Escorted coach tours grow in popularity with travellers
By Darren Cronian on Saturday, October 11th, 2008

Multi-centre holidays are becoming more popular, the fact that the cost of flying has increased in the last 12 months have made escorted coach tours more attractive. I personally love the idea of travelling from one destination to another, and what better way to see the country than by road.

Escorted coach tours growing in popularity with travellers

Increase in cheap bus and escorted coach tours

I am determined to visit the United States, and the best way to see, as much of it as I can it seems sensible to book an escorted coach tour and travel around different places on the West or East coast. The US has in particular seen an increase in travellers using cheap bus services from the likes of Megabus and Boltbus.

Coaches are more comfortable and safe

Coaches have become much more comfortable and safe, and many of them either have toilet and WiFi facilities, so the days of crossing your legs until you get to the service stop have long gone. You hear less horror stories of tourists killed on coach trips.

Escorted coach tours will not be for everyone but when I go on holiday I do not want to stay in the same place – I want to explore and spread my wings. I said to myself that when I went to Turkey that I would stay on the beach and next to the pool and relax, but no, I could not help but jump on the local dolomus buses, and book trips to other destinations.

Frustrating long journeys and traffic jams

The downside of travelling by coach is the amount of time you are travelling and a country as vast as United States I suspect it will take sometime to get around. You are not served food on long trips, and on-board entertainment has improved, but as some way to go to be as good as some airlines. I will not even mention how frustrating it can be sat in a traffic jam.

I am interested to hear your experiences of escorted coach tours.


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4 responses to “Escorted coach tours grow in popularity with travellers”

Andy Hayes | 11 October, 2008 at 5:09 pm

Hi Darren,

I think there is a thin line between the popularity of cheap bus services as a alternative mode of transport and an increase in escorted coach tour popularity.

The US aside, many countries rely on bus as a significant form of transport - most of Scotland, the Czech Republic, as well as New Zealand come to mind and funnily enough, the bus service is pretty good. However, I’m not a big of escorted coach tours for an extended holiday as I’m pretty particular about what I want to see and do and rather go with my own agenda than someone else’s. Nevermind that, if you get stuck in a coach with people that you don’t fancy, it can be a pretty long holiday!

Having said all that, I recently took two different coach trips here in the UK - one on a day tour of Stonehenge and Bath from London, the other a Loch Ness trip from here in Edinburgh. I am pleased to report both were excellent, both in terms of the guide quality, the planned agenda, and the coach cleanliness/comfort.

In summary - entire escorted coach holiday: bad. Using specialised coach trips to supplement your overall itinerary: good

James Penman | 12 October, 2008 at 10:40 pm

We travelled Brazil - Argentina - Chile - Peru - Bolivia by bus in the 90s and even back then it was excellent. It was astonishingly cheap and comfortable and there were TVs and great food.. Much preferred it to trains or flying.

There was time to read, chat, think and relax. We were backpacking so time wasn’t really an issue. I suspect time is the critical factor.

Nick | 13 October, 2008 at 11:16 am

Darren

One thing to watch for when doing a escorted tour is to watch what included in the price. (entrance fees, park taxes, meals etc. add up). I have went on one budget tour and when looking back on it I would of found it cheaper to of booked a more expensive tour.

Antony | 13 October, 2008 at 11:25 am

Hey Darren, I can’t say I have tried an escorted coach tour but I must mention about the Indian buses/coaches! I’ve travelled over to Kolkata in India from the UK and it’s a totally different world over here. The buses are really cheap at around 6 rupees which takes you all over the city. However, the buses after about 6pm get so many people in them you become a sardine in a tin! This is an amazing country but it doesn’t have quite the same creature comforts as your coach experience seemed to give! Thanks for sharing.

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