Can you travel from Lands End to John O Groats entirely on bus vehicles (not coach vehicles)?

[iantherev]

It has been known. There’s less chance of it now that Brecon has the three new Solos but with only 37025 spare and all 12 Volvos needed for weekday service, nothing can be ruled out if an unexpected problem crops up.

 

[SouthEastBuses]

It's X3 to Lichfield, X5 goes to Roughley
X12 Lichfield-Burton, also 811/812
X38 Burton-Derby
Comet Derby-Chesterfield
X17 Chesterfield-Barnsley
X10 Barnsley-Leeds

X10 is, I believe, a coach route allocated with Plaxton Elites (like Scotland's 10 from Aberdeen to Inverness). My rule is to only use coaches where the is no alternative route that runs with buses. (in this case after Inverness)

 

[Jordan Adam]

Deleted

 

[SouthEastBuses]

Deleted

?????

 

[Statto]

X10 is, I believe, a coach route allocated with Plaxton Elites (like Scotland's 10 from Aberdeen to Inverness). My rule is to only use coaches where the is no alternative route that runs with buses. (in this case after Inverness)

In that case
59/59A/96/96A//97 Barnsley-Wakefield
110 Wakefield-Leeds

96/96A goes though Crigglestone where you can also change for the 110[Hall Green section], & 96/96A has the same route as the 110 the other side of Kettlethorpe without needing to change in Wakefield city centre

 

[Busaholic]

I've come to the conclusion that anyone attempting to make the full journey in less than a month would require both medical and, more importantly, mental health back-up on reaching John o'Groats.

 

[Jordan Adam]

I've come to the conclusion that anyone attempting to make the full journey in less than a month would require both medical and, more importantly, mental health back-up on reaching John o'Groats.

After a journey on the X98/X99 you'd need that regardless.

 

[Statto]

After a journey on the X98/X99 you'd need that regardless.

This is a journey i love to do, but when the weather is a bit warmer & you have the daylight, preferably April to June.

 

[Andy Pacer]

From Evesham to Derby, an alternative is to travel with Stagecoach X18 from Evesham to Coventry (possibly changing at Stratford). Then X6 to Leicester ( might be a coach?) to connect with Skylink to Derby.

Stagecoach X10 runs via M1 between Barnsley and Leeds, but may be a coach.

X6 is always bus again now, they use Volvo B8(?) with MCV(?) bodywork.

 

[Struner]

This is a journey i love to do, but when the weather is a bit warmer & you have the daylight, preferably April to June.

It is a fine ride in the sunshine right enough.
Did it once to catch the Pentalina at Gills Bay.

 

[paul1609]

I've come to the conclusion that anyone attempting to make the full journey in less than a month would require both medical and, more importantly, mental health back-up on reaching John o'Groats.

I walked it in the summer, roundabout route taking 1258 miles not much slower than the bus. I did get the bus to Lands End from Penzance Station!

 

[johnnychips]

I walked it in the summer, roundabout route taking 1258 miles not much slower than the bus. I did get the bus to Lands End from Penzance Station!

How long did it take, Paul?

 

[Busaholic]

I walked it in the summer, roundabout route taking 1258 miles not much slower than the bus. I did get the bus to Lands End from Penzance Station!

I wouldn't walk from Penzance to Land's End, either! I hate even driving it, too many bends, cars going too fast. Congrats for walking the 1258 miles, though, v. impressive.

 

[paul1609]

How long did it take, Paul?

Left appropriately on April 1 arrived JOG on 12 July.

 

[philthetube]

I wouldn't walk from Penzance to Land's End, either! I hate even driving it, too many bends, cars going too fast. Congrats for walking the 1258 miles, though, v. impressive.

Down the coast from Penzance to lands end is fine, relatively easy walking, the north coast to St. ives is much toughtr.

 

[Busaholic]

Down the coast from Penzance to lands end is fine, relatively easy walking, the north coast to St. ives is much toughtr.

A lot of extra walking, though: I don't think an end to end walker would be looking to add to the miles!

 

[route101]

I think a problem is booking hotels , would you pre book or risk arriving somewhere ?

 

[paul1609]

I think a problem is booking hotels , would you pre book or risk arriving somewhere ?

I camped around a third of the nights and the rest was in everything from Bothies to 4 star hotels. I booked between about 3 days before until the morning of the stay but it did increase the cost. Theres no way I would book the whole lot in advance, I somehow managed to get food poisoning in the Wye Valley and had to stay in Monmouth for 3 nights to recover. If Id booked ahead it would have been a nightmare re-arraging everything and theres no way that I would have been able to get back on schedule.

 

[Statto]

I don't fancy the idea of camping whilst doing this journey, sooner have a proper bed whether b&b or hotel, it's a unfortunate to get food poisoning most are quite safe in the UK, & most people would be fine booking b&b or hotels in advance, the other thing to consider doing such a journey is not carrying too much stuff, especially changing buses.

You also have to consider what time you're finishing for the day, some b&bs & hotels might not allow check in after a certain time say 9/10pm, same with checking out if you want the bus before 7am, travelodge/premier inn should be fine, others including b&bs not so.

Another thing, might have asked this before on another thread but forgotten, does Scottish Citylink allow the use of Scottish National passes, the Scottish equivalent of ENCTS passes?

 

[Jordan Adam]

Another thing, might have asked this before on another thread but forgotten, does Scottish Citylink allow the use of Scottish National passes, the Scottish equivalent of ENCTS passes?

Yes they do. On top of that Card holders get free refreshments on CitylinkGold too!

 

[Busaholic]

Yes they do. On top of that Card holders get free refreshments on CitylinkGold too!

A wee dram?

 

[Statto]

Yes they do. On top of that Card holders get free refreshments on CitylinkGold too!

Cheers, possibilities then covering Perth-Inverness section on Scottish Citylink, my idea would be to use services which ENCTS passes, & Scottish National passes are valid on rather than all normal buses

 

[317 forever]

Given that Lands End is in First territory and John O'Groats in Stagecoach, I wonder how few buses from other operators we would need if we travel all the way by bus? I think a little Arriva in the Midlands would be inevitable.

 

[enviro300]

You can do Lands End to Newtown entirely on a mixture of just First and Stagecoach only. This is also a fairly straightforward route.

You can do Newtown to Wrexham entirely on either Lloyds Coaches or Tanat Valley Coaches only. It is a joint route so you would only use one of them and which one you used would be depending on which journey you took.

You can do Wrexham to John O Groats entirely on Stagecoach services only. I imagine that this is also the longest distance you can travel entirely on one bus operator.

I believe that this is the one and only way that you could use just three bus operators. It is obviously not the quickest way but any other quicker routes will require you to use a minimum of four bus operators.

Unless any other members know of any quicker route that only uses three operators. I was trying to think of a route that only uses the big three of Arriva and First and Stagecoach but i can't seem to find one so i don't think it seems to be possible.

 

[extendedpaul]

I would be very interested in a possible itinerary for the Wrexham to John O'Groats Stagecoach-only routing.

My favourite big operator and possibly could be done on a handful of Rover-type tickets and a couple of Travelodge overnight stays.(Then back by train from Wick or Thurso!)

 

[bustrainrider]

This is a possible routeing entirely on Stagecoach only:

Wrexham to Chester (5)
Chester to Liverpool (1/2/X8)
Liverpool to Preston (X2)
Preston to Lancaster (40/40A)
Lancaster to Keswick (555)
Keswick to Carlisle (554)
Carlisle to Dumfries (79)
Dumfries to Edinburgh (101/101S/102/102S)
Edinburgh to Perth (X56)
Perth to Aberdeen (X7)
Aberdeen to Inverness (10/10A/10B)
Inverness to Wick or Thurso (X98/X99)
Wick or Thurso to John O Groats (77/80/80D/177/277/280)

You could even go slightly further by taking the 274 from Thurso to Bettyhill further along the North Coast area.

I know the Stagecoach North West Explorer ticket will take you all the way from Wrexham to Dumfries which is amazing value but it is not valid on any of the other Stagecoach buses North of there.

This would definitely be an interesting journey to do and you would certainly see a lot.

 

[Statto]

There's been a few bus service changes, 2 Chester-Liverpool was cut to Chester-Ellesmere Port, X1 replaced X8, you can do Wrexham-John O' Groats on Stagecoach
5 Wrexham-Chester
1/X1 Chester-Liverpool
X2 Liverpool-Preston
40/41 Preston-Lancaster
555 Lancaster-Keswick
554 Keswick-Carlisle if connection can't be made than
X4/X5 Keswick-Penrith
104 Penrith-Carlisle
79 Carlisle-Dumfries
You have a couple of options from Dumfries to Dundee, via Glasgow or Edinburgh
101/102 Dumfries-Edinburgh
X58 Edinburgh-Dundee
Or
X74 Dumfries-Glasgow
X26 Glasgow-Dundee, you can also catch X24 Glasgow to Glenrothes or St Andrews & connecting X54/X58 Glenrothes-Dundee, or 99/99A/99B/99C/99D St Andrews-Dundee
X7 Dundee-Aberdeen,
10 Aberdeen-Inverness
X98/X99 Inverness-Wick or Thurso
I think there's better service from Thurso-John O' Groats on 80 than from Wick

You might want to go via Glasgow instead of Edinburgh as 101/102 only have 4 through journey's, most of the service is Edinburgh-Biggar

 

[SouthEastBuses]

It's not becoming "increasingly common", The duty is only being covered by a Scania due to a vehicle shortage, the duty is booked as one of the B12B/Panthers, however 3 of them are VOR atm, hence the allocation of the Scania. They allow for a toilet break at Dornoch where the drivers normally swap buses, even then if you asked at any other of the villages (Tain for example) if you could quickly nip in to the toilet the driver would have no problem waiting. Panoramas and Astromegas are not suitable for the service as the luggage capacity is too poor (hence why it's allocated Interdecks) additionally they (along with the Interdecks) are not suitable for operation in high winds. The service barely breaks even so you can scrap the idea of new vehicles.

If they were to get newer vehicles for the service then the B13R/Panthers currently on the Glasgow - Edinburgh Service would be the most suitable as these meet all the service requirements, however at the moment there's no plans to change or update the fleet.

Sorry for the very late answer but another single decker real coach also suitable for the X98/X99 in my opinion would be the Mercedes-Benz Tourismo.