So far we have used Flixbus and Arriva in Germany, Czechia and Slovenia. Of the two, I prefer Arriva for routes and price. Cash only though.
Some stops you have to pay the driver, others there is a main ticket office.
Service and help varies from grumpy drivers to very helpful with some pantomime and us lapsing into high school Spanish...in Germany.
GoOpti was another service recommended to us but they were more expensive.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19100 posts
Although buses often offer a less expensive option compared to trains, and are sometimes faster point-to-point, that is generally the problem - they are point-to-point. If you take one off the Arriva buses say, Munich to Salzburg, you can only go from the Munich ZOB. You can't board at Ostbahnhof. And you can't go to Rosenheim or Prien or Freilassing, only to Salzburg. They don't have scheduled stops anywhere in between. And often there is just a handfull (two between Munich and Salzburg, one at 2 AM and one at 11:59 PM) per day, compared to often hourly trains.
Posted by
OP
9 posts
The Arriva buses we took from Bled to Ljubljana and then to Piran were not express point-to-point. They stopped at many little towns, adding about 20 minutes to a direct trip.
Like many trains, there are express connections and local connections. Be sure to check the itinerary of the trips before booking.
Posted by
Hudson Valley
2267 posts
Flixbus sometimes offers the option to buy/block the neighboring seat for reasonably cheap. I loathe bus travel, but sometimes it is the best or only option, and not having a seatmate makes it more bearable.