For my Riga–Vilnius-Tallinn-Helsinki trip, my main aim was to do it as cheaply as possible. I booked hostels, I booked a £5 flight to Riga, and I made the decision to spend one night on a bus, travelling from Vilnius to Tallinn with Lux Express. When I told people I was doing this I got a lot of questions so I thought I’d share my experience on here. Is travelling through the night by bus worth it? Read on to find out!
Why choose travelling on a night bus?
I knew I wanted to see all three Baltic States and the journey by bus was going to take 8 hours. I could probably have got a flight but that would have been an hour, travel to and from the airports another two hours, and then you’ve got to get to the airport early, clear security and queue for passport control. I realised getting one bus would be slightly quicker, and definitely easier on my body (travelling with Fibromyalgia isn’t the easiest) and so it was a choice between a night bus, or losing a day of the 10 days annual leave I had booked.
Saving time (well, time I would’ve been awake, anyway) hassle and money is always a winner for me so travelling on a night bus won, and I booked my journey.
How was it?
I can sum that up in one word-long! I’d planned to sleep all night and was wearing leggings, had thick fluffy socks to pop on instead of my shoes and had a big hoody to keep me warm. I was going to pop Gilmore Girls on on my phone, stick my headphones in and sleep through the journey. That did NOT work well for me….
It turns out, I’d forgotten my headphones. It also turns out that I don’t sleep that well next to a complete stranger who I have exchanged two sentences (‘Is your USB charger there working? No, mine neither. Oh, it’s working now he’s turned the engine on’) with. My seat neighbour was asleep instantly and I…was not. Lux Express had a great selection of films on their seatback TVs though. That I had to watch in silence because no headphones. What. An. IDIOT.
I did sleep, on and off, eventually, waking up when we stopped in Riga about halfway and again as the sun started to rise. So I did see a bit of Latvia and Estonia by night, which was nice, but not as nice as sleep obviously. We arrived in Tallinn very early in the morning, around 6am, and after ringing my hotel to see if I could leave my bags (and being shouted at for ringing them early) I spotted two girls sleeping on some benches in the bus station and joined them. Two hours of sleep later I felt a lot more ready to face the day, but sleeping on a bus station bench was definitely not my finest travel moment.
Would I do it again?
Honestly, I’m not sure. The night bus was cheaper and did save time, but I was so tired and groggy I’m not sure it was worth it for me.
If I was doing the trip again I’d make sure I booked two seats, ideally the front ones up near the driver so I felt safer, and had no stranger next to me. I’d pack two pairs of headphones in case I lost one, a book or my kindle in case I couldn’t sleep and plenty of snacks too. I’d also factor in not doing too much the following day, and a very early night.
Have you travelled via night bus? Let me know in the comments.
Traveling in a night bus is a very cool experience. You can see a lot of interesting things and sceneries during your journey.
Personally I admire you for travelling alone. And, I guess, you can say it was an experience! Well done to you for trying it and learning from it x
What a nice post! I loved your photos. So, I have done night bus and that’s HARD PASS for me now. 😀 I’ve done them in different places but the last time was in China when I lived there. honestly, I can’t do that to my body my back was destroyed 😀 Thanks for sharing!