Continental

The main stations covered by Continental’s buses include:

• Campinas Bus Station
• Lagoa Formosa
• Monte Carmelo Boa Vista
• Sacramento
• Abadia dos Dourados
• Ribeirao Preto Bus Station
• Coromandel Centro
• Ibia
• Carmo do Paranaiba
• Rodoviaria Tiete
• Franca
• Sao Paulo Tiete Bus Station
• Araxa Bus Station
• Araxa
• Franca
• Paracatu
• Patos Minas Bus Station
• Carmo do Paranaiba
• Paracatu
• Sao Gotardo Bus Station
• Patrocinio Bus Stop
• Sao Gotardo

Continental buses ply a number of routes and here is the list of some of the most popular ones:

• Campinas - Araxa
• Araxa - Ribeirao Preto
• Sao Paulo - Araxa
• Araxa - Campinas
• Araxa - Sao Paulo
• Sao Paulo - Ibia
• Ribeirao Preto - Paracatu
• Coromandel MG - Ribeirao Preto
• Sao Paulo - Monte Carmelo MG
• Ribeirao Preto - Patrocinio
• Sao Paulo - Joao Pinheiro
• Campinas - Ibia
• Franca - Patrocinio
• Coromandel MG - Sao Paulo
• Sao Paulo - Patos de Minas
• Coromandel MG - Campinas
• Sao Paulo - Carmo do Paranaiba
• Ibia - Sao Paulo
• Lagoa Formosa - Sao Paulo
• Sao Paulo - Coromandel MG
• Sao Paulo - Sao Gotardo
• Ibia - Campinas
• Carmo do Paranaiba - Sao Paulo
• Campinas - Patrocinio
• Campinas - Lagoa Formosa
• Campinas - Sao Gotardo
• Paracatu - Ribeirao Preto
• Sao Gotardo - Campinas
• Ribeirao Preto - Patos de Minas
• Patos de Minas - Sao Paulo
• Franca - Monte Carmelo MG
• Abadia dos Dourados - Campinas
• Patrocinio - Ribeirao Preto
• Monte Carmelo MG - Ribeirao Preto
• Ribeirao Preto - Joao Pinheiro
• Abadia dos Dourados - Sao Paulo
• Patos de Minas - Campinas
• Sao Gotardo - Sao Paulo
• Campinas - Coromandel MG
• Monte Carmelo MG - Campinas
• Abadia dos Dourados - Ribeirao Preto
• Patrocinio - Campinas
• Monte Carmelo MG - Sao Paulo
• Sao Paulo - Patrocinio
• Sacramento Minas Gerais - Campinas
• Franca - Patos de Minas
• Ribeirao Preto - Monte Carmelo MG
• Patos de Minas - Ribeirao Preto
• Paracatu - Sao Paulo
• Sao Paulo - Paracatu
• Sao Paulo - Lagoa Formosa
• Franca - Araxa
• Paracatu - Franca
• Patrocinio - Franca
• Ribeirao Preto - Coromandel MG
• Araxa - Franca
• Campinas - Carmo do Paranaiba
• Campinas - Sacramento Minas Gerais
• Ribeirao Preto - Araxa
• Patos de Minas - Franca
• Campinas - Patos de Minas

One of the best things about bus travel is that you can almost tailor-make your trip adjusting it to your requirements for privacy and comfort. Different classes and types of buses cater to the different needs of travellers. The cheapest trips are normally offered by standard-class buses. They may be called local, express or ordinary. These are a good choice for shorter trips. Sleepers or VIP coaches are good both for longer and overnight trips. They may offer berths or wide soft reclining seats, sometimes with built-in massage options, blankets, soft drinks, and snacks, or more substantial meals on board or during toilet or refuelling stops. Travelling by night buses allows you to save on a hotel room, but to ensure the most comfortable ride do choose the class of your bus wisely. Prices always depend on the distance you ride and the type of coach. For some, even shorter trips, it is worth investing some extra money and buying a seat on a VIP bus as it can save you twice as much time as you spend travelling by an ordinary bus.

Pros of Bus Travel

• Bus is the best choice to get to destinations that are not connected by rail or planes. The network of buses often covers almost the whole country, and their routes are well and long-established.
• Opposite to air travel and sometimes rail travel, taking a bus does not require arriving at the bus station much in advance. Check-in, even on international routes, does not take much time. Luggage allowances are usually very traveller-friendly, and the fee for extra luggage, if limits are set, is normally not very high.
• Bus tickets can be more affordable compared to air or fast train tickets. There is always a choice of ticket classes for all pockets. Cheaper standard options may be a bit slow and do not offer top comfort, but anyway acceptable and bring you to your destination. On longer routes, toilets or toilet stops as well as snacks, water, and sometimes toiletries and blankets are almost always included in the price.
• If you are ready to spend more, some VIP coaches offer seating comparable to business class on a plane with wide soft reclining seats, blankets, fewer passengers, and many other perks to make your trip a pleasant journey.

Cons of Bus Travel

• Newer intercity bus terminals are very often located out of the city close to bigger highways to allow buses to avoid city congestion. Unfortunately, it may create extra challenges for travellers, too. Getting to such a terminal may be a problem as in some destinations there are restrictions on vehicles allowed to enter the terminal, and you will have to use special carriers to get there. This results in higher costs as prices may be inflated. Also do calculate extra time if you are travelling during rush hours, especially if you are not familiar with the traffic situation at your starting point.
• Buses are probably the means of transport which runs out of schedule more often than trains or planes. They are heavily dependent on the road situation which sometimes can be unpredictable – accidents, road construction works, detours, etc. This is especially true for travels during weekends, high season, or national holidays. Do keep this in mind and do not plan tight connections.
• Travelling on certain routes or during the most popular periods may require advanced booking. Bear in mind that it is not always possible to show up at the bus station and hop on the next bus – tickets may well be all sold out, so organize your trip accordingly.