Why is coach travel the safest and greenest way to travel

Recently updated on June 23rd, 2025 at 11:50 am

Planning your next travel adventure? You’ve probably chosen your destination, your activities, or even your packing list… But have you thought about how to get around? From cars and trains to planes, boats and buses, you’ve got plenty of options. So what’s the safest and most responsible way to go? Trafalgar’s custom luxury coaches are not only super comfortable, spacious and reliable – they’re also the best way to travel, for you and the planet. Read on to find out why you should choose a guided coach travel experience on your next trip.

Is coach travel safe?

Coach travel is statistically one of the safest way to travel on the roads. Those professional drivers are doing more than just alleviating your stress – they’re keeping you safer on the roads. With coach travel, you can have peace of mind knowing your experienced driver knows the roads, is driving a well-maintained vehicle, and by law, is engaging in regular training and health checks to ensure they are safe and fit to drive.

Sanitised coaches

We’ve always sanitised our custom luxury coaches before the start of your trip. Now, our coach hygiene practices are even stricter, following guidelines from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and government regulations. We’ve trained our drivers on the latest hygiene protocols and they clean and disinfect the coaches every day. That includes all surfaces in the coach, like seats, handrails, door handles, tables, overhead lockers and air-conditioning filters.

Along with keeping our coaches sanitised, we also have sanitiser freely available onboard all our coaches for guests to use. While we ask that you bring your own hygiene products, we also have our own available for guests on all trips.

Expertly trained drivers and Travel Directors

All our drivers and Travel Directors are highly trained in our strict hygienic travel and physical distancing procedures. You’ll see them advising and ensuring that high standards of hygiene are maintained during your trip. We’ve also trained our teams to follow procedures if any unexpected situations arise.

Is coach travel green and responsible?

Coach travel isn’t just better for you – it’s also better for the environment. As the effects of climate change continue to impact our lives, more people are considering environmentally friendly travel. We know that increasing greenhouse gas emissions are linked to climate change and that transport like aeroplanes and cars have a large carbon footprint.

So what is the most eco-friendly way to travel and reduce your carbon footprint? The answer is guided coach tours; where a larger group of people travel on one greener vehicle, as opposed to many vehicles. The average coach journey produces 0.04 tonnes per 1,000 miles, compared to the average car which would produce 0.29 tonnes of CO2 per 1,000 miles. Travelling with a group coach tour can also be greener than trains when travelling domestically, as national rail services create 0.07 tonnes of CO2 per 1,000 miles per passenger.

Trafalgar’s commitment to low-emission coaches

This all means that the most eco-friendly way to travel is by coach. And it gets even greener when you travel on Trafalgar’s guided coach tours, as we’re investing in low-emission coaches as part of our commitment to the five-year How We Tread Right (HWTR) sustainability strategy. The strategy was developed by our parent company, The Travel Corporation, and is dedicated to leaving a positive impact on the planet, people and wildlife through 11 goals that are tied to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The 11 goals relate to issues such as climate change, sustainable food production, responsible consumption, overtourism, diversity and inclusion, and animal welfare.

We’re already taking action on these goals, including Goal 1 – to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 or sooner. As part of this goal, Trafalgar is committed to offsetting all business travel by 2022. And as part of the UN Climate Neutral Now Initiative, Trafalgar is also working to achieve carbon neutrality across all trips by 2030 or earlier. We’re also no longer selling plastic water bottles on Trafalgar coaches in North America and Europe and aiming to be completely single-use plastic-free by 2022.

Our guided coach tours are not only safer for you, but they’re also the most environmentally responsible way to travel. So next time you’re planning a trip, do yourself and the planet a favour and go by coach with Trafalgar.

3 other benefits of coach travel:

You don’t have to fork out for fuel

With skyrocketing fuel prices, the humble road trip has become one of the more expensive holiday options. So can you how satisfy your wanderlust without breaking the bank? Coach travel. Forget hunting down the cheapest fuel prices and stressing about budgets. When you travel by coach, you can kick back and relax, knowing that all those annoying travel costs (fuel, tolls, taxes, parking, insurance, registration, maintenance fees… ) are included in the cost of your tour. You just have to make one single easy payment and it’s all taken care of. There are no hidden extras, plus you share all those extra fees and taxes between you and the other passengers onboard. Now that’s economical.

With coach travel, you can enjoy the scenery

Soaking up the scenery is one of the best parts of a road trip… unless you’re the driver. When you’re focusing on the road, you don’t really get to sit back and appreciate the passing views. One of our favourite benefits of coach travel is that you can keep your eyes glued to the window for as long as you want. Plus, you’re usually sat up much higher in a coach, so you’ll get better views than in a car.

It’s comfortable

Coach travel has come a long way over the last few decades. Forget rickety old buses… Today you’ll travel in style with all the modern comforts. Trafalgar has a fleet of custom coaches, complete with air-conditioning, washroom, complimentary WiFi, and plush seats with great legroom. We have lots of storage space under the coach and above the seats, so you can easily store your luggage without any fuss. While our coaches are extra comfortable, we also make regular stops so you can stretch your legs, get a coffee or a snack, and take in the views.

*Excludes trips currently operating throughout Australia and New Zealand.

Tell us what you love about Trafalgar’s luxury coaches in the comments below…