How Reliable is FlixBus? My Honest Flixbus Review

Mr Plane Guy
Aug 24, 2024
5 min read

Updated: Oct 25

How Reliable is FlixBus? My Honest Flixbus Review

By Honest Travel Blogger Mr Plane Guy

Flixbus the European low cost coach company with bus journeys you can choose from France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Czech Republic, Hungary, Croatia and many more countries!

Whether you're planning a weekend getaway or a longer holiday, Flixbus offers an affordable way to explore Europe's diverse landscapes and cultures. With numerous daily departures and flexible booking options. Now I sound like I'm trying to flog it, I'm not I'm just introducing who and what Flixbus are in case you haven't heard of them. I am in no way affiliated with them!

(2025 update, I am now, we made friends)

Discover the romantic streets of Paris, the historic canals of Amsterdam, the breathtaking Swiss Alps, or the picturesque vineyards of Croydon. Each destination offers its own unique charm and Flixbus could (if they were in any way shape or form reliable) make it easy to see them all.

*the romantic streets of Paris

How Reliable is FlixBus? So here is my honest Flixbus Review.

FlixBus has become a go-to option for budget-conscious travellers. Their is no doubting the affordability of FlixBus tickets, which often come at a fraction of the cost of train or plane fares. This makes it an attractive choice for students, backpackers, prozzies, criminals, vagabonds and anyone looking to save on travel expenses.

My Honest Review of Flixbus

As an experienced traveller who has travelled countless miles across various modes of transportation. I thought I would give Flixbus a try and see How Reliable is FlixBus? So here is my honest Flixbus Review.

How reliable is FlixBus?

Well see below I can't really answer that, 50% reliability statistically for me.

How is it travelling with FlixBus?

Smelly, bearable for 1 hour, cheap but risky.

Can you go to toilet on FlixBus?

Yes but ugh the stench, take anti bac, wipes, roll. Make use of the toilet stops. Be nil by mouth.

What is the legroom like on Flixbus?

Pretty standard coach travel.

Flixbus Journey Lille to Brugge, Travel Time 1 hour.

This was a full coach to the rafters and I paid around €12.

Picture it, beret on mon tete a full french baguette in hand, I boarded the Flixbus and the stench hit me! It was 'Je ne sais qua' their was absoloutly no air on this bus like none, it was clear this bus had just been on a long leg, I think it had just arrived from Paris.

I found my seat but the lady on the next to it was fast asleep sprawled out across both seats. I started off gently nudging her, but to no avail I had to ramp it up, took her a few minutes to come round she was clearly in a deep sleep and I gave her 'daggers' (*harsh gay stare not literally knives.)

Hey at 12 Euros and for 1 hour all good, arrived in Brugge on time and to quote one of many trolls on my Flixbus Instagram post "you got what you paid for muppet" yes I did.

Now this journey may have put oneself in a slight bad mood as I then had a bad day in Brugge, here is a link to ...........

My Unforgettable Encounter with Bruges, 5 reasons why I hated Bruges.

*literally laughing as I type this thinking what a moody blogger LOL

Yes so not a great day in Brugge, but honestly I do love Belgium here is my post on Brussels, check it out its rather tres bien, if I do say so myself.

The Ultimate Guide to 24 hours in Brussels: Everything You Need to Know

Click Here

The link to Ghent Blog post, when I get round to doing it will be here.

The Return FlixBus Ride

Brugges to Lille

Now this is where things went wrong.........

My bus was scheduled for 5:30pm I waited at the bus stop from 5:15, 5:30 came and went, then 6pm, then 6:15........

Flixbus do have an app and the app said it was running 10 minutes late, perhaps it's dyselxic? Then at 6:30 a bus appeared, a bus dropping people off. Around 50-100 fellow Flixbus travellers jumped on the driver and asked "is this our bus to Lille?" to which he replied "NON".

Then at 6:30 ish an email appeared to say the bus was now cancelled and that I had been transferred onto the next bus 12 hours later at 06:30 AM!

Bus Travel Essentials

Check out my Amazon store front for more travel recommendations........click the link if you order anything I get a tiny bit of commission which goes towards my next £9.99 Easyjet flight thankyou x

So here I was in the middle of Belgium and my hotel is in Lille France. I took a walk to the train station and voila my battery on my phone packed in! Now I was smart enough to take a power bank with me but not quite smart enough to take a USB cable!

Now I would have to somehow raw dog it through Belgium to France, oh yes and I forgot to take my passport. You couldn't make this shit up! Now I do recall part of the reason I opted for the bus was that I noticed this route by train would take approximately 17 days or something like that, but suddenly left with no choice and GCSE French grade C off I departu pour le gare.

Well to be fair it wasn't so bad 3 hours and just one change in somewhere off the coast of Dunkirk, I made it back.

So in answer to the many trolls who said "you get what you pay for muppet" well thats just it I didn't, the bus cancelled an hour after it was due to depart. So I can't really review it. Operationally it didn't operate they cancelled, no explanation. No refund.

Well I hope you have had better luck with Flixbus? Do let me know in the comments........

Here is a little TikTok I created, its very dramatic, don't forget to follow

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