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Warning: My 'cheap' overnight bus from Rome to Paris left me stranded at 4am
So I booked this overnight Flixbus for 25 euros thinking I was a genius... save on a hostel night and travel at the same time, right? We pulled into some random industrial park outside Paris, not the main station, at like 4 in the morning. It was pitch black, freezing, and the driver just pointed at a map and said 'city center that way'. No taxis, no open metro, nothing. I had to walk for an hour with my backpack just to find a cafe that was open. Now I will never, ever book an overnight trip without triple-checking the exact drop-off location and the public transport schedule for that time. Has anyone else gotten totally screwed by a bus company's 'city center' being a warehouse district?
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daniel5112mo ago
My first Flixbus into Berlin dropped me at what looked like a truck stop at 5am. I spent forty minutes just trying to figure out which way was north, convinced I was in a different country. The real genius move was booking the return trip before learning that lesson. Now I check the street view of the stop like I'm planning a bank heist.
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xenar141mo ago
Oh jeez, that's rough. You basically paid 25 euros for a free workout and a tour of a creepy warehouse district at 4am. Sounds like a real steal. I swear these bus companies think "city center" means "somewhere in the same time zone as the city center." I had a similar thing happen with a Flixbus into Milan, dumped me at a gas station next to a highway, and the driver just shrugged. Now I treat booking a bus like I'm planning a military operation - I Google Street View the stop, check the nearest 24 hour McDonald's, and pack a sweater thick enough to double as a blanket if I end up sleeping on a bench. Honestly, the real scam is that they get away with calling it a "bus station" when it's really just a pothole with a sign.
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