Greyhound Canada Greyhound USA: Planning an itinerary, using schedules

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Greyhound Bus Travel, Canada - USA
Plan an itinerary: Using bus schedules

On the Greyhound sites, you easily find departure and arrival times, but on-line access to connection points, the route taken (which determines the scenery you see), or the number of stops (which can be especially important at night when you are trying to sleep) can be more awkward than just looking at a timetable, especially if you want to compare various choices.

Why is this so important? Here is an example. These times are outdated, but they illustrate the point.

Let's suppose that you are travelling from Chicago to Las Vegas. The Greyhound Internet site tells you that departures are at 1:00 a.m., 2:00 a.m., 9:45 a.m., 12:01 Noon, 12:01 Noon (a second departure at same time), 2:45 p.m., 4:45 p.m., 7:00 p.m., and 10:15 p.m.

Here is a summary of what you would experience with these choices.

The 1:00 a.m. departure involves a convenient connection in Salt Lake City, but misses the best part of the Rocky Mountains and crossing the Mississippi River during daylight.
The 2:00 a.m. coach needs no connection, but misses seeing the Rockies during daylight.
The 9:45 a.m. coach travels through to Las Vegas, but goes through some of the beautiful Rockies at night. However, it stops the least of any of these choices.
The first 12:01 Noon bus has a convenient connection in Salt Lake City and sees the Mississippi River, but misses the most scenic portion of the Rockies altogether.
The second 12:01 Noon departure needs no connection, sees the Mississippi during daylight,and spends a full day travelling through the most scenic portion of the Colorado Rockies. Its late evening arrival in Las Vegas shows the neon lighted city at its best.

This is why it is so important to compare Greyhound times to maps. Just knowing the times that you leave your first city and arrive at your ultimate destination is not sufficient if you are serious about maximizing the enjoyment of your trip.

Because Greyhound is vigorously eliminating unprofitable routes, please reconfirm your itinerary prior to travelling. Some routes are now served by the partner carriers. Others like service along the Oregon coastline are gone.

Go To >> Greyhound - Travelling scenic coach routes

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