Buses

Bus tickets, from the city hop to the overnight run

The cheapest way to cross most of this network, with the total fare and the real door to door time side by side.

190,844routes

3,612cities

67countries

720operators

720 bus companies sell through Orlero.

Show all 720 operators

How to pay less for a bus ticket

Bus fares start low and stay flatter than rail or air, which changes the advice. Both curves are measured on our busiest bus corridors.

Median fare by how far ahead you book

1 day ahead€117.33
3 days ahead€160.78
7 days ahead€86.81
14 days ahead€75.26
21 days ahead€57.93
30 days ahead€52.71
45 days ahead€59.03
60 days ahead€60.96

Median fare by day of the week

Sunday€66.18
Monday€54.63
Tuesday€49.68
Wednesday€52.71
Thursday€72.78
Friday€57.38
Saturday€70.03

The early bird gains less hereThe median fare is lowest 30 days out at €52.71 against €117.33 the day before, a spread of 55 percent. That is a real saving, but it is a smaller one than on the other modes, so the bus is the mode to hold a decision open on.
Midweek still winsTuesday is the cheapest day on our bus network, Thursday the most expensive, 32 percent apart. Weekend demand moves bus fares the same way it moves everything else.
The floor is the floorCity link runs of around 84 km sit near €10.07 whatever you do, because there is a price below which nobody sells a seat. Below that distance, compare on departure time rather than on fare.
The price you see is the priceEvery fare on this page is the total. Base fare, taxes, supplier charges and our service fee are all in it, itemized on the breakdown rather than added at the end.

What kind of bus service is this

A forty minute shuttle and a fourteen hour overnight run are sold with the same word. Our network sorted by distance, because the distance is what decides whether you get a rest stop, a restroom and a night in a seat.

Service	Distance	Door to door	Median fare	CO2 per traveler	Routes we sell	Operators
City link	0 to 120 km	2h 14m	€10.07	2.6 kg	25,408	BlaBlaCar, bodo Verkehrsverbund, FlixBus
Regional bus	120 to 400 km	4h 11m	€12.83	6.4 kg	54,056	Auto Viação Catarinense, Empresa de Onibus Nossa Senhora da Penha, Expresso Adamantina
Intercity bus	400 to 800 km	10h 7m	€31.53	18.2 kg	48,160	Expresso Adamantina, Expresso São Luiz, Expresso Satélite Norte
Overnight bus	Over 800 km	23h 12m	€72.78	43.6 kg	63,220	Rotas de Viacao do Triangulo, BlaBlaCar, Conceito Transportes e Turismo

Bands are set by the distance between the two cities. Times, fares and emissions are the median of a sample priced by the same engine that answers a search, for a date four weeks out, one adult, no discount card. The longest trip of this kind we sell is 3,080 km.

The bus against the train, the plane and the ferry

On 20 corridors more than one mode runs the same trip. Same corridors, same day, medians for each.

Mode	Door to door	Median fare	CO2 per traveler	Corridors compared
Coach	5h 7m	€14.76	7.8 kg	20
Train	2h 15m	€23.72	6.7 kg	16
Flight	4h 12m	€47.05	114.0 kg	6

Across the 20 corridors where both run, a bus seat emits about a 14.6 th of what the same trip by Flight emits.

Every row is a median over the same corridors, priced on the same day, for one adult with no discount card. Door to door adds the time we budget to reach and leave the terminal at each end, which is where the scheduled time and the real time diverge.

Bus travel, practically

Door to door is close to the timetableWe add 22 minutes at each end for reaching and leaving the bus station. A bus loses very little time to the ground you cannot see on the schedule, which is why its slower timetable closes some of the gap.
Stops are not always stationsAcross the 3,612 cities here, a bus stop can be a curbside bay rather than a building with a departure board. Check the stop name on the ticket the night before, not the morning of.
Luggage rules differ by companyThe 720 companies on this network set their own checked bag allowance. It is generous by airline standards and it is not identical, so read it once for the operator you have picked.
The overnight run is a fare decisionOn corridors past 3,080 km the choice is a night in a seat against a night in a bed and a daytime trip. It is worth pricing the second before you take the first.

Bus networks, country by country

We sell bus travel in 67 countries. These carry the most of our network, with the companies running them and the cheapest fare we hold.

Buses in United States

5,764 routes, 179 cities

Operators: Rochester Institute of Technology, Altamont Corridor Express, Metrolink, Amtrak Vermonter

Book ticketsfrom €10.07

Buses in Brazil

125,400 routes, 1,363 cities

Operators: Expresso Guanabara, JS Turismo, Catarinense Agencia de Viagens, Viação Ouro e Prata

Book ticketsfrom €16.68

Buses in Germany

6,460 routes, 80 cities

Operators: FlixBus, BlaBlaCar, NVBW, bodo Verkehrsverbund

Book ticketsfrom €12.83

Buses in India

4,092 routes, 131 cities

Operators: Apsrtc, BMTC, Kerala State Road Transport Corporation, Ksrtc

Book ticketsfrom €24.93

Buses in Japan

2,836 routes, 122 cities

Operators: 株式会社高知駅前観光, 神姫観光, 日本中央バス株式会社, 千葉中央バス千葉営業所

Book ticketsfrom €14.48

Buses in Türkiye

1,392 routes, 48 cities

Operators: FlixBus, KentKart Kocaeli, Kale Seyahat, Havaist

Book ticketsfrom €16.68

Buses in Philippines

4,784 routes, 208 cities

Operators: Philtranco Service Enterprises, Del Monte Motor Works, S & Y Escobar, Genesis Transport Service

Book ticketsfrom €10.07

Buses in Italy

4,828 routes, 53 cities

Operators: FlixBus, BlaBlaCar, Flixbus CEE South, Bus Regione Piemonte

Book ticketsfrom €16.13

The bus routes people book most

Ranked by frequency and by the size of the two cities, with the real door to door time and the fare we hold four weeks out.

Every step of the trip, in your pocket

Tickets that work without signal, a live board for the leg you are actually on, and one place to change plans when something goes wrong.

Tickets that work offlineDownloaded before you travel, so a dead signal at the gate is not your problem.
Live trip updatesTrack changes, delays and your connection, pushed while there is still time to act.
Change plans in two tapsRebook, refund or claim the guarantee without finding a phone number.

Scan to downloadOpens the right store for your phone.

Bus tickets: your questions

Is the bus always cheaper than the train?

Usually but not always. The comparison table on this page prices both on the same corridors on the same day, and on a few of them an advance rail fare undercuts the bus.

How early should I book a bus ticket?

About 30 days ahead, where the median fare is lowest. Booking later costs about 55 percent more, which is a smaller penalty than the other modes carry.

How many bus routes can I book here?

190,844 directed bus trips between 3,612 cities in 67 countries, run by 720 companies.

Which day is cheapest to travel by bus?

Tuesday on our network. The fare on that day is €52.71 at the best booking window.

Are the fares the full price?

Yes. Taxes, the operator booking charge and our service fee are already inside every figure here, and the breakdown lists them separately before payment.