The Baltic states are made up of three countries by the Baltic sea: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. They are located side by side and with no border checks, it is very easy to cross over from one country to the next.
Another attractive point for tourists is that they are very much affordable in terms of accomodation, food and sightseeing, compared to other european countries.
After some online research, I came cross the some long distance coaches in this part of the world, with lux express having more favorable views. Tickets are easy to book on their website, affordable and timings are favorable, so I decided to book them on 3 sectors: Tallinn -> Riga, Riga -> Vilnius and vilnius -> Warsaw, with the last sector as an overnight option, thus saving us a night's accomodation.
In this review, instead of doing sector by sector review, I shall do cover all three sectors together, as the experiences are more or less similar.
After a cheap uber ride, we reached Tallinn bus station from the Metropole hotel. It can be reached by tram as well, but I thought to minimise the hassle of lugging our luggage on the tram and the uber ride is cheaper than riding on the tram for all of us combined.
The Bussijaam is a modern bus terminal with enclosed eateries and seating areas for waiting passengers. There are TV screens showing the departure platforms of the various long distance coaches. All the platforms are easily visible from the waiting area.
On board the lux express. Similar, but definitely better than an economy plane seat. Legroom is better. There is a tray, cup holder, leg rest. Best of all, an IFE with limited by sufficient movies, tv shows and other entertainment options. Just remember to bring your own earpiece or headsets. The seats and recline are way better than on the plane.
Free hot beverages from the dispensing machine near the in-coach toilet. I didn't use the toilet, but its similar to an airplane toilet. As the bus ride is definitely bumpier than an airplane ride, using it while the coach is moving may be a challenge at times.
I like the paper cup design !
In-coach literature
The Riga bus station is located beside a beautiful river. On a clear morning, the sunrise makes for a great photo while waiting for the coach. It is less modern, but less seating area but still enclosed to keep warm from the cold winter day.
In my opinion, the Vilnius bus station is much less attractive compared to Tallinn and Riga. Firstly, the building is old and though is theoretically fully enclosed, the cold air still came in. The waiting area is confined to rows of seats near the ticket counter. In the cold, dark winter night, it can be uncomfortable.
Unfortunately, lux express departs for Warsaw at ~2300. This means a long waiting time in the bus terminal. Almost all eateries and shops are closed and there are no amenities in the immediate vicinity. The town centre is a good ~20 minute walk away. It doesn't help that in winter the sun sets by 1700. As we are unsure of safety outside the station in the dark, we just wait for hours in the bus station.
This is something I will consider if I ever book an overnight coach again.
This is the only sector where the lux express coach is slightly late.
In conclusion, I definitely recommend using lux express coaches to get around the Baltic states and Poland. With great punctuality, city centre connections, overnight options, comfortable seats and affordable tickets, it certainly beats travelling by air.
By plane, you need to reach the airport early and the airports are usually located far away from the city centre, so additional transport expenses and duration are required.
In my next post, I shall review my experiences with leo express coach and do a comparison between lux express and leo express coaches.
