REGIOJET: Marathon 20 hour journey | London to Prague
Vložit
- čas přidán 31. 05. 2024
- I had been putting this journey off for some time as the idea of an 18 hour coach from London to Prague didn't appeal to me. However, I'd never tried Regiojet before, so I overcame my 'analysis paralysis' and booked it. Due to delays, being pulled over by the police and strange service station visits along the way, the 18 hour adventure became 20 hours. How did I survive and find the journey? #REGIOJET #REGIOJET COACH #REGIOJET BUS
Filmed October 2022 | London, United Kingdom.
*** MY BOOK:
End-To-End, the world's longest train journey from Vila Real de Santo Antonio, Portugal, to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
www.amazon.co.uk/End-End-Worl...
*** FOLLOW ME AT:
Web: www.planestrainseverything.com
Twitter: / planestrainsev1
Facebook: / planestrainseverything
Instagram: / planestrainseverything
*** MUSIC:
Music courtesy of epidemicsound.com
*** TIMESTAMPS:
00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:16 London Green Line Coach Station
00:01:59 Departure from London
00:04:09 Folkstone Eurotunnel
00:05:28 On board Le Shuttle
00:06:38 Calais
00:07:34 Brussels
00:08:07 Luxembourg
00:09:21 Friedrichsthal, Germany
00:10:33 Pilsen, Czechia
00:11:22 Prague
I expect the “random” stops were for the driver to have a break, this is 45 mins in every 4hours 30, it can and is usually split into two, 15 mins and 30 mins. Hope this helps.
They usually have 2 drivers for trips this long, most likely the breaks were for them to switch places
Tachometer compulsory breaks I would think.
@@brake_4_cake Regio Jet uses only one driver for these trips, because they have brake in/on the EUROTUNNEL and than they have 2 brakes at the gas stations (15min and 30min). (they use two drivers only for "school" trips.)
For me as a Czechian it´s a pleasure that you finally chose them. A small info for the drinks and snacks onboard: Yes, Tea and Coffee are free. But the other things are paid (Like you said it). But, if you compare the prices on the bus with them on station shops, the bus prices are much cheaper.
In Czechia i can really recommend to take the RegioJet trains. I´ve travelled a lot in Europe by train, and the RegioJet Trains are maybe the best trains with the best service in Europe. :)
It depends. RJ trains operated under public contracts suck - in the Ústecký region you've got the R23 line operated with a rebranded DB 2nd class (now 1st class) car and 2x RJ 2nd class cars, and all the local services are for now operated by the 628/845 DMUs, which just leak diesel, oil, and water, and it's surprising that they still even run... (though the Pesa Elf.Eu cars replacing them will be great once they're in service)
I really don't understand why there are no high-speed train systems in Europe like in Japan and China. This form of transportation belongs to the future anyway.
@@nature_people There aren't?
DB's ICE, SNCF's TGV, Trenitalia, PKP's EIP, Thalys....
@@nature_people aaaah, you almost got me and I missed you’re making a joke 😂
@@marcd6897 I mean at least 600 km/hour trains, MagLev .... Not too many in Europe. Am I wrong?
I don’t think 2 hours late is bad considering the length of the journey. In the 90’s I used to catch an Intercity Crosscountry train from Penzance to Aberdeen. This train used to end up more than 2 hours late on the first half of the journey. It used to get so late it got cancelled at Edinburgh. 😂
He should try it by train, delay would be like 15 hours or something. 😀
Thank you for your honest review. Regiojet is my favourite bus carrier. They grew up in Czechia and their price/quality policy is the main reason why Flixbus still isn't the bus carrier no. 1 in Czechia. Regiojet also run train services in Czechia and between Czechia and Slovakia, Austria and Poland, they were the first competitor to state-owned Czech Railways. Since then, the quality of train services in Czechia has grown up and train riding became really popular. In summer, Regiojet operate night trains from Czechia to Croatia - they are successful but passengers frequently complain about it due to delays, defect toilets etc. This isn't the flagship of Regiojet, mainly caused by using old coaches and letting them run for 20 hours every day with no time to repair some defects.
Your bus was a Irizar i8/Scania a premium coach with four star seating. These buses are limited to a max. speed of 99 km/h and speed limit for buses on German motorways is 100 km/h. Czech drivers have the funny habit to look at fuel prices instead of having the fixed fuel stop. They pay with fuel cc, so the company pays a settled price. Great, you enjoyed the ride. Keep on rolling!
Only 100kph, thats bit of a shame,
Should be 120 or above given good road conditions and modern coaches like this one
@@faridayasmin8224 Nope, absolutely not... Safety reasons..
In the USA on all but a few roads, buses can go the speed limit that can be as high as 80 MPH (128 Kmh). Some roads like in mountainous areas, do have lower speed of buses along with trucks. Some bus companies do put speed limiters on their buses, but generally at 65-70+ MPH (105-112 Kmh).
Hi Scott, great video! Please could you review Expressways London / Dublin Coach - It runs twice weekly and would hopefully make a good video.
Wow, I'm first time on your channel and I was working as bus driver in flixbus company and my most beloved route was Berlin -Oslo. It's one crossing over Baltics and then three different countries. Denmark, Sweden and Norway. And in every country there was inspection done by border corps. Two hour delay isn't unusual, it's mostly issue of passengers, most delay was because they were suspicious and sometimes cops catch some guns or most frequently Drugs. Or illegal migrants. But most intricately inspected we were on Austrian - Switzerland borders. It was excellent job. Lot of great memories. Hope you make next videos. Keep safe and sound!
I used to do that route as a passenger a good amount of times. Thanks for the safe travels.
I love these long journeys. A few times when I have been coming back to the UK from Amsterdam I have taken the Flixbus service from Amsterdam to London Victoria just for the sake of it. I really enjoy seeing the scenery and even the different types of highway and city/town roads. Plus, if you're in a pinch they are usually much cheaper than a last-minute flight.
I completely agree with your comment about bringing a stock of food and drinks. This is an absolute necessity even for the 8 hours from Amsterdam to London.
I took the bus from London to Athens and back a couple of times, and once back from Istanbul, back in the 1980s. Took about four days as I recall. Good fun but not very comfortable. Took the Greyhound from Oregon to New York City, too, which took even longer.
The lay-by stops were for local drivers hours break rules similar to the working time directive in the Uk which must be taken into consideration in addition to EU drivers hours.
Just a minor correction, Scott. Saarbrücken is next to France. Switzerland is some 300 km in southeastern direction. But very informative and fun in my opinion.
In 1994 I travelled straight from Perth to Adelaide... 36 hours in a row with basically nothing to watch from the window
A doughty soul is thee. Greetings from a fellow wayfarer on the road. Greetings from Ireland ☘🇮🇪☘
Back in the 80’s there were direct busses from London to Athens. Whilst waiting for FlixBus in Düsseldorf I saw a coach travelling from Amsterdam to Sofia.
I did that and it left from Chalk Farm.
I remember going through the former Yugoslavia and if memory serves me right I paid £23.00
At the bus station of Sofia I saw a badass bus just setting off for a 50 hour journey to Madrid.
In 2019 I Travelled by Bus from Riga, LATVIA to Berlin, GERMANY... it was back Breaking for me 😅, I belive it was Flix Bus, Now not a fan of Bus Travel, but Train Travel is my favourite...
The "magic bus"
Interesting journey. Considering protests an the accident 2hrs late was not too bad
I use Regiojet often between Berlin and Dresden. I'd choose them over Flixbus anytime for the reasons quoted at the end. The seat comfort, onboard facilities, internet plus the ticket prices easily beat Flixbus. More legroom too. Generally they are reasonably punctual, but bus travel will always be prone to delays. Pre Covid it was possible to travel Dresden - Berlin for €5 if booking early. Obviously prices have gone up but still cheaper than Flixbus who's tickets have rocketed. With a Bahncard the train can often be cheaper than Flixbus. That never used to be the case.
Buses don't have such delays like trains, try some 15+ train ride, you will be very lucky if you get only 2 hours delay. Especially here in Czech Republic in last few years, they have to use grants for reconstructions of rails so they started doing everything in the same moment so half or country is under construction and this situation is here for like 3-5 years and we don't see any light at the end of tunnel, using trains here is really horror in last years, you can get 1 hour delay on 2 hour ride, you are constantly missing your second train which should wait for you, but they wait only like 5 or max 10 minutes, when your first train has 20 minutes delay, your local village train will not wait for you, it's terrible.
Very enjoyable video. Great filming as usual
Regio jet was originally called Student Agency hence why it was stated in the e-ticket. They are really popular in Czech Republic because they are relatively cheap and have a great service. They also have trains which are super popular here, they also serve hot food and really good cakes on the trains for a really cheap price. Flix bus isn't really that popular here just because Regio jet is way better.
I can confirm, whenever I get the chance to catch a RegioJet train or bus I take that over any competitor available, even the national carrier Czech Railways (tho to be fair, they are getting closer to the service RegioJet offers when it comes to trains)!
They used to have a great service, but not so much now. Every time I get one of their buses these days, it seems that yet another thing has stopped working (the entertainment system etc.). Still, they manage to be quite punctual, and I don't really need to see the Big Bang Theory every time I take a bus.
Při cestě z Prahy do Liberce raději zvolím flixbus, RegioJet tu má ale více linek tak je logicky více známější v ČR
@@MrSonofsonof Regiojet is not good at all anymore
how do Czechs feel about Leo? I went to Pardubice on Leo and back on Regio and thought they were both fine, but no CD
Two hours late is pretty standard for the coach from Stansted to Norwich!
i live in uk i used to live in melnik just outside prague i took this same journey and i absolutely loved it! hot chocolate and the crossiants on board where a treat! and you can change the films to english speaking if you want i think its dubbed over but i learned czech from my ex and watching czech movies! loved the journey! so glad you enjoyed it!
Another great video Scott, keep them coming! Cheers!
Back in 92 I used Kingscourt Express which was operated from an upstairs room in a Streatham Semi . Was about £45 for a 6 Month return. No toilet uncomfortable seats broken up every 3 Hours by a stop for a very strong coffee supplied by the 2 Man crew both drivers. On the return journey some unfortunate Cz citizens were dumped off at Dover before we embarked customs.
That was interesting. Nice. Thank you Scott.
Love your content. And this is another fantastic video. Please keep churning them out, I really look forward to them.
Great content scott I enjoy watching your videos of your travels
'Analysis Paralysis'??? Good word - I suffer from that - I study things in infinite detail, but never get round to doing it!
Thank you so much for this! I appreciate the video and wish you a safe trip
Love the long journey videos. They are inspirational.
An interesting journey and great trip report. Thank you for your great content.
You really put yourself through the ringer to show us these mad journeys! Its appreciated
this was so fun! i really enjoyed this video, thank you.
Scott Love all. Videos. Nice. One.mate.😀👍👍👍
Great video. I am having fun following the channel.
Really love all your vids. You bring a smile to my face 👍
Wow, how many delays and stops :D (and absolute chancers not giving compensation by lying about arrival time!) Another 'rather you than me' trip, but made for a really enjoyable video. I wonder if the missing pax was ever seen again...
Should be easy enough to prove the true length of the delay using mobile phone records/travel and geo apps...
I come to the comments section just to see if Steve Marsh has commented 😂
WordPerfect commentary and sense-of-humour!
Nice! 🙂
1:13 Why does it say "Abflüge" or "odloty" on the departure board? ;-)
(for context: in German, for example, the mode of transport matters: "Abflüge" means flight departures, "Abfahrten" would be land-based departures, the same in Polish, the correct term would be "odjazdy").
Google Translate I presume ;)
Great finally someone else noticed that! I don't think it's google translate, instead I think someone copied the words from a departure sign inside an airport.
Really enjoy the stuff that you do Scott, the “Everything” bit is made all the better by your sense of humour and determination to make something work
Another great vid Scott.
That’s quite a feat of endurance, well done for surviving!
Interesting video, I know this route and the company very well...regiojet basically started bus service revolution in Eastern Europe years ago. Just to clarify about speeding and police check - some speed cameras accross Europe flashes any big vehicle going over 80-85 km/h, but speed limit for buses is higher than for a lorry (bus speed limit in Germany is 100 km/h, lorry only 80 km/h, so buses don't get penalty even when been flashed)....needless to say, all these buses are speed limited to 100, so cannot go any faster on flat road. About police stop - it is very common in Germany to have foreign number plate buses been stopped (for routine driver check or passport control even in the middle of Germany)...sometime we were pulled by police in Germany twice (on 1 occasion even 3 times)...hope you enjoyed Prague
This route makes sense in that Regiojet operates trains from Prague that leave in the evening and reach the Poland-Ukraine border at 7am the next day.
You can also book your train ticket with Regiojet from Prague to Lviv and Kyiv so I imagine many people who came here in 2022 use this route to get to the train.
Even I enjoyed that journey sitting in my chair. Many thanks. The coach looks great and comfortable. Many thanks Scott.
In my youth, five of us went from Yorkshire to St Ives in Cornwall in a Morris Minor. That journey took 20 hours too. I would have preferred to have been in that bus!
another excellent video thanks for inviting us to share
Great video as always Scott. In 1983 at the age of 21 I went across the USA on a Greyhound Bus (over a two week period). I simply wouldn't be up for a journey of that type now but thanks for posting - it's fascinating to see the options that people have for travel.
Love this channel
Hello again Scot great video as alway's
Fabulous video... Well done 👏
Another good video, that is a long time to spend on a coach. Interesting journey that's for sure 😊
What a fantastic honest review. Well done, and thank you. I agree with the "analysis paralysis". Good term of phrase! For very many years I have put off booking trips and holidays then never going. Only in the last few years have I been hitting the "book now" button quicker. In the past I've always said "oh maybe next month" or similar, then never got round to it. Cheers. Vivian
Great vlog 👍 Beautiful job explaining the details. No more analysis paralysis in the future 😉 You're doing a great job 👍 Cheers from London ❤️ 💙 💜
Just a general observation, your videos are great, Scott. My partner and I thoroughly enjoy them.
Really interesting, well presented.
Great video!
Great trip
Good vid I’d never heard of regiojet. I love long coach journeys, surprisingly really as I’ve been a bus driver in the past for about 15 years
Top tip on long over night coach take nitrazepam, a picher of fine cognac, wet wipes and a warm wool blanket.
I've used the Regiojet buses and trains in central Europe, I quite like them. I'd probably prefer a multi-day trip to Prague, but for the 6 hour ride from Warsaw to Prague a few years ago they were alright. You should try Lux Express.
For the Regiojet train, they have a few different classes, the business class is pretty nice, but even in the lowest category you get a free water.
It was definitely one of the better appointed vehicles you've travelled in. Great seat pitch, the seat looked well padded and the whole ambience looked relaxed. I might just be daft enough to give it a go myself.
Well done Scott. you are made of sterner stuff than me.
!
If you get a chance, Regiojet's day trains are very good. I booked Prague to Bratislava for €33 in Business class (ticket purchased six weeks in advance) and had a great seat, plus a free alcoholic drink and a couple of snacks.
This video made me realize I'd rather take the train the entire way instead of being in a coach bus for 20 hours. Sure it might cost more than £72, but at least you can get up, move, and grab food/drink when you want to instead of just a random stop ten hours in.
Great journey
fantastic
Never would have expected to see Friedrichsthal on this channel. I live in Saarbrücken. It's a small world. You should "properly" visit Luxembourg if you ever get the chance. It's an interesting place. They can do a lot of things that other countries can't because they're so rich and their country is so small. The airport there is also pretty nice and has lots of interesting destinations.
Travelled by Regiojet train between Prague, Vienna and Budapest and they were excellent. Great value for money.
Excellent
The adventure is the journey ❤ fantastic video as always
Ps hair cut looks very snazzy 😊
nails is the best glad hes back
Well done! I'm not sure if I could mentally prepare myself for this journey but it seemed ok
This makes me to remember when I had a 20 hrs trip from Berlin to Kaunas, Lithuania, and in the end there late by almost 5 hrs, and not for the reasons you would expect
Love your bus episode please make more 😌🚌
Lol think about poor scott 😂
I used to travel with capital express many years ago and then later student agency to regio jet. I always try to travel with them because the price is amazing and going from London to Prague is a breeze once you clear calais customs. Never had a bad trip with them and I have just booked a ticket for early march to go. Great video.
Like Scott Nice video 👍👍😊
That's quick! I took the bus from Stockholm to Prague, took 23 hours.
Awesome video buddy from Alan in Lowestoft
If you really want a challenge, try a Greyhound Australia trip from Melbourne to Cairns. A 70-hour trip and while you cross three states, you don't leave the country. Alternatively, you could hire a car and drive the 2800km/1700-mile trip in 30 hours. Great video by the way.
Another great trip report. Bad reviews I find are normally relative.
Good video
You’re pretty ballsy doing these buses from hell
Rather you than me ... Great video x
Legend! xx
Definitely more eventful than my 6 hour bus journey through Victoria earlier this week (with about 6 people in the coach 🤭), but definitely a lot less scary than every greyhound journey I've seen people take in the us
Student Agency is the old name of RegioJet. Although it's now known as RegioJet for years, the corporate name for the coach services is still Student Agency.
Thanks for this great video.
13:29 and you look young.
Thank you for doing this, so we didn't have to. If the coach was quiet inside, it would be bearable - though I'd need more cigarette breaks than you had.
So, at your age you discovered you can do an 18 hour bus trip. This year my wife and I, along with my sister and brother in law, found we could
24 hour train trip from Brisbane to Cairns, sitting up. (didn't choose the sleeping pods) It used to be 30 hours, but the new tilt train really has
some grunt. However, we did determine that next time we go to north Queensland we'll fly. Lilian and I are in our mid seventies, and our
travelling companions just a few years older. Still love travelling but we are getting lower on stamina!
I have made this journey twice already, it's by far the best-value way of getting to continental Europe. 2:08: I recognise that guard.
Regiojet don't even use tickets in my experience, they just put you on the passenger manifest & allow you to travel if you have a passport that matches a name on the manifest.
When I went, it was booked to take 19½ hours, not 18 (still the case now, according to their website). It is booked to take 18 hours from London to Pilsen, so are you sure you didn't misread the timetable? When no-one has booked to Pilsen, they skip it, & this happened the first time I took the coach, resulting in our arrival 2 hours early at Hlavák.
Unfortunately, when I went on Regiojet, the coffee machine wasn't working. It had apparently been turned off due to covid restrictions.
Great video. Make a video about Luxembourg City please.
I just wanna say that something like 15 years ago, with two other friends I travelled from Santiago de Chile to Arica (still inside Chile) on a bus. It took us 28 hours and a half (about 1265 miles, a good part through the driest dessert in the world).
By the way, nice trip. Love this kind of things 😊😊
That sounds lovely!! I'm sure point to point around here could take a few days, imagine the southern tip of Brazil/Argentina/Chile to the Northern? And all in one country 😍. Although I think I'd rather go slowly up the coast 😅
Looked like a nice bus
"was the driver comparing prices?" 😂😂 lol. Anyway great video. Regiojet / Student Agency is very well known in Czech Republic, however I don't have any bad experience with them.
Btw the magazine name Žlutý means "yellow" in English, which is a reference to the company (and color of the bus).
Luxembourg is well worth spending some time in. You need to go back. Edit: Some of those short stops would have been driver swaps, because drivers hours rules.
Luxembourg, the most boring country in Europe, and I have been to virtually every country in Europe. The only goid thing is fuel is much cheaper than most of Europe
For historical context, Student Agency started back in the 90s as a, well, facilitator of student exchanges and au pair stays throughout Europe. Sending thousands of young people all over the world soon made it clear that there is unsatisfied demand for transportation, which is why Student Agency soon became the largest Czech seller of flights and bus tickets.
So great was the demand for inexpensive long-distance coaches that they ended up starting their own bus fleet around 2000. They stood out of the crowd by having new, comfortable buses with on-board staff. Some of that extra service got cut eventually, but the hard product is still very solid.
In 2010, Student Agency started RegioJet, their own train operator that later expanded into regional and long-distance rail service. Some years later, SA buses got rebranded as RegioJet for brand consistency of their transportation business.
Despite the unassuming name, the Student Agency group now includes personal and business travel, flights, package holidays, buses and trains, a chain of hotels and group holiday rentals. They used to own a taxi service in Prague, they do visas, insurance, airline claims and a bunch of other stuff, all on top of their original core business of study-abroad language courses and au pair stays.
I really appreciate the children's compartments in Regiojet trains - lots of space, toys and a TV (in Czech or Slovak) but it tends to be booked at least 3 weeks in advance...
I remember years ago, maybe 2012/2013 I took a trip from London to Amsterdam with eurolines. I should have gotten into Amsterdam at 8 am. and ended up getting in at 2pm
RegioJet started as Student Agency at 90'. They mediated exchange programms for students at first.
Great video Scott. How did you spend your time in Prague and how did you return? Is there a follow up video in that? Greetings from Mornington, Victoria 🇦🇺👍👍👍👍👍
Isn't it amazing that bus drivers around the world always look similar?
They do!
And in summer you can travel with regiojet train Prague to Split for 22 hours. I did it last year and I will do it this year too. Totally worth it.