Relatively easily, is the answer. There are always options for those minus their own wheels, so let’s take a look at a few of them.
Option 1: Take a train ride
Public transport is always the first thing I look at and in the UK, it’s trains as a general rule. Over here they can get you places quicker than the long distance buses for similar cost. National Rail is a good place to check prices and times, plus has updates on engineering works and such.Elsewhere, I have minimal experience with trains, but I can definitely recommend the TranzAlpine in New Zealand which runs between Christchurch and Greymouth on the South Island. It passes through the Southern Alps and is primarily aimed at tourists. It goes slow enough to enjoy the scenery, plus you get onboard commentary. Great fun.
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| Approaching the mountains on the TranzAlpine |
With regards to trains in other nations, I’ve taken a good look at Via Rail in Canada, which looks like it’s pretty good value for the distances it covers, running as it does from one coast of Canada to the other. I’m planning on using this to do the majority of my town hopping there. Australia has very few long distance train services, the main ones being the Ghan from Adelaide to Darwin and the Indian Pacific from Sydney to Perth. Since buses don’t seem to operate between Adelaide and Perth, I’m looking at using the latter to bridge that gap. Looks pretty comfortable, but maybe pricier than I’d like. Could be worth it for the experience though - takes a couple of days to cover the vast distance across the Nullarbor Plain.
The only other place I’ve researched trains as yet is Peru, for which I’m thinking of taking the PeruRail train from Cusco to Aguas Calientes to see Machu Picchu and is also an option for getting from Cusco to Lake Titicaca. This looks to be fairly reasonably priced, potentially scenic and maybe, just maybe, marginally more comfortable than a bus.
Other train services that I’ve looked at include those in Alaska and Chile, which are still being researched, along with rail tripping around Europe using the Interrail Pass.
Option 2: Hop on the bus
Where trains are either too expensive or not an option at all, buses are the next thing I look at. I’ve never taken a long distance bus in the UK, but National Express is probably worth looking at if you’re after one.Elsewhere, I’ve used NakedBus in New Zealand. These guys offer intercity bus travel between a large selection of towns and also offer day trips to major tourist attractions (which means booking you onto someone else’s tour). We used them to get from Auckland to Paihia and from there to take a tour of Cape Reinga and Ninety Mile Beach. Customer feedback seems to be mixed, but we had no issues with them and they were reasonably quick to refund us when our trip to Milford Sound was cancelled because of inclement weather.
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| Take a bus onto Ninety Mile Beach. Obviously. |
In Australia I’ve used Greyhound to get from Adelaide to Melbourne and I’m definitely considering using them as my main transport for the Australian leg of the Grand Tour. That said, given that said previous experience wasn’t great due to the snoring man next to me, I’ll probably have to invest in some earplugs and I’d highly recommend doing so to anyone considering taking an overnight bus (or train for that matter). There is little quite as depressing as arriving at your destination exhausted and grouchy because a snoring monster stopped you from getting any sleep at all.
Aside from NZ and Australia, I have zero experience with long distance buses. However, if Greyhound in the US and Canada is anything like that in the Antipodes, I’m more than willing to give it a try and it’s actually the main way I intend to get around the US.
Bus services operate pretty much everywhere too - from experience it’s worth checking out Reykjavik Excursions in Iceland who offer, as the name suggests, excursions around Iceland as well as a variety of bus passes so you can explore the island at your own pace. The other main Icelandic bus operator is Grayline - I have no experience with them, but they offer much the same as Reykjavik Excursions.
Buses are also a main option for Cambodia where, courtesy of the useful info published by Move to Cambodia, it seems to be fairly easy to get between the capital Phnom Penh and Siem Reap by bus. Outside of that… well, that brings us onto option 3.
Option 3: Take to the high seas…
Or rivers, as the case may be. Aside from the various bus options in Cambodia, it’s also possible to take a boat along the river between the two cities. Reviews seem to be mixed and safety seems to be… well, not great, but as mentioned in a Destination Daydreams post, it looks like it could be worth it for the experience.Boats of a rather larger variety are also a contender for my transport between Vancouver, Canada and Anchorage, Alaska. There’s a bunch of ferries that hop along that western coast and it looks like it could be good fun to sit back and relax for a day or two and just watch the world go by. Not exactly cheap though.
Option 4: Take flight
The final solo option is to take an internal flight. I don’t think I need to go into detail with this, but as a general rule, flights tend to be more expensive than other options but can make up for it by being quicker and generally more comfortable. There are few places where I’d consider taking internal flights - Australia, mostly and also Chile to access Punta Arenas in Patagonia. Aside from that, the first three options always get considered first.There is, however, one last option for those poor souls like me who can’t drive themselves or don’t have access to a car...
Option 5: Make friends
Isn’t that one of the greatest joys of travelling? Meeting new people and making friends with folks from all over the world? Perhaps one of your new friends can drive? Perhaps they’d even be willing to split the cost of hiring a car with you so you can check out that hard-to-get-to hidden gem? Give it a go. Even if you don’t succeed in getting that car hire, you might make a new friend in the process.I’ll admit, to date I’ve cheated a bit on this last one, because I had existing friends to drive me around New Zealand and Ireland. Bloody good fun though!
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| Driving NZ's SH6 in Ead, our trusty hire car |
What tips do you have for getting around without a car? Have I missed any more unusual modes of transport you’d recommend?
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