Bus No. 666, destination 'Hell': Poland's infamous route returns after 3-year hiatus

Poland's notorious "bus to hell" — route No. 666 — is returning to service after a three-year absence.

German intercity bus operator FlixBus plans to launch a new route this summer connecting the southern Polish city of Krakow with the Baltic Sea resort town of Hel via the capital Warsaw, and has named it route 666, Euronews reported May 30.

The 666 route to Hel was previously operated by Polish regional bus company PKS Gdynia Dębki. In 2023, the operator renamed it route 669 following criticism that the destination echoed the English word "Hell" and that 666 is widely recognized in Christianity as a symbol of Satan. The change did not go unchallenged — opponents argued the number had drawn tourists and petitioned for its reinstatement.

FlixBus made no secret of the marketing calculation behind its choice of number. Announcing the new route, FlixBus Eastern Europe's Michał Lehman said: "It's best when the route name explains where the bus is going. In this case, no further explanation is needed — everyone understands."

Hel is a small village at the tip of a roughly 35-kilometer sand spit jutting into the Gulf of Gdańsk in northern Poland. Its name has nothing to do with the underworld; the prevailing theory traces it to an ancient Germanic word meaning sand dune or coastal ridge.

Meanwhile, Poland ranks among Europe's most devoutly Catholic nations, with more than 71 percent of its population identifying as Roman Catholic. Catholicism occupies a central place in Polish historical identity and culture, extending well beyond religion. Pope John Paul II (1978–2005), who was Polish, is widely credited with contributing to the collapse of communist rule in the country.

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