How far can you travel in one day on local buses from your home town?

[extendedpaul]

As a follow on from the reasonably priced long distance bus journeys thread I wonder how far it's possible to get across the UK from different towns by local buses only. A one way one day journey starting in your home town of say 150 miles or more.

As a starter I recently did Caerphilly to Holyhead via Pontypridd, Brecon, Newtown, Machynlleth, Bangor and Llangefni. It was about 200 miles and took 11 hours. This was using an Explore Wales flexipass and I stayed in Holyhead overnight at the travelodge and returned by rail the following day. Had anything gone wrong I could therefore have caught a train but all the buses ran on time and I saved one of the 4 rail days the ticket allowed ( 8 bus days).

Any other suggestions from your home town ?

 

[Trainfan344]

We start of at 05:50 from Lowestoft to Great Yarmouth X1, 06:37 Great Yarmouth to Norwich X1 07:20 X1 Norwich to Peterborough arrive 10:28, that's over 100 miles. 11:20 Peterborough to Cambridge Drummer street bus station 13:22 Busway B service, Walk to Cambridge Parkside stop 16 for the 13:40 Stagecoach X5 service to Oxford 1715, 1745 Oxford to Swindon 1911 on the 66, a tight 4 minute connection into the 19:15 51 service to Circencester arriving at 2010. I think that is as far as I can get. Not certain how far that is, but I should think it beats the OP.

 

[ChathillMan]

I forget the timings and I cannot be bothered to work them out again but I am sure I can do this in one day. From Newcastle to Aberdeen. X15 from Newcastle to Berwick, 253, Berwick to Edinburgh, X54 Edinburgh to Dundee and finally, X7 Dundee to Aberdeen

 

[D841 Roebuck]

Bolton-Preston-Lancaster-Keswick-Carlisle-Newcastle-Berwick.

Can be done on a combination of Arriva North West and Explore North East ranger tickets for about £20.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
The Manchester to Nottingham TransPeak service also makes a good starting point for a long distance bus trip.

 

[quarella]

As a starter I recently did Caerphilly to Holyhead via Pontypridd, Brecon, Newtown, Machynlleth, Bangor and Llangefni. It was about 200 miles and took 11 hours. This was using an Explore Wales flexipass and I stayed in Holyhead overnight at the travelodge and returned by rail the following day. Had anything gone wrong I could therefore have caught a train but all the buses ran on time and I saved one of the 4 rail days the ticket allowed ( 8 bus days).
?

In the mid 1990s my dad and I caught the TrawsCambria 701 service from Cardiff through to Holyhead via Swansea, Aberystwyth and Llandudno Junction. Advertised as a through service, which it probably was in NBC days with a driver change we had to change from a Rhondda bus to a Crosville coach at Aberystwyth. There was also an unplanned change of vehicle at Llandudno Jct as a few miles outside Llandudno Jct the nearside wing mirror was damaged in a hedge. My dad and I were the only 2 passengers left and the depot manager took across to Holyhead driving a Leyland National 2 faster than they normally were.
You know you are making an unusual journey when the driver has to check the fare table.

 

[MCR247]

]
The Manchester to Nottingham TransPeak service also makes a good starting point for a long distance bus trip.

This no longer between Nottingham and Derby

 

[extendedpaul]

We start of at 06:33 from Lowestoft to Great Yarmouth X1, 06:37 Great Yarmouth to Norwich X1 07:20 X1 Norwich to Peterborough arrive 10:28, that's over 100 miles. 11:20 Peterborough to Cambridge Drummer street bus station 13:22 Busway B service, Walk to Cambridge Parkside stop 16 for the 13:40 Stagecoach X5 service to Oxford 1715, 1745 Oxford to Swindon 1911 on the 66, a tight 4 minute connection into the 19:15 51 service to Circencester arriving at 2010. I think that is as far as I can get. Not certain how far that is, but I should think it beats the OP.

Surely there is a missing hour here, either 05.33 from Lowestoft or 7.37 from Great Yarmouth as it cannot be only 4 minutes between those towns !

To get from the east coast as far west as Cirencester in one day is mighty impressive !

 

[radamfi]

This no longer between Nottingham and Derby

Although you wouldn't lose much time given the Red Arrow runs every 10 minutes.

 

[Deerfold]

The Manchester to Nottingham TransPeak service also makes a good starting point for a long distance bus trip.

Not unless you're on a concessionary pass as there appear to be no day tickets valid on the entire route.

 

[Trainfan344]

Surely there is a missing hour here, either 05.33 from Lowestoft or 7.37 from Great Yarmouth as it cannot be only 4 minutes between those towns !

To get from the east coast as far west as Cirencester in one day is mighty impressive !

No, that was the arrival time at Yarmouth, as it was a 05:50 from Lowestoft, and it's guaranteed connection at Yarmouth as the same bus operates through to Norwich.

 

[Mutant Lemming]

It depends what you believe constitutes a 'local bus service'. The Transpeak service may pick up at local stops at the more remote parts of the route but is generally an inter urban express service (which used to be operated at one time by coaches).

I recall many many moons ago working out how far one could get using only services operated by municipal operators and think it was Birkenhead to Doncaster (Birkenhead to Liverpool Mersey Tunnel Nightbus : Birkenhead Corporation, Liverpool to St.Helens route 317 : St.Helens Corporation, St.Helens to Warrington route 140 : Warrington Corporation, Warrington to Salford route 10 : Salford City Transport, Salford to Manchester route 15 : Manchester Corporation, Manchester to Sheffield route X48 : Sheffield Transport, Sheffield to Doncaster route 77 : Rotherham Corporation.

Some of the services were jointly operated so it would have took a bit of planning to ensure the whole journey was done by 'good old corporation transport'.

 

[Springs Branch]

I've recently worked up a couple of theoretical itineraries (inspired by that Reasonably Priced Bus Journey thread), using current on-line bus timetables.

Edinburgh to London - 2 days, overnight in Manchester

Day 1 is via Carlisle, Keswick, Lancaster, Preston & Bolton to Manchester (6 buses).
Start at 08.00, finish about 21.00
Can use a £10.50 Stagecoach North West Explorer ticket for Carlisle to Bolton legs.

Day 2 is from Manchester via Stockport, Buxton, Derby, Leicester, Milton Keynes, Luton, Watford & Stanmore (8 buses & Jubilee line tube)
Start around 07.15, finish in London Z1 somewhere around 20.30
This section uses several "X"-type bus services (i.e. TransPeak from Buxton to Derby, TrentBarton's Skylink to Leicester & the X7 Leicester to MK). But it does start on a 192 to Stockport, ends on a "Red" London double-decker and none of the journeys are National Express / Megabus-type coaches.

One point of order planning this type of trip into London is how far into the London metropolis are you "allowed" to go before bailing onto a tube or local train?
My own POV is once you hit a London Underground or Overground train line, you can transfer onto this, but not use any National Rail TOCs (though including at least one Red Bus in the trip might be considered good form).


Holyhead/Caernarfon to Scarborough/Whitby - West coast to east coast, 2 days, overnight in Bolton

Day 1 goes via Bangor, Llandudno, Rhyl, Chester, Liverpool, St Helens and Wigan to Bolton.

Day 2 from Bolton via Rochdale, Halifax, Bradford & Leeds to Scarborough or Whitby (5 buses)
The overnight split is at Bolton because it allows the whole of Day 1 to be done with just an Arriva North West & Wales DaySaver for £6.50. This should please any thrifty Yorkshiremen using this method to get home to God's own county.

When I have a bit more time, I must try to estimate the total fare for the Edinburgh to London one.

 

[Mike99]

Fareham to Macclesfield, via Winchester, Andover, Swindon, Cheltenham, Birmingham and Stafford

plus..............

Day 2, Macclesfield to Glenrothes, via Manchester, Lancaster, Carlisle and Edinburgh,

Day 3, No surprise, Glenrothes to John O Groats and back to Inverness, via Dundee, Aberdeen and Inverness

:-x

 

[GaryMcEwan]

I stay in Glasgow, so in theory I could go from Glasgow to Aberdeen on a East Scotland Dayrider with Stagecoach using various companies on the way, and the mileage is approximately 140 miles.

 

[richw]

I actually worked this out in the summer.
In 1 day it is possible to get from my home in Redruth to Basingstoke (220 miles).
Due to a lack of early morning buses and one of the required services being 2 hourly there is a 65 min wait for one connecting service. Were I to drive the first 20 miles I could get about 2 hours further away again.

Excel sheet attached with planning I did once out of interest.

It is also possible to get to Lymington (198.2 miles)

I initially struggled to get past Exeter as I was thinking Exeter - Taunton, but there was lack of buses - I got to Tiverton and got stuck in my planning due to a lack of timetable info available for services around Tiverton and the Tiverton to Taunton bus runs every 2 1/2 hours.

 

[dzug2]

We start of at 05:50 from Lowestoft to Great Yarmouth X1, 06:37 Great Yarmouth to Norwich X1 07:20 X1 Norwich to Peterborough arrive 10:28, that's over 100 miles. 11:20 Peterborough to Cambridge Drummer street bus station 13:22 Busway B service, Walk to Cambridge Parkside stop 16 for the 13:40 Stagecoach X5 service to Oxford 1715, 1745 Oxford to Swindon 1911 on the 66, a tight 4 minute connection into the 19:15 51 service to Circencester arriving at 2010. I think that is as far as I can get. Not certain how far that is, but I should think it beats the OP.

That last leg - Cirencester to Swindon - is no more. The 1915 (now 1920) departure only goes to Cricklade


You could still get to Chippenham from Swindon - I'd guess that's a bit further - and from Chippenham to at least Bath and maybe further

 

[northrob]

How about Huddersfield to Glenrothes (that's if you're including express bus services and the coaches on the FifeConnect network as a bus service!) Might be a bit of a long day though, and the connection at Whitby is a bit tight - best not try it in the height of summer....

(Times are Monday - Friday)

0513 203 Huddersfield - Leeds 0645
0700 840 Leeds - Whitby 1044
1050 X93 Whitby - Middlesbrough 1159
1230 X10 Middlesbrough - Newcastle 1350
1433 X15 Newcastle - Berwick-upon-Tweed 1658
1800 60 Berwick-upon-Tweed - Galashiels 1944
2030 62a Galashiels - Edinburgh 2218
2245 X59 Edinburgh - Glenrothes 2347

Alternatively, to avoid using the coach on the last leg, you could either catch a 55 from Edinburgh to Dunfirmline at 2225 or 2325 (arriving at 2315 or 0015) or an X38 to Falkirk leaving at 2230 (arriving at 2342).

 

[Mutant Lemming]

If you're really intending it to be local services then anythng resembling a coach or any service with an X in it should be excluded. To my mind a local bus service is one that calls at all stops along the route. If you are going to include services like the X5 Oxford - Cambridge route then you might as well include London to Inverness megabus routes. Neither are really what you would call local bus routes.

 

[Busaholic]

If you're really intending it to be local services then anythng resembling a coach or any service with an X in it should be excluded. To my mind a local bus service is one that calls at all stops along the route. If you are going to include services like the X5 Oxford - Cambridge route then you might as well include London to Inverness megabus routes. Neither are really what you would call local bus routes.

I think a good definition would be bus services on which the English Concessionary National Pass was valid, which might well preclude some routed listed here. Scotland is another matter, as the rules are a lot more relaxed there.

 

[richw]

If you're really intending it to be local services then anythng resembling a coach or any service with an X in it should be excluded. To my mind a local bus service is one that calls at all stops along the route. If you are going to include services like the X5 Oxford - Cambridge route then you might as well include London to Inverness megabus routes. Neither are really what you would call local bus routes.

The X services round here are operated by Tridents or Olympians but stick to main roads instead of service every village on the back lanes.

 

[Mutant Lemming]

I think a good definition would be bus services on which the English Concessionary National Pass was valid, which might well preclude some routed listed here. Scotland is another matter, as the rules are a lot more relaxed there.

Would the 797 Greenline count though ?

 

[Liam]

I forget the timings but it is possible to get from Edinburgh to Thurso in a day without using Citylink/Megabus. You need to go via Aberdeen to avoid the Citylink routes.

 

[causton]

Would the 797 Greenline count though ?

Probably not now they don't use a Wright standard bus on it on some departures!

(Even if not, it's pretty easy to get from Hatfield to Stevenage on a fast bus, on the 635/101. Let me work something out )...

 

[Mutant Lemming]

Probably not now they don't use a Wright standard bus on it on some departures!

(Even if not, it's pretty easy to get from Hatfield to Stevenage on a fast bus, on the 635/101. Let me work something out )...

the 16, the 32, the 614, and the 301 would be my idea of local buses to cover that section.

 

[TRN481V]

A few years ago I did Southport to Edinburgh using only bus services. I split the journey at Dumfries but could have got to Glasgow in one day - I just thought that fifteen hours on buses was a bit much! The best bit was that I only had to pay for the Glasgow-Edinburgh part as I was working for Stagecoach at the time

 

[Polarbear]

Some years back, I managed to do Chester to London using stage carriage services. I can't remember the times but the route was as follows;

• Chester - Manchester (Service X3 long since withdrawn)
• Manchester - Derby (Service X1 via Ashbourne - also now withdrawn)
• Derby - Leicester
• Leicester - Northampton
• Northampton - Bedford
• Bedford - Luton
• Luton - London (service 747 I think).

I set off on the 06.45 departure from Chester & managed to make it to London Euston in time to make a late train back north the same day!

 

[Teflon Lettuce]

If you're really intending it to be local services then anythng resembling a coach or any service with an X in it should be excluded. To my mind a local bus service is one that calls at all stops along the route. If you are going to include services like the X5 Oxford - Cambridge route then you might as well include London to Inverness megabus routes. Neither are really what you would call local bus routes.

The legal definition of a local bus service is any service which stops at least once every 15 miles and is, therefore, able to claim BSOG and is able to participate in the national concessionary fares scheme.

 

[Rapidash]

I know X routes are meant to be out the window.......butttt, in theory, I could get from Brixham to Poole and back in a day. 12 to Paignton, X46 to Exeter and X53 to Poole. That racks up around 200 miles, there and back. And I can assure all concerned, that those routes are very much all stops

All for only £25 as well!

 

[PeterC]

Sometimes an X prefix means that the route is really a coach without advance booking but sometimes it just means that that particular journey cuts out one or two deviations off the main line of route. It all depends on the operator.

Where I live just getting out of the village screws up the chance of any long journeys. If I was going to go any distance I would have to drive to somewhere like one of the Oxford park and rides and start the journey there.

 

[W-on-Sea]

Sometimes, round here, (Oxfordshire) the X just indicates "cross-country", if that - certainly no-one could call the X47 (Ardington - Wantage - Swindon) or X15 (Abingdon - Witney) express.

Anyway, from Oxford (and leaving the Stagecoach X5 out of it, but being happy to use other "X" routes that are essentially local services that cover long distances too)... we get to Westward Ho! Not necessarily by the most direct route, and mostly without excessively tight connections....

66 (Stagecoach West) Oxford 0705 - Swindon 0827
X5 (Salisbury Reds) Swindon 0840 - Salisbury 1056
X3 (more) Salisbury 1110 - Bournemouth 1225
M2 (more) Bournemouth 1231 - Poole 1303 (other connections available here)
X53 (First) Poole 1405 - Bridport 1626
X31 (First) Bridport 1659 - Axminster 1759
4 (Stagecoach) Axminster 1815 - Exeter 1944
5B (Stagecoach) Exeter 2000 - Barnstaple 2220
21A (Stagecoach) Barnstaple 2223 - Westward Ho! 2305 (also possible an hour later)