Night Rider: Traveling from London to Paris by bus

This is NOT a sponsored post. I just love Ouibus.

I’ve always been notoriously frugal. I still wear clothes that I bought in high school, and I’ll nurse a coffee for five hours just to keep my spot at the café with the free wifi.

So when I decided — quite last minute — to extend my trip in London, I had to find a cheap way back to Paris. Eurostar was charging £140 ($220) just for a one-way train ticket back to Paris, and flights were out of the question.

So I took the bus.

I bought a ticket on iDBUS [update: they have now rebranded as Ouibus], a service launched last month by French railway company SNCF. It cost £45 for the London-Paris route, which leaves nightly at 22:00 from Victoria Coach Station in central London.

When I arrived, the two drivers were friendly and bilingual; they checked my ticket, took my luggage, and welcomed me on board. The coach was spacious, had free wi-fi and power outlets, and the seats reclined pretty far back. It was quite comfortable as far as buses go, and I found it easy to fall asleep, using the Balinese sarong I always travel with as a pillow.

I awoke just before midnight, when we took a thirty-minute break at a rest stop just before hitting the Euro Tunnel. Immediately after the rest stop we went to immigration. Officers came on board and collected our passports; they disappeared for a few minutes then quickly returned the stamped passports.

(This beats my previous experience with bus border crossings [Hong Kong-Shenzhen], where passengers have to get off the bus to go through immigration in person.)

When we reached the Eurotunnel, our bus drove onto a platform in this small dark tunnel, then the driver turned off the engine. We waited for more cars to drive onto the platform behind us, then the bus rocked with a motion that felt as if we were on a ferry. However, according to google, the Chunnel is actually something that you drive through, so I don’t know what the ferry-like motion was. I fell asleep almost immediately after we started moving, so I really can’t say.

*Update, May 2016: I’ve since taken this route a half-dozen times, and about 70% of the time they make you get off the bus and take the ferry across to France. The ferry can get crowded and cold, which makes it difficult to sleep (especially if you’re a solo traveler with no one to wake you up when it’s time to get back on the bus), so it’s something to consider if you have to be alert or awake the next day.

The bus was scheduled to arrive at 7:35 at Paris Bercy, a train station in the southeastern 12th arrondissement. We actually arrived at 6:00 — an hour and a half early. From the station, it was a short walk to the Bercy metro station — because I was carrying four pieces of luggage, it took me fifteen minutes to get there (stairs are involved), but I would say it’s a quick five-minute walk across the street if you don’t have too many bags.

So would I recommend taking the bus from London to Paris?

It depends on your situation.

CONS

Time: Obviously a nine-hour bus ride is going to take a considerable chunk of your time; if you’re on a tight schedule it makes more sense to take the two-hour bullet train. By taking the train, you also have more departure time options; most buses seem to only have two daily departures: one in the morning and one late at night.

Sleep: I’m one of those people that can fall asleep anywhere (including on a park bench and on strangers’ shoulders on the metro — both were very awkward situations when I awoke), so for me a coach seat with cushions and leg room was more than I needed to nod off. However, if you have a hard time falling asleep in chairs, the night bus is not the option for you — though the day bus might be.

Not for the claustrophobic: When the bus entered the Euro Tunnel, it was dark and cramped; it felt like we were in the cargo hold of a large ship and the walls were just centimeters away from our windows. If you don’t mind feeling like a mole about to tunnel underneath a large body of water, perfect. If you’re highly claustrophobic, I’d recommend bringing fast-acting sleeping pills so you don’t have to see this part.

Weak wifi: The wifi worked best when we were stopped in traffic, and wasn’t as strong when we were on the move. Also, it didn’t work when the engine was off (like at the rest stop and in the Chunnel) so the wifi coverage does have some pauses.

PROS

Cost: Unless you snag a great deal on the Eurostar or a cheap airline in advance, the bus will be the cheapest option to travel.

I didn’t hear about MegaBus or Eurolines until after I returned to Paris, but they seem to offer even cheaper fares, especially if you book far in advance. iDBUS is a flat £45, regardless of when you book.

Convenient: When you travel overnight, it saves you a night of accommodation. You fall asleep on the bus, and wake up at your destination in the morning.

Free wifi and power: I was looking forward to this perk, as I hoped to get some writing done on the journey. Unfortunately, my body quickly reminded me that I get incredibly motion-sick whenever I try to read in a moving vehicle, so that plan quickly went kaput.

You can pack more: I was carrying a four very heavy pieces of luggage (I only arrived in London with two, but as I mentioned in a previous post, you get a lot of stuff at the Olympics). They were all carry-on size, but with four of them I doubt any budget airline would have let me get away with that.

On a bus though it doesn’t matter — I was allowed to store one suitcase down below and carry on two pieces of hand luggage; they only charged me £5 (which I booked and pre-paid online) to place a second piece of luggage in the cargo hold. Sorted.

Location: I love flying, but I hate the time and added cost it takes to get to and from airports — not to mention the hours you have to arrive early when taking an international flight.

By taking the bus, I could arrive at the bus station in London just thirty minutes before departure (and really, I could have arrived five minutes before and still been fine), and the station was in a convenient location in the center of the city.

The same goes for Paris — by arriving at Bercy, instead of having to pay €10 to get back into town then navigating annoying metro changes, I just hopped on the metro line 6 and rode it straight back to my neighborhood.

And of course, riding line 6 that early in the morning also allowed me to catch this sunrise on my way home:

The bus was perfect last-minute budget option for me because I was in no rush to get back to Paris, and I can fall sleep anywhere. However, if you’re on a time limit, or prefer more comfortable sleeping arrangements, then I’d ultimately recommend spending the extra money and taking the Eurostar.

Would you take the overnight bus? Why or why not?