Expert: Juan Carlos Valencia - 7/30/2008

Question
Juan,

i'm back with another question concerning travel through South America, heading from the North (probably Colombia) southbound to Brasil. what passenger bus/train lines do you know of for country to country travel? i'm not really looking for something that is set up for tourists, more of the equivalent of the Greyhound Bus Co we have in the US. which is the ground option for long distance travel here on the West Coast. do you have either names or web site addresses for bus/train companies for long distance travel throughout South America? if not, do you know of any available resources where i might find this kind of information? thank you kindly.

Ben from Northern California

Answer
Hey Ben,

we do not have international companies covering these long distances by land, you will have to rely on national bus companies in each country. There are many and some are fairly good, with optimum safety records and      wide schedules.

But you will have to adapt to what we think is comfortable travel conditions: that includes freezing air-conditioning, boring and loud Hollywood movies, big courtains covering the windows and blocking the most scenic views, etc  

:-)

Trains are not very much used throught South America, with the exception  of Ecuador where I have heard there are a few nice routes.

In Colombia, each big city has a central bus terminal where you can purchase tickets and compare offers from different companies. They are not very good at handling bookings online yet but they are trying. Check the following web sites:

http://bolivariano.com.co/

http://www.flotalamacarena.com/site/Default.aspx?alias=www.flotalamacarena.com/s...

http://www.velotax.com.co/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=79&I...

I hope that this helps!

Regards

JC