Green Tortoise-like but on the East Coast?

January 11, 2008 5:17 AM

Is there anything like Green Tortoise that has East Coast and/or Eastern Canada trips?

By "like" GT, I mean you sleep in beds on the bus as it drives overnight, then you wake up at your next destination in the morning and can explore all day. I've found many bus-trip companies that are not like that (you sleep in motels) -- and I know I could assemble a quasi-GT trip (more expensively!) with individual overnight Greyhound legs. I just wanted to make sure I'm not missing any real GT-equivalents.

(GT has only one east coast route, three trips a year from NYC to New Orleans, and even that isn't a sure thing... I booked one of those last year, then it got cancelled because not enough people were booked! They were fast & nice with the refund, though, and I probably will try booking it again this year.)

I know GT does 14-day trips from one coast to the other, but I couldn't be away from regular work for that long -- and those trips also would cost more since I'd have to fly either to or from the west coast.

posted by lorimer to travel & transportation (9 comments total)

(I should also mention budget is a big concern. The closest East Coast equivalent I've found, Contiki [a sleep-in-motels bus trip company] is crazy expensive compared to GT for similar trip lengths -- so much more expensive that in many cases it would cost less to just fly from & to SF and do the equivalent GT trip.)
posted by lorimer at 5:30 AM on January 11

So, uh, not really sleep-on-the-bus or exactly the right region, but Megabus is, booked early enough, as little as $1 per trip, and is only online-bookable, which keeps the shadiness of buses down. I've taken them in the UK and in the US and have been immensely pleased each time.

They're LA and Chicago based - networks radiate out from those points - but who knows, might be helpful depending on your definition of "East Coast" so I'll throw it out there.
posted by mdonley at 5:46 AM on January 11

Where exactly are you trying to travel? Greyhound on its own, especially purchased at least 14 days in advance, is very very cheap (and I believe you may even be able to just buy a "ticket" without having to specify the exact date, although don't hold me on this). It sounds like the big expense would be overnight lodging?

In that case, I would recommend Couch Surfing which gives you a place to stay and some hip locals to stay with. This way, not only are you cutting down on expenses, you're also given the opportunity to meet other people as you travel and (hopefully) get a local introduction to the town.

I would also recommend not doing a trip where you're constantly going from place to place. I always have a richer traveling experience when I give each town I'm traveling to a nice amount of time.
posted by Deathalicious at 5:50 AM on January 11 [1 favorite]

Good question -- what I'm looking for is the adventure travel experience where the bus takes you to a lot of natural and hiking areas. The point of the NYC to New Orleans trip is that on the way you are out in the woods in North Carolina as well as in the cities.

I want to be out in nature, ideally with a bunch of other people, rather than staying in cities or towns. It looks like this would get expensive with Greyhound + other public transportation because often there's not public transportation to all the hiking areas, plus I wouldn't know the areas so I would have to do a lot of research, bring a tent & gear, camp by myself, etc.
posted by lorimer at 6:03 AM on January 11

Okay, that makes a lot more sense.

What I would do is see if you can find a group of like minded people wherever you're living and arrange a group trip, renting a caravan. The only drawback to this is if it turns out you hate each other you are stuck in the middle of Nowheresville, VA with people you loathe. Although I suppose there's the same danger on the Green Tortoise tours, sort of.

Another option is the Appalachian Trail. It is basically the thing on the East coast. There are probably a lot of resources out there on how you can travel the Trail on the cheap, and that might be worth researching. Best of all, the trail is designed to occasionally pass through towns, so you can probably get bus transportation to one of these towns, hike to the next town on the trail, and then take a bus back home.

It would mean getting camping equipment but if you love nature it's a good long term investment.
posted by Deathalicious at 6:37 AM on January 11

Oh, and obviously if you don't dig camping alone there are lots and lots of hikers on the trail. I would be very surprised if there wasn't some website somewhere where you can arrange to travel with other people.
posted by Deathalicious at 6:38 AM on January 11

SunTrek and TrekAmerica. Not the same (no bus) but a similar vibe. Small vans, you sleep in tents, and there's lots of hiking and such. Tons of foreigners, particular Australians, Germans, and English. In fact, they're pretty shocked when Americans take the trips. Great fun, if you don't mind tents. I've taken trips on both companies, though not in the East, and I really enjoyed it.

Also, and this is not answering the question at all, there's Adventure Bus. Not East Coast, but you might be interested.
posted by smackfu at 6:38 AM on January 11 [2 favorites]

To the best of my knowledge -- as a pretty well-travelled person who likes this sort of thing -- there totally is not. I used to take the GT from Seattle to SFO and that bed-in-the-bus thing was really something unique.
posted by jessamyn at 9:01 AM on January 11

I took a trip with TrekAmerica, under their "Footloose" banner (see www.footloose.com). I took one of their walking trips, starting and finishing in New York, and going all the way up to Maine (I think it was this trip). We camped in national, state and commercial camping grounds, and would do day hikes. We all had to help with the grocery shopping and cooking, loading up the van etc. Mix of Europeans, Brits and one American. If you can arrange to book at the last minute, there are often good discounts (but as long as there is space left!).
posted by AnnaRat at 8:08 PM on January 11