Where to Find Travel by Bus, Train, and Boat

Every year, without fail, the US experiences at least one major disruption in air travel due to severe weather , government shutdowns , software outages , or power outages —you name it.

Right now, a partial government shutdown has meant that thousands of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers have not been paid for several weeks, causing many to call out of work or quit .

That has meant long security lines—more than three-hour waits—ensuing chaos at airports around the country.

It's unclear how long this mess will last, so it's worth thinking about other options.

Flights are also expensive and hard on the environment.

If you can take a bus, train, or ferry to your destination, why shouldn't you?

These travel search apps help you find routes and prices so you can compare them and make the best decision.

In the US and Canada, Wanderu is my go-to search aggregator for travel by bus or train (it works in Europe and the UK, too).

Wanderu is your classic travel aggregator, looking up the schedules and prices across several bus and train operators, including Amtrak, BestBus, Flixbus, Greyhound, OurBus, Peter Pan, RedCoach, Vamoose, and others.

If you aren't sure whether you want to travel by land or air, head to Omio .

Type in your departure point, destination, and the date you want to travel, and Omio finds routes by plane, bus, and train.

A concise summary at the top of the search results tells you the lowest fare and how long it will take for each mode of transportation, so you can make an informed decision quickly.

Omio also shows whether the fare will be higher or lower if you travel on a different day of the same week, in case your dates are flexible.

Rome2Rio compares prices and times for travel by bus, train, flight, and driving yourself, based on estimated fuel costs.

It works reasonably well for trips in the US and Canada.

Rome2Rio touts itself as being for worldwide travel, though Europe and the UK seem to be its sweet spot.

Elsewhere, take the approach of "trust, but verify," and this app will take you places.

Virail is similar to Omio, comparing travel options by train, bus, and flight, with a neat summary of prices at the top of the search results, although it lacks the total travel time.

For that, you have to scroll through the results.

To book a ticket, Virail sends you to other websites, and you might have to do additional legwork to reserve your seat.

It works reasonably well in the US and Canada (in testing, it got a little tripped up in Mexico), and does well for travel in Europe and the UK.