BootsnAll Travel Community

I have been looking at travelling round Canada on long haul buses.

The thing is I see some trips and they say like 4 days 23 hrs etc. To a lad from England that is just incredible.

Do people just sleep on these buses, or do they stop off and force you to sleep in costly hotels / b&b's etc?

I read the greyhound site, but it makes no mention of how sleeping is sorted out. The best example is probably calgary --> toronto - 7 days etc , ticket rules say "No stopovers" , so Im thinking you sit on a bus for 7 days craaazy

People sleep where they are sitting. The buses do stop, but only for meal stops; they don't stop overnight, instead they change drivers.

Canada is a huge country. If you merely need to get from one end to the other, you may be better off flying. If you consider the journey (rather than the destination) to be the whole point of travel, then the bus or VIA Rail may be the way to go.

While I relish long trips on a bus, I would recommend doing Canada in reasonable segments rather than going from Gaspe to Tofino in one fell swoop.

You could always jump cars. I've never done it, but I'm thinking about doing it for exactly that distance you mentioned, calgary to toronto. I know lots of graffiti writers that have done it, so I'll ask them about it, what to do if I get in trouble, how long it'll take, etc.

quote:

jump cars

I am having trouble with that phrase. Care to translate?

hitch-hiking.

Wow, the full time on the bus, you are not kidding that it would be crazy to do calgary --> toronto

Cheers folks

First off, there's no way it takes a week to get from Calgary to Toronto. My grandparents used to drive it (well...Edmonton to Toronto, which is about the same distance) twice a year in 3 days each way. And they stopped to sleep.

That said, taking the bus accross the country is a great trip, provided you arrange your ticket so you can get off and see things periodically. VIA is more expensive than the bus, but they're also better about stopovers. They also don't go to Calgary, but the benefit is you can miss out on the overly touristy Banff and just head straight for Jasper. If you're buying a non-stop ticket, I recommend westjet instead. The cost is similar, without having to sit in a cramped bus for days. While there's some great scenery travelling cross country, there's really only three types on the Toronto-Calgary run. 1-Greater Toronto Cityscape, 2-Canadian Shield (rocks and trees and trees and rocks and rocks and trees and trees and rocks and water), and 3-prairie. It gets old pretty quick.

Well, let's hope Greyhound is decent enough. I'm going Greyhound for a 3000 mile trip next week.

*for $109/US I might add. Can't beat that!

Where are you going?

East Tennessee to central British Columbia

I just got back from a long haul Greayhound trip:Phoenix, AZ to NYC(1day in Nashville,3in Philly,8in NYC) then back to Phoenix, AZ (3hour stopover) then to Vegas(for 4days) then back to AZ then (2days later) to Vegas(1day) and back again.

It was about two and 1/2 days to Philly(I missed my connection in Nashville so I decided to spend the day there, making it more like three and a 1/2 days)

I loved it and allthough I would allways reccomend a train over a bus, the bus is still very cool. You get to see the countryside and meet all sorts of interesting characters.

One of the advantages a bus holds over a train is that you have stops every few hours, so you can take a little walk around town or just hang out in front of the bus station and soak it up with the other weirdos.

I have riden greyhound loads of times, but for anytrip longer then 5 - 8 hours I recommend Amtrak or fly. I ran into mates at a pub in Bristol, UK a few months ago. They had the false idea that travel the US is like the small trips in the UK. I ridden both bus systems if your used to double deckers and leg room. Greyhound is not for you. The stops arn't always in the best location of town, unless you making a connection you don't have enougth time to walk around town either. So don't take the bus.

I meant Train Cars

If you like meeting "intersting" people greyhound is great. An english accent will get a lot of people talking to you especially if you sit at the back. Just be warned that the depots can be dodgy

'Depots can be dodgye'

The unmitigated truth is that if there is a less good part of any town, the bus depot will usually be in it. No, you won't lose your life just stepping outside, but unless you know your way to a good part, you're best off staying in the station after stretching your legs.

In Phila, it's not so bad, but its still not the best part of town.

I have used greyhound once in the past and that will be the last time I use it.

I have tavelled several times from LA to San Fran in a car both up the pacific coast highway and through the dessert (shorter but boring). But last summer I had to use Greyhound. It took 3 coaches (2 broke down) and 16 hours (it was meant to be 7-8). me and my mate were sat on the side of the highway for 6 hours in 35C heat surviving on a pack of Starbursts as the air con was bust on the bus as well.

I couldnt believe the service, not once did the drivers apologies on behalf of the company, we were expecting some compensation or atleast a free burger king when we finally stopped at services 13 hours after departure but nothing was offered.

When we got to San Fran it was 3 in the morning and we had to step over tramps to get down the steps to the street were we literally prayed to see a taxi and that our hostel had 24 hour check in.

As you can see from my experience i wouldnt consider going 50 miles on a Greyhound nether mind calgary to toronto

Just so i dont get sued this doesnt happen on every journey (hopefully)

cheers mates! Well, it sounds like a proper mixed bag experience to me and one (god knows why) I look forward to.

We have decided to use greyhound from Vancouver to Whitehorse in week 2 of arriving , its a 1600 mile trip or something, so it should give us a taste of things to come.

All suggestions, positive or negative are really helpful - thanks!

Will look at the train / plane possibilities too, if the prices are not too costly for little me and my girl!

Well, I survived my 3000 mile Greyhound trip. I gotta say that it was a very rough trip. The buses we had in the US were always full, sometimes with people standing, and there was little/no air conditioning. The bus stations are placed in the worst parts of town with rarely any access to food, except what the station itself is selling.. which is typically very overpriced and disgusting.

The stations were so full that you could barely walk to your departure gate, and the Greyhound employees yell at you all the time for no reason.

We made it to Fargo and the bus driver tried to tell us that we wouldn't even make it across the Canadian border and was trying to act like he wouldn't even take us the rest of the way. Then, he tried to make everyone who was crossing the border buy return tickets through Greyhound before he'd let anyone back on the bus.

However, once we crossed into Canada, the service changed 100% for the better. The drivers were friendly, the buses were extremely comfortable with air conditioning, movies, ect.

You can't beat a 3000 mile trip for $109/US, but it's that cheap for a reason.

AlmostFree suggested Westjet - if you're looking at flying, also check out Air Canada, Canjet, Skyservice or Harmony if you're going between Toronto and Vancouver. I find that you need to check all the airlines to get the best price - I've often found Air Canada flights cheaper than Westjet.

The only problem with taking Via is that it's normally more expensive. It's also generally more expensive than flying from point to point.

Greyhound is cheap - in the Atlantic Provinces of Canada there's a different bus provider. You would definitely want to break up the trip - really long hauls on Greyhound, in Canada is not pleasant. Although, I have heard (anecdotally) that Canada is more pleasant than the United States, but it's important to remember how vast this country is. When we moved from east of Toronto to Vancouver Island we took close to two weeks to do it so that we could stop and see a ton of stuff along the way - otherwise you're more or less just flying through.

I've taken two Greyhound bus trips. The one accross Canada (Alberta - Ontario) wasn't too bad. The bus had lots of empty seats which made it pretty comfortable and the scenery was beautiful.
My second trip was going to Florida for my cousins wedding. Toronto - Orlando, 36hrs there and like 40 or so back. THAT was the trip from hell. The buses in the US are usually full which can make things a bit cramped. Especially when the weird guy sitting next to you falls asleep and you suddenly find yourself prying him off your shoulder and trying to wake him up so you can tell me to sleep on his own side. Then there was the guy who got on In New York City, fell asleep and SNORED until we got to Orlando. There were a few awake hours, but not many and he wasn't exactly quit, the kid could snore loud enough to wake the entire bus. I think we all wanted to kill him. So finally got there very exausted. The trip home was a little better aside from the 6 hour lay over because the bus arrived already full, and the fact that it was prisoner release day in Orlando and the terminal was filled with like 20 guys in blue jeans and demin shirts and holding big brown envelopes.
If I HAD to take Greyhound again, Canada would be my first choice no question about it!

I once traveled Grayhound from Columbus, Ohio to Pittsburg PA. Took twice as long as it should. But met some great people. The back of the bus was like a bar, I was going to see The Who,and was so loaded by the time I got there I almost missed the show.

It can be fun, but I was only on it for 4 hours, any longer could really suck. Like they say "leave the driving to us" thats their slogan. I will as I drive past in my truck.

Get one of those neck things for sleeping, and good luck. I'll be the guy flying by in my Chevy Truck.

For Vulkoria....Go Bucks!!!!! The season is upon us.