30-hour Flixbus from Germany to Romania (for $15)

I took one of the longest bus journeys in Europe, the flixbus from Berlin to Bucharest, so that you don't have to. (really, you don't have to. please don't put yourself through it!)

I went in to it expecting it to be an extreme boredom test, but it actually ended up being way worse than that, for multiple other reasons.

This was shot just at the start of summer, and thankfully we had decent weather for the run through Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania. The Romanian part of the coach journey, especially, was really beautiful and I can't wait to actually travel and see some parts of this country!

I used a Flixbus discount voucher to go this whole way for about $15 USD, since I bought so many of their FlixDeal vouchers 3 years ago.

I hope that you're doing well and staying safe.

#travel #flixbus #romania #germany

0:00 the longest bus journey in Europe
0:59 Flixbus Germany to Romania
1:30 food and rest stops
2:20 overnight Flixbus to Bucharest
4:10 crossing the Romanian border on a bus
4:40 Flixbus discount vouchers
5:21 Flixbus Romania
6:35 bus travel in Romania
7:53 Berlin to Bucharest bus complete

[thornton]

What's the longest bus journey you've done before? And how did you survive?? Give me tips for the next time that I am so stupid as to get myself in this situation again... 😅

[NerdX]

I did Copenhagen-Vilnius back when Eurolines still existed. I remember the journey through Poland, where we took a detour to the driver's village, where we ended up parking in front of his house for 3 hours because he wanted a nap. We also had a long stop in Poznan where a group of men greeted the driver, got onboard and asked if anyone wanted to buy drugs, and then started dealing with multiple passengers while the driver was patiently waiting.

[spamspam]

The baby crying when entering Romania is just evolutionary survival reflex.

[andrineslife]

I've done 16 hours on a flixbus and swore to never do it again. I usually live vicariously through you but this time you just have my sympathy 😅

[frida]

Did a much shorter flixbus journey this spring, and those few short hours were enough for me… this is some resilience on another level!

[georgobergfell]

The fact that you did this without noise cancelling head phones baffles me the most 😂

[schwuzi]

My friends and I took a Flixbus from Amsterdam to Salzburg in 2016. It was €20 I think and it took a little over 24 hours. Our bus stopped in Rosenheim at 2 AM and another one would pick us up at around 6 AM. We went into a bank/post office and just emptied our suitcases to sleep on our clothes on the floor.

The banks security came in later and told us he had to throw us out unfortunately but the doors to the ATM section would remain open and he won't come back again.

That was so nice of him. Of course he had to throw us out because that's his job but he basically let us know that we could just go right in again.

I'll never forget that whole trip but honestly it was similar to yours and a nightmare for all of us in the bus.

I haven't taken a Flixbus since and I probably never will again. It's fun when you're young and don't have much money to spare but I'm done with all that😅

[styx]

I spent two months travelling Argentina and Brazil recently. Took 5 bus trips over 20 hours. The longest Iguazu - Rio was 27 hours including 3 hour stop in the middle of nowhere due to flat tire. Yes, they are very long journey but not a big deal really. Long distance buses are generally comfortable and you get to see a lot. I see this long bus trips as adventure.
We have been spoiled by technological advances. People used to spend months on ships to get to faraway destination yet we moan about 30 hours spent sitting in rather comfortable seat.

[snubbeltraden]

I doubt I could withstand a bus journrey of even five hours, so massive respect to you! I love to see videos of all of these silly journeys, keep up the good work

[wndt]

Holy smokes I need to go to romania, this country is looking so beautiful.

[alexandrufrateanu]

As a Romanian, I can tell you that that is how many Romanians travelled to western europe in the early 2000's, when work and study visas were abolished. Flying was not yet as cheap and plentyful. Then, as a 20 year old, I visited my cousin in Rome in 2006. It was a 28 hour ride. I do have some fond memories, and there is some romance in being lost on those highways, but that is mainly because I was young and Deep Vein Thrombosis was not in my head. Now I would't be caught dead 30 hours in a bus. We all use WizzAir or Ryan these days. Greetings from Arad, Romania 🙂

[wesleymeijer]

Watching this video brings back so many memories haha. Like sitting next to a woman watching videos and listing to music without earphones for 5 hours straight or a baby that didn't stop crying behind me. My Flixbus days are over for now.

[BMDK]

Fluxbus is awesome if you’re only going on short trips (3-4 hours). On my eurotrip in 2019 my favourite journey was going from Lyon to Milan and Milan to Interlaken (Switzerland). I paid 2 extra euros to get the front seats and it was so worth it. The views along this trips were just insane. Highly recommend these cheap bus rides if the distance is short. 🙂

[Zolkte]

As a Romanian, I can say that I expected you to abandon the bus while still in Germany, you have the mettle that very few possess my friend.

[angourakis]

Congrats on the trip, Tom!

I actually did it once from Lisbon, Portugal to Luxembourg (by air) and to Warsaw, Poland (with flixbus) as my friend and I were in a budget.

The bus trip took 21 hours in total (1h30 was resting in Berlin) and it was not the end of the world but, definitely, very tiring. We enjoyed a lot resting in a park in Luxembourg, could eat some delicious food and even slept a bit in front of a lake.
In Berlin, we also went to a park so we could rest a bit more and drink something.

It didn't help the fact the we both got into some arguments haha but, at the end, we got to our destination safe and sound.

Would I do it again? Probably not. As much as I like to travel by bus, it is too much (even staying in the airport, during the night, waiting for a connection, is pretty tiring).

[GordyThomas]

Great editing Tom @thornton - I remained engaged throughout. I can truly appreciate just how much time and effort it took to pull this all together. Most excellent! 😎👍

[alexspata]

I'm from Romania, and I hate travelling by bus, even for 1-2 hours..I've traveled through Italy and Switzerland with Flixbus but it was for maxium 6 hours...for me, it's very hard to do it, it takes me 2-3 days just to recover from such a trip.
The worst experience I had was from Iasi (Ro) to Istanbul back in 2013 with an old bus, we did like 25 hours..smell, noise, narrow space, it haunts me even after so many years..

[seekingtravel]

I don't know about other nations, but Romanians, love taking the coach to bring back goods and many things from abroad back home, things like clothes, trinkets and many other things which would make their luggage cost hundreds on a plane. That's usually one of the main reasons, other being fear of flying *but that is a small percentage.

[AndreipatrU]

As a student, I had a 36 hour bus ride from southern Turkey to the middle of Transylvania and I swore to myself that I will never take busses for long distance travel no matter how much it costs. 12 years later, I'm still sticking to that and the only long driveI took was from the Germany-Netherlands border all the way to the middle of Transylvania (with similar results - swearing to myself that I don't do it again). For every travel I do now, I plan plentiful breaks and even though it's longer, I assure myself that I arrive relaxed at my destination.

[johnnygomez]

Hi from Prague - actually the stop in Bratislava, Slovakia is not "multystory car park" . but the biggest shopping mall in Slovakia, opened very recently in downtown area, where the central bus station is located under the mall in garage area.