Originally Posted by
farci
I'm interested in the bus-phobic comments here. My wife is from the States and although she has lived in Europe for many years she still has a prejudice against buses. She says many Americans regard these as second-class transport for those who can't afford anything else.
Assuming the bus/coach alternative is not a wheezy old diesel and either makes decent rest stops or has 'refreshment' facilities I think most Europeans' positive impression of 21st century public transport means they would regard the saving of 5 hours travel time as a no-brainer
I've found that most regular buses in Europe tend to be more comfortable than most regular US buses. More legroom, cleaner, etc. Now I haven't ridden a bus in the US in awhile and it may have started changing, but if your memory of buses in the U.S. is of cramped, uncomfortable seats with a god awful smell coming from a nasty toilet....
As to the no brainer part, I was actually in this situation last week. Flight delayed several hours already, 5.5 hour drive to the destination. Flight hadn't cancelled yet, but I'd already determined that if it did (or took yet another delay), I was telling them to rebook me for the morning and grabbing a hotel so I could really get some rest. I was physically exhausted and not feeling well at that point, so putting me in any moving vehicle for another 5+ hours was asking for trouble. If I had been feeling better, I probably would've rented a car and asked if 3 other passengers wanted to join me.