Oct 5, 2007
There's now a website for counter-culture bus tours designed for adventurers of all ages
When it comes to touring the world by escorted bus, I'm not aware of any company other than Green Tortoise, of San Francisco, that actually places bunks aboard its buses and brings down your travel costs in that manner. I wrote about Green Tortoise (operating mainly in the United States) in a July post.But a number of bus companies in England, Scotland, Ireland, and Western Europe, claim to offer exceptionally cheap, "counter-culture" bus tours designed for youthful types. They earn that title by making use of van-like vehicles, young tour leaders, and guesthouse accommodations for overnight lodgings on fixed itineraries; or by offering "hop on, hop off" patterns that let you tour at your own pace, stopping to inspect areas that most interest you, and then re-board the next day's bus.
The most popular services in the British Isles, Europe, and North Africa are
now all gathered together in one site at Radical Travel (www.radicaltravel.com). It represents, for instance, the famous Shamrocker Adventures (www.shamrockeradventures.com) of Ireland, and Haggis Adventures (www.haggisadventures.com) covering Scotland, England and Wales. Radical Travel also links directly to the Europe-wide service Busabout (www.busabout.com), which offers both "Busabout Adventures" of set itineraries in Spain, Italy, Greece, Croatia, Morocco, and Egypt as well as the "Busabout Explorer" hop-on/hop-off service. This is a pass valid for the entire operating season (May to October) on your choice of a series of loops covering Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, the Czech Republic, and Austria.
The hop-on/hop-off cheap bus model has spread to many other English-speaking countries popular among backpackers. The hop-on/hop-off bus service in Australia is called the Oz Experience (www.ozexperience.com); in New Zealand you're looking for the Kiwi Experience (www.kiwiexperience.com); and in South Africa it's the Baz Bus (www.bazbus.com). All are exceptional opportunities for the right kind of traveler.
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Fifty years ago, 
Arthur Frommer is generally acknowledged to be the nation's foremost travel authority. He is the founder of the
