bus vs train

Convenience, point to point and no fixed schedule. And probably cheaper.

I'd be hesitant about long hours on the bus as well. Whatever his reason, Rick offers plenty of good advice for independent travel by train that is pretty simple to follow, making the planning and execution of your own adventure doable. Train travel by pass is exceptionally simple. And most cities offer short tours , often in English, that allow you to sightsee in the company of other international travelers.

christine can I suggest, for your own safety, you remove your address from your tagline.

christine, if talking about a normal bus tour I would totally agree that bus tours can be long nasty hours ,, but having done the RS Family Europe in 14 days I can assure its a different creature. First , the buses were dead comfy, second we all had TONS of room, I usually had two seats to myself the whole trip( my 11 yr old made friends and sat with them after day one!),, they use the large buses that hold 50 people but they only allow between 24-28 people on the tour.. The buses have clean washrooms , and a fridge stocked with water, soda and beer, all on the honour system for one euro each.. it was great to come back to bus on a hot day and have a cold drink available much cheaper then a street stand or cafe. The longest day I think we had was 6 or 7 hours on the bus, but, by law the bus must stop every 2.5 hours,, and the rest stops are nice, really, plus lunch, plus we saw a few unexpected sights on the way( one stop for lunch guide gave us a choice, go to a cafe and have a lunch and shop, or we could go to the Musuem where the IceMan is kept and pick up sandwiches to eat on bus, we all chose Musuem (which was amazing, a freebie and a surprise to all). The days are not grueling at all, and this is with 14 kids on the bus, and the Family Tour follows the exact same schedule as the regular 14 day tour.
My MIL took a Globus tour and what she recounted was no where near our experiences,, so if you choose a RS tour you will not have same complaints,, my only complaint was it ended too soon! I normally travel independently, this was the only tour I ever took, and it was so worth the extra money Bonus about RS bus tour,, you can relax and watch the scenery unfold before you , and there is someone to answer your questions about what you are seeing,, you can truly just relax, not watch your bag, not watch for the stops, just relax.

christine, As Pat said, you won't have to endure "long hours on the bus" when taking a RS tour. While the tour information might state "four hours", in reality the Bus will stop about every two hours at a convenient rest stop so it's actually a very pleasant trip. The frequent stops are provided not only for the comfort of tour members, but also to comply with European regulations for Coach drivers. The Buses are equipped with electronic metering, and if the drivers operate too long without a rest, they can face severe penalties. In some cases, the meter data has to be downloaded at the end of the day, and in other cases it's connected on a "real time" basis. I'll be taking my fifth RS tour this year, and have no concerns about the Bus rides. RS uses a full size Coach (like a Greyhound) but it's only about half full so everyone has lots of room to stretch out. Chilled water is always provided for about €1 (there's a small fridge at the front next to the Driver) and of course the vehicles are air conditioned. In some cases, the tours use Ferries or trains, but that depends on the specific tour Itinerary. Buses are preferred as in many cases they're able to pick up and deliver tour members right to their Hotel (if they used rail, you'd be doing a lot more walking while carrying your luggage). Cheers!

Thanks to all those that replied so far..it's been most helpful. I do have a motion sickness issue and that concerns me about traveling for extended periods..it does sound like there will be lots of room and comfort so I do not feel confined and hot. I will continue to read posts.

While we travel independently most of the time, we have taken several RS Tours and enjoyed the very comfortable charter buses with many free seats and plenty of opportunity for rest stops. Buses operate on a custom rather than a fixed schedule, go door to door and can visit some sights not convenient to trains. You can "do" the trip on your own and take trains as your prime mode of intercity transport. Choose one and have a wonderful time. Now the auto folks can chime in about that possibility.

Nice thing about taking a RS tour he gives you the approximate time spent on the bus each day. I do not like long bus rides and make sure the tour I am on does not have 5-6 hours of bus rides multiple times. The RS bus is nice as there is no assigned seat and you can sit where you want and enough room to have your own row. The other tour company I travel with has assigned seats with 40 plus people and the bus feels crowded.

Christine, if you haven't already seen RS's "Tour Experience DVD", you can order one for free at the following page on this website: http://www.ricksteves.com/about/w2l_catalog.cfm Makes ME want to take a tour ;-)