Experience of greyhound buses in USA

[sillyshirts]

We're planning a USA trip and would like to get greyhound buses between major cities, but I'm a bit alarmed by the horrific trip advisor reviews! Anyone used them and what was your experience?

Oh Lordie, no! Please don't! Try Southwest airlines or some other budget carrier, or even Amtrak to get around.

I live in the Midwest USA- oh please dont use Greyhound! I have used an express bus system called Megabus. They have only about 30 short set routes. I live a few hours from Chicago, Denver, Minneapolis, Kansas City etc using them takes some planning. As long as you aren't trying to go coast to coast in one trip Megabus is perfect.

@NooNakedJacuzziness I saw the thread title and clicked on it to mention that book 😁 It made me want to do a Greyhound road trip, no idea what the reality would be like!

Love Greyhound busses, never had a problem. Yes they sometimes transport poor people...

New York to Boston then on to Albany and back to NY.
This was mid 90s ! I actually enjoyed it as we passed through some gorgeous countryside and New England towns just as the trees were changing colour.
Didn't notice that people were especially poor 🙄 but agree that the bus stations were in rather insalubrious areas.

I did 12 weeks in the US by Greyhound yonks ago. At the time it was a great adventure but when I look back now and read the diary I kept, there were so many dodgy situations that I was lucky to get out of.

Everyone we met in hostels was travelling by train and could never believe that we were brave/naive/stupid enough to be doing it by bus.😂

I'm glad I took a greyhound 20 years ago. Very educational. Terminal was in a part of town I wouldn't otherwise have seen; trying to ask a rough sleeper for directions didn't go so well but the way she brushed me off was quite gentle really.

One of the passengers had untreated glaucoma, another sang to herself constantly. All were fine and nobody smelled.

It was from Minneapolis to Fargo and we stopped at a food outlet called the Lone Stag Cafe, with a cement stag on the roof and 1950s decor, and nary another building within sight.

It helped me understand why Americans like chain restaurants. Predictability.

I did it years ago over a month going around the US on Greyhound buses. I do wonder if it has changed in recent years.

I did LA to Vegas a few years ago, with some friends. Safety in numbers. Even the approach to the station was terrifying, surrounded by crack heads.
The bust was full of characters, including a very scary looking guy that passed out in front of the toilet for the whole journey!
We did it to save money, $12 vs whatever a flight would be, and thought it would be a fun experience. It was certainly an experience but not one I would repeat!!
They lost
My luggage on the return trip as well and I had to wait 2 days to get it back!

I’ve done bolt bus between NYC and DC and it was great. Very clean, mainly tourists, free wifi. Not sure which other routes they do though.

I've done it when I was younger and poorer, western North Carolina to Ithaca, NY (18 hours including an exciting stop at the bus station in New York City at 2 am) and it was a real cultural experience, and yes there were some slightly scary people on it and in the terminal, but my real question, OP is how many weeks holiday can you spare? The distances are massive and you surely don't want to spend all your time on the damn bus? It's also quite hard to sleep, so you could be knackered even when you do get off the bus. Amtrak is lovely if it goes where you want to go.

..... broke down too, middle of the desert. 3 or 4 hours waiting for another coach to arrive to carry on. Couldn't see anything but desert for miles around, but suit & sliders man wandered off and came back 10 minutes later with a Maccy Ds

I love your story @FettleOfKish 😆😆

I am another Op who did Greyhound buses in the mid 90s - Washington to Memphis / Nashville
I remember that the bus driver said at the start 'No drinking / drugs on board'
The bus stations were scarier!
But I was 23 and it was all an adventure!

What cities are you visiting OP? Trains are fairly reliable & plane too if the cities are further apart.

There are definitely bus options. Look at Megabus or Bolt. There’s also a really nice sleeper one that goes between LA and San Francisco. Amtrak is great if you can afford it.

Greyhound is, as you can see, not the nicest. My friend’s partner sadly overdosed on one and no one noticed for hours until he didn’t get off at the final stop. I also took one as a 15 year old in the mid-90s with my boyfriend. Towards the end it was just us and the driver left. He pulled over to offer us a shot of brandy from his flask. We, being teenagers, thought it was great. But in retrospect, it was super dodgy (we got off safely at our stop about 20 minutes later).

In early 2000s I spent 3 months travelling all over the US with a tent and a greyhound bus pass. Northern California down to Florida keys, up to Boston and stopped in most places in between. Rural Arkansas to Roswell New Mexico. You name it, I've probably seen the bus station! I loved it. Only really sketchy part was Alberquerque bus station at 3am. You could always spot the new releases from prison with a bus ticket home. They always wore the same clothes.

Maybe they've changed

I did this for 6 weeks with a mate when we were 21. Had the best time. Met some interesting characters. We did end up at a lot of bus stations and truck stops at all hours, though. Couldn't hack it now at my age.

Bus between cities that are close together is okay - I did Vancouver to Seattle (not Greyhound) and it's fine and the people are totally normal, just slightly more studenty. Longer trips than that I'd be wary.

I don't do budget airlines anywhere (and Southwest lately has had lots of issues and Spirit is a nightmare for times) but Amtrak is great AS LONG AS you don't have deadlines. Remember that freight trains in the US have priority over passenger trains, so if a freight train wants to cross your line, your train will stop and wait for the whole time it takes. As a demonstration of this, check out drive times vs rail times for various trips - often rail is quite a lot slower. So enjoy the trip and look out the window - but don't take it hoping to be on time to catch your flight home!

As a family in 1987, my parents thought the bus would be a nice way to see the country! We travelled from New York to Florida on greyhound for several days. I'm sure there must be FAR more updated accounts on tripadvisor or similar, but this was my VIVID memories!

• The coach stops being far out of town in some places, needing taxis late at night and waiting to get to hotels
• Lifting my feet going down a steep hill because things were rolling past. I've since learnt these were drug paraphernalia
• The police stopped the bus outside the border to the next state and put a man on who was wanted in the next state. During the journey, he thrust his hand into his duffle bag and threatened the blow the brains out of the 2 non-white men on the bus! Once we finally crossed the board and reached the bus stop- the police came aboard to arrest him.

Maybe they have improved vastly by now, but I was only a child, but I will never forget that 'experience'.

I did a short 2-3hr trip from LA to San Bernardino, it was perfectly fine. Noone smelled, everyone was behaving well.

I suppose it depends on your journeys.

I dont think I'd do one that was longer than 3hrs only because flying will be more suitable

I loved this book! I must dig out my copy. OP, I’ve used Greyhound for trips over the years, and they were generally uneventful, though involving intermittently colourful fellow-passengers, and as pps said, bus stations aren’t in the most salubrious bit of town. I’d do it again.

I certainly wouldn’t use trains unless you don’t mind arriving at your destination potentially anywhere between five hours and a day late — massive delays are common, and the train network is spotty.

I'm in the USA; Greyhound does have a negative reputation but that's partially because it was the first and, for a time, only national bus service so pretty much all long-distance coach passengers were "riding the dog". If something was going to happen on a bus line, it would be a Greyhound line. But there were and are vast differences between different routes. There's also a side issue that in some locations, the main bus terminal is not always in the nicest part of town, but you can manage that somewhat by being careful about the times you are travelling and/or getting on/off at an interim stop.

The bus companies that operate vary by region; I've found the site/app Rome2Rio really useful in determining who goes where, but make sure to click through to the actual provier's site to make sure the service runs when you need it. Or you can just google your route, e.g., "Boston to New York City". CoachUSA, which I believe has acquired Megabus N America, operates pretty widely and are well regarded. The "Chinatown Buses" (various brands) which were the cheapest of the cheap, mostly stopped operating during COVID but some may be back. I've used several different services in different places and the only issue I've had is that when travelling solo (as others have mentioned) it's possible you'll be next to someone who may not be the most desirable seatmate (I've found this especially on the Chinatown buses as they're so cheap they almost always sell every seat!) I don't use them for long trips, though (about five-six hours would be my limit) - they are not nice for sleeping!!

Amtrak and other rail services are (usually) nicer, but the drawback is that they go up in price steeply if you don't book ahead, while the buses are usually OK to book last minute or even just show up and buy a ticket.

I lived in the US in my twenties and travelled all over on the Greyhound with no ill effects.

As others have said, the main issue with Greyhound isn't the buses themselves, but more the bus stations. Many in smaller cities and towns are in dodgy neighbourhoods that aren't great to be in at night/in the early hours of the morning, especially if you're a lone female traveller, as I usually was. However if you plan your trip carefully, you can avoid being dropped off/waiting to change buses at times when you might feel unsafe.

People riding the Greyhound are from all walks of life, as with all public transport, and obviously sometimes you might find yourself sat next to someone you'd rather not be, but more often than not, you'll be next to someone just like you who's just trying to get somewhere without spending too much money. I loved riding the Greyhound - I met interesting people and saw parts of towns and cities I'd never have seen otherwise. If I were short on cash and had the time, I'd ride it again now.

Amtrak is great but expensive and limited in its reach to small sections of the East and West coast. The benefit of Greyhound is that the routes criss cross the continent and allow you to get to more remote regions and minor cities. If you want to do a proper road trip without driving yourself, Greyhound will definitely help you see the 'real' America.

However if you just want to travel between major cities quickly and easily, Greyhound probably isn't for you. Distances are long, there are frequent stops, and it isn't particularly comfortable being on a bus for several hours, as would be the case even doing a relatively short journey between two East coast cities such as Boston - NY. For comfort and ease I'd take internal flights or the Amtrak if possible.

Def go Amtrak instead of Greyhound. I’ve done a lot of both & most memorable was Minnesota to Chicago. Shared a bus with Beebop & Rocksteady from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles & someone set up a transfer and made borcht mid journey.

I’ve done Boston to New York a couple of times. Absolutely fine. Just like taking National Express or Megabus here.