Travelling by Bus in Germany

For any foreigner it would have been clear that travelling by bus through Germany would be a great idea.

Especially as Germany is the home of the Autobahn without any general speed limit.

But believe it or not, Germany only recently dropped the monopoly of long distance travel of the Deutsche Bahn (train company).

Since then new long distance bus companies have popped up everywhere and made travelling through Germany a lot cheaper and flexible.

But as it always is with new markets only a few will survive in the long-run, which are the companies that offer the best service, the cleanest buses and having the best driver.

Oh and of course, most important of all, that travel to the most popular destinations in Germany and Europe.

Flixbus

After buying up many of the competitors in Germany Flixbus is now the biggest and most famous long distance bus company in Germany.

They are already a very familiar sight in bigger cities and on the Autobahn as they must have several hundred buses on the road at any given time.

No matter from where to where you want to travel Flixbus probably runs this connections at least once a day.

To have a complete overview of their destinations check out their website.

Booking a trip with Flixbus is a pretty straight forward process. All you need to do is enter your origin and destination and check for availabilities.

The further in advance you book the higher the chances to get a great deal out of it.

Travelling by bus in Germany is by far the cheapest option of all.

Prices for example from Berlin to Hamburg start as low as around 8€ one way.

Compare this to the prices of Deutsche Bahn and you will see how great of a deal this is.

A train ticket in 2nd class for the same distance (and taking around 2h instead of 3:15h by bus) usually costs around 35€. If you need to book without much time in advance this will even become more expensive to around 80€ and more.

Postbus and MeinFernbus

The other 2 big players in the market both have been acquiered by Flixbus in the past.

That means the best way to book a trip by bus in Germany is to just go to Flixbus and check if the timetable and prices are right for you.

However, as it is still a very young and dynamic market in Germany, make sure to double check that there is no other new company on the market offering trips to and from your destinations.

Conclusion

Travelling by bus has become the cheapest option in Germany.

On the plus side you will find that most bus stations are located centrally.

That means no expensive and time consuming train travel from and to the airport (as it would be the case if you would fly).

Most buses even offer free W-Lan connection for all passengers on board. Even though the WiFi connection is far from perfect, it is still more stable and reliable than W-Lan in trains.

The only downside of travelling by bus in Germany is the fact that trips usually take a bit longer than by train or plane, especially if you get stuck in traffic.

But believe us, Deutsche Bahn is not know to be on time so much, so also travelling by train is no guarantee that you won’t take longer than expected.

If you want to know more about your other options than going by bus continue reading about travelling through Germany.