Cheap Travel on Megabus from Munich, Stuttgart, Frankfurt and Cologne

Megabus

(Note: During 2016, all German Postbus and continental European Megabus routes were taken over and are bookable via Flixbus.)

Megabus offers budget travelers very cheap discount bus tickets for traveling from Munich, Stuttgart, Frankfurt or Cologne in Germany to other European cities such as Brussels, Amsterdam, Paris and London. Intercity, long-distance bus travel is still increasing in popularity in Germany and strong price competition means Munich to Stuttgart can be as cheap as €1 on Megabus vs. €57 full price on the train. Coaches may not be the most comfortable or fastest way to travel but the prices are hard to beat and free wifi is commonly available on board.

Cheap Megabus Tickets in Germany

Megabus surprised the German travel market by entering the hotly contested long-distance, inter-city bus market at the end of 2014 at a time when other major coach companies were exiting. City2City (connected to British coach giant National Express) withdrew from Germany in October 2014, while the ADAC has also announced its departure, although its partner – the German post office – is planning to extend the network of the Postbus.

The first Megabus bus line in Germany will connect Munich with Cologne via Stuttgart and Frankfurt. From Cologne, travelers can connect to various other Megabus destinations including Brussels, Amsterdam, Antwerpen, Rotterdam, Paris, London and a large number of British cities.

Currently, two buses run daily on the Munich to Cologne route – one daytime and one overnight service. Buses stop en route in Stuttgart and Frankfurt.

Cheapest Deal on Megabus Tickets in Germany

Megabus is famous for low fares and deals as cheap as €1 for travel from Munich to Stuttgart are currently easily available. Even when booking several weeks ahead the fare only increases to €3 or €4. Although the just over three hour traveling time is almost an hour slower than the train, the biggest hurdle is that only two Megabus coaches will make the connection per day rather than the two trains per hour. However, if the times are suitable, the savings can be enormous – a full-fare train ticket is over €50 and the biggest discounts will not bring it even close to the bus fare.

Even more spectacular are the €5 fares for the almost 10-hour journey from Munich to Cologne. This is more than double the time required by Intercity-Express (ICE) trains but here the standard German Railways fare is €142. Other long-distance bus companies charge around €40 to €60 for the same journey.

Megabus Bus Stops in Germany

Megabus uses the following bus stops in German cities:

  • Munich – ZOB Central Bus Station at Hackerbrücke S-Bahn station, or around 700 m walk to the west of the München Hauptbahnhof main train station.
  • Stuttgart – ZOB at Obertürkheim Bahnhof, from here use S-Bahn train S1 to Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof – 12 minutes, several times per hour.
  • Frankfurt am Main – from Mannheimer Straße directly at the south exit of the Hauptbahnhof main train sation.
  • Cologne – from Gummersbacher Straße near the Lanxess Arena and Köln-Deutz train station on the right bank of the Rhine. i.e. on the opposite side from the cathedral and main train station.

Megabus tickets are sold directly online from Megabus. While Megabus is usually the cheapest coach available, Flixbus often has very good special deals too. Flixbus (Mein Fernbus was dropped from the name) is the biggest operator with the highest number of journeys. Blablacar is a further alternative where seats are offered on private cars (fully insured) but rides are often only advertised a few days prior to departure.

(Note: During 2016, all German Postbus and continental European Megabus routes were taken over and are bookable via Flixbus.)

Henk Bekker in armor

About the author:

Henk Bekker

Henk Bekker is a freelance travel writer with over 20 years of experience writing online. He is particularly interested in history, art, and culture. He has lived most of his adult life in Germany, Switzerland, and Denmark. In addition to European-Traveler.com, he also owns a travel website on the Lake Geneva region of Switzerland and maintains statistical websites on car sales and classic car auction prices. Henk holds an MBA from Edinburgh Business School and an MSc in Development Finance from the University of London.