses with toilets onboard: I always found them clean and with all the necessary for the trip.

3 | If you want you can actually book panoramic seats

To be honest, I never wanted to spend something more to have a view on a bus – especially since my most frequent trips are going back and forth from the airport. But, if you are travelling to countryside destinations or across Tuscany, this may be worthy.

My experience overall

My experience overall can not be more positive: I always had an option on how to move, especially if shortly planned, as this trip to Nice.
Of course, keep in mind: you are moving by bus, so delays can be just around the corner. Although this never happened to me before, this time my Flixbus had a 2 hours delay, because of the closing of the main highway due to a huge car crush. Then – if you already know you may turn incredibly annoyed by delays – Flixbus may not the solution.
If instead no matter what you just want to have your weekend off, just fasten your seat and welcome onboard!