Bus Travel in Spain

Bus travel in Spain is a great option for anyone who wants to explore beyond the core cities or get around within the city. Buses in Spain are clean, fun and easy to use.

Can you imagine a more relaxing way to see the beautiful Spanish countryside than by using a bus in Spain as your transportation? Although bus travel in Spain does have a few disadvantages, it’s still a great way to accomplish three important things at the same time: you’ll get from one place in Spain to the next, you can do some sightseeing along the route, and you’ll avoid all the stress of driving yourself.

Here are some of the advantages of bus travel in Spain:

You’ll get an “up close and personal” view of the landscapes passing by without any of the worries involved with driving in an unfamiliar area. Your bus driver will handle all the driving and navigation duties. He or she will be familiar with the Spanish highway system and where and when to stop along the way.
Sometimes, bus travel in Spain is quicker than riding the train. It’s also usually much cheaper.
Many of Spain’s visitors want to see more than one city or region while they’re in the country. Several routes between one popular location and another simply aren’t served by the train, making bus travel one of the few available options. For example, there is no train service between Seville and Salamanca, or between Malaga and Granada. And even though Marbella is on southern Spain’s immensely popular Costa del Sol, it has no trains whatsoever because it doesn’t have a train station!

The routes between other popular spots in southern Spain and elsewhere in the country have train service, but the trains run infrequently and must be booked weeks in advance during the summer tourist season. Two examples are the route between Granada and Madrid, and the route between Granada and Barcelona. Both run only twice a day.

The upshot is that with bus travel, you won’t need to worry about driving somewhere unfamiliar, you’ll be able to focus on the scenery passing by, you’ll save money over taking a train, and you’ll be able to go pretty much where you want.

Now, for some of the disadvantages of bus travel in Spain:

It’s not as comfortable as traveling by train, especially compared to something like the La Robla train tour (a luxury train tour from Bilbao to Leon and back again).
Bus travel often isn’t as convenient or easy to book as train travel.
Most Spanish buses don’t have on-board restrooms, although they do tend to stop at least once every three or four hours. That’s definitely something to be aware of if you’re considering a lengthy bus trip in Spain!

When it comes down to it, there are probably three main factors to consider when you’re deciding how you’ll get from one spot to the next in Spain: the cost of your ticket, how easy it is to book, and your starting point and ultimate destination (in other words, whether a train even goes to your next destination).

If you’re someone who needs to use the restroom fairly frequently, that can be an additional factor to take into account when you’re considering bus travel.

For many of Spain’s visitors, the advantages of bus travel outweigh the disadvantages.

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