I was looking forward to Warsaw. I felt a little smug at the possibility of a weekend away for only 25 EUR, courtesy of a special offer by Polski Bus. Many friends had told me that the bus connection to Warsaw was quite acceptable, even if it wasn’t perfect.

‘It’s not quite like being in an aircraft, but you do get comfortable seats and there is onboard wi-fi,’ a regular user of the bus service told me. A few others agreed with this sentiment, having used it themselves in the past.

I did hesitate before booking as such a lengthy bus ride was not really top of my wish list. Faced with these reassurances, I clicked on the ‘Pay’ button for the 20:40 Friday night bus to Warsaw and happily prepared my bags.

In the end, it wasn’t quite as good as I had hoped.

I spent the first leg of the trip enjoying a double seat but once we stopped in Wrocław, the bus was fully occupied and I was confined to my single seat, penned in by the window on one side and a burly hairy Pole on the other. The seats themselves are comfortable enough for a short while but being cooped up for 9 hours gave me the stiffest of necks. Unlike an aircraft where you can pace around and stretch your legs, there was no such luxury on the coach and this made my trip worse.

To add to this discomfort, whenever we stopped at roadside cafes, all the lights went on so it’s not as if you can really sleep at length.

I ended up arriving in Warsaw at 07:00 on Saturday morning completely shattered. I slept for a chunk of the day which meant I lost time that I could have spent sight-seeing. I resolved to not use a coach over long distances again.

This is not a reflection on the service from Polski bus whose services are recommendable, I have to say. The real culprit is me, for not considering that this sort of jaunt would have been fine if I were 10 years younger. While I can plan some exercises to keep my muscles from aching, I don’t think that spoiling the first part of a holiday is a good idea.

I’m getting to old for this sort of thing!