When you've grown out of your splitter you will have the luxury of travelling to your gigs in a sleeper bus. When you first have one you will probably be travelling with your crew and your backline either in the luggage bays or a trailer. When you get bigger your crew will have a separate bus and your equipment will go in a truck.

There are lots of bus hire companies with vehicles and drivers of varying quality. In the UK prices range from £500 per day inc. fuel and bus hire. The UK deals are that you will pay an invoice for bus hire, drivers wages, fuel, ferries etc directly to the bus company - you give them your itinerary, they work out the rest. You will have to pay the driver a daily allowance, around £45 per day cash in lieu of a hotel room, you will also have to provide their food. UK bus drivers will generally not want a hotel room as would rather have the money, but its always nice to ask.

Phoenix are generally the best tour bus company in the UK. There are many but be careful as standards and drivers vary and if a bus is incredibly cheap and available on Glastonbury weekend there is probably something wrong! Bad buses and horrible drivers do cause lots of bad feeling so beware. It's often worth getting a quote from European companies even if the tour is only the UK as in our experience they can be cheaper and offer a better service. We can recommend Sami-Shine, France or Redcar, Germany or Coach Service also in Germany who are expensive but good.

BUS DRIVER REGULATIONS
Regulations governing bus drivers in europe have become much much stricter since 2006 with strictly enforced breaks and rest periods for drivers, particularly in continental Europe you may need two drivers for the bus for some parts of the tour depending on your routing - the bus company, if they're any good will let you know when you need double drivers.

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