AMini Convertible. A fortnight at a five-star hotel in the Maldives. A season ticket at a Premier League club for the next decade or two. These are some of the things that you could buy with £22,000.
But now there’s another way you could spend the cash: on a 56-day coach trip from Istanbul to London.
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Bus to London is run by Adventures Overland, an India-based expedition company specialising in road trips. Departing in August 2023, the route takes in 22 countries, crosses five time zones and spans 7,456 miles.
Setting off from Istanbul, the route focuses on the eastern and northerly corners of Europe, stopping off at Sofia, Bratislava, Zagreb and Ljubljana before heading up through Poland and the Baltic States. From Estonia, a short ferry across the Gulf of Finland begins a lap of Scandinavia via the Arctic Circle.
“Every single route in each country has been vetted to ensure that the journey is seamless, so participants on Bus to London can get on board with the knowledge and confidence that they are in safe hands,” says co-founder of Adventures Overland, Tushar Agarwal. “Providing a niche and classy experience in a secure environment is our top priority.”
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Agarwal and his co-founder, Sanjar Madan, have plenty of experience on the road. They featured on the Discovery Science and Turbo channel with their documentary, The Great Indian World Trip. Other trips on their books include a nine-night tour of South Africa, a seven-night Kenya safari and – slightly more niche – the eight-night Kyrgyzstan Summer Drive.
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The Bus to London claims to be the “longest and most epic journey in the world”, but Alex Bescoby has something to say about that. The British adventure journalist recently travelled 12,000 miles from Singapore to London in a Land Rover, completing the return leg of a 1955 race between Oxford and Cambridge universities. His documentary, The Last Overland, is airing on Channel 4 and the trip is chronicled in a new book. You don’t have to pay through the nose to experience the joys of overland travel, he says.
“You’re travelling via the back door, at your own speed, to the places in between. That’s where the real magic of travel happens,” says Bescoby.
“It’s also about as democratic as travel can be. You don’t need to be blessed with a fortune, or to go through expensive intermediaries – you just jump in your car and follow the road to wherever you’d like it to take you. Why anyone would fly to Western Europe is beyond me. The journey is the joy.”
The Bus to London package offers a different type of experience to Bescoby’s expedition, of course, in that it cuts out all of the administration: “A lot of permits, paperwork, documentation and dealing with local government bodies is required,” says Agarwal.
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Bus to London also promises luxury. But how high-end can a coach tour really get? The bus will have all the mod-cons you would expect – air-con, USB ports, Wi-Fi, reclining seats, a lavatory – but passengers will also have personal entertainment screens and an allowance of two large suitcases.
“Accommodation will be high standard and include luxury five-star hotels, boutique properties and also offer meals in sought-after restaurants,” says Tushar Agarwal. In each city there will be a private tour, with entry to most sites of interest included in the price.
Picking apart the itinerary, the variety is the chief appeal. What other single tour can promise the chance to experience Istanbul bazaars, some of Europe’s finest capitals like Prague and Riga, Norwegian fjords and (possibly) the Northern Lights?
But there are some notable omissions in the itinerary. The route skips Italy entirely, Spain is off the map, and the bulk of France and Greece are left out.
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“The idea was to cover those parts of Europe that are off the beaten path and provide a lot of diversity in terms of culture, food, history and landscapes,” says Agarwal, who adds that the omitted countries may be considered for future Bus to London itineraries.
Whether it is your idea of a heavenly way to spend 56 days and £22,000 or not, they’re clearly doing something right. Half of the 30 seats have been filled, and Agarwal says they have received hundreds of enquiries.
“We are confident that all seats will be sold out in a couple of weeks,” he says.
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How to do it
Adventures Overland has availability for its August 2023 Bus to London expedition, departing on August 7 and arriving in London on October 1. The trip costs INR2 million / $US25,000 (£22,000) per person, based on a twin room sharing. The trip capacity is 30 participants.
