London to Barcelona via Megabus Review

 

Why?

This summer, as mentioned in my previous post, I and my family took a vacation to Barcelona, Spain for exactly one week and we went by coach. Initially we had planned to travel by air but since the planning was left to me I decided to explore our options and see which mode of transport would be the cheapest. Having travelled by coach before with my school from London to the Czech Republic and having had a good experience, I wasn’t at all hesitant to look into the costs and details of going to Spain by coach. In the end with much convincing, the whole family decided to travel to Barceona with Megabus, saving us a grand £400 which we then put towards our time in Barcelona. 

 

The journey

The first leg we took was from London Victoria Coach Station to Porte Maillot Coach Park in Paris. Within this leg there were two stops, one at the euro tunnel and another in Lyons, France. Once we arrived at the Porte Maillot Coach Park we were to wait for 1 hour 30 minutes for our coach to take us from Paris to Barcelona via Toulouse. During our second leg, there were 2 stops where we could get off and have a breather before our arrival at Barcelona. As a whole, the journey was indeed bearable and we were quite satisfied. 

 

Advantages

• You get to view the pretty scenery and neighbourhoods in France and Spain, which gives you an opportunity to get an insight of what the country is about. 

• Compared to travelling by plane, it is much easier to fall asleep which I found myself doing for the majority of the journey. 

• You get to meet people from different countries and have casual conversations with them. 

• Free wifi, though the connection is quite poor.

• There are sockets and usb ports available for charging phones and laptops. 

• The chances of crying babies are very slim, so no need to invest in a good pair of earplugs. 

Disadvantages 

• The duration of the journey is very much a stretch and can easily make someone frustrated with impatience and restlessness. 

• There aren’t enough stopovers which can sometimes put a strain on your legs.

Tips and notes

• If you are travelling from Victoria Coach Station, make sure to get there at least an hour before departure in order to check in and to bag yourself a good seat on the coach.

• As expected, it gets very packed in London Victoria Coach Station and there may be 2-3 departures before your own so you may have to wait quite a bit before you can find a vacant seat at the waiting area. 

• Pack lots and lots of water and cold food to nibble on, a 24 hour journey is no joke. 

• Make sure not to pack anything that would get you into trouble, you may have to go through both British control and French control at the Dover EuroTunnel. You’ll be surprised how many people get into trouble at the English/French border. 

 

Would I do it again?

Yes definitely, I’m all about a good bargain and really don’t want to spending a lot on travel that will leave me with virtually nothing to spend on at my place of destination. Although I was quite apprehensive taking a 24 hour journey with Megabus, I was pleasantly surprised with how professional and punctual the company was and would definitely use them again. It is understood that travelling for a minimum of 8 hours anywhere may not be everybody’s cup of tea, but for me it’s more than ideal and most importantly, cheap! I’d love to hear your thoughts! 

 

See you Soon!

Ox