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Category: Coaches

National Express : London Victoria Coach Station to Bristol

After the first part of my coach journey from London Luton to London Victoria coach station, it was now time for the second part which would get me to Bristol. I’ll note here that I was getting a coach because GWR’s fares are far too expensive and although I do enjoy trains, I prefer not to fund them as though I am making a modest contribution to railway infrastructure personally.

O2 give me one baked item, or coffee, at Greggs for £1 every week, so I thought now was an ideal time to get a chicken bake for £1. It was hot and delicious.

I managed to find a seat at the packed gate. It is not an especially glamorous place if I’m being honest, but it does at least provide a useful reminder that all forms of travel eventually involve sitting near strangers and hoping everyone behaves. Unless you’re my friend Richard who tries to avoid people unless it’s in a VIP area.

Much as I’m sure these warnings are useful to avoid anyone doing something dangerous, a number of passengers were struggling to read the departure information which is a little lost at the bottom of the screen.

And time to board.

And the emergency exit row seat again, very lovely.

This turned into something of a sleeper service for me as I fell asleep in London and woke up in Bristol. This tells its own story that the coach must have been peaceful and the driving smooth, so I was suitably impressed and refreshed ready for the excitement of Bristol which I knew was going to involve food, craft beer and a museum. And is there anything more to life?

It was another reminder though that National Express services seem to be getting quieter, it might now be the time to increase the space between seats and address some of their high pricing, before FlixBus steals their entire market. FlixBus are getting a little bit unstoppable, they’re already knocked most Megabus services out of business…..

June 14, 2026
National Express : London Luton to London Victoria Coach Station

As I always allow far too much time for connections, I had a wait of three hours at London Luton Airport after my flight from Skopje. I tried to get a filter coffee at Pret as they’re a cheap option, but they told me that they had run out. I remained at Pret anyway as they had a power point which suited my needs. At this stage, the commercial transaction was less about food and drink and more about temporary access to electricity whilst sitting in a chair. But, I couldn’t board a coach hungry and so I obtained a breakfast of champions meal deal at the new Sainsbury’s at the airport. Does travel get any more exciting than this?

And is there anything more beautiful than London Luton Airport at sunrise? OK, there probably is, but it’s intriguing watching the light appear whilst also observing already pre-annoyed families wheeling their cases and angry children into the airport.

Mine was the 05:40 which was showing as delayed by six minutes. This didn’t overly worry me, but I was conscious that National Express often saw their delays extend and I only had a thirty minute connection at London Victoria Coach station. I decided to ask the driver of the 05:25 service before if I could get on his coach and he told me that I could do what I liked, which I took as a yes. In fairness, the driver was very friendly and it was early.

Two of us boarded the coach, so I understood the driver’s lack of concern about whether I boarded or not.

I got the emergency exit door seat, although there wasn’t a huge demand for it as the other passenger had sat at the front of the coach. It was too early for a logistical dilemma over seating, so I was pleased at the efficiency of this arrangement. I think this service regularity is more for getting passengers to the airport for their early morning flights, so there is likely usually a surplus of spaces for taking passengers away from the airport.

And safely into London Victoria coach station. As an aside, National Express seems to have been struggling recently and their services rarely seem very full. It’s been a while since I’ve been here and half the services appear to now be run by FlixBus, perhaps an observation that National Express got greedy with their prices and customers walked away. Anyway, it was then time to find the coach that would take me to Bristol.

June 14, 2026
Turkey Trip 2026 : Day 3 (Coach Trip from Istanbul to Ankara)

With the ticket from Istanbul to Ankara safely acquired, we were pleased to see our coach pull in just a few minutes later.

It was a really rather lovely coach, with a 2-1 layout which made the seating spacious. The journey was around seven hours long, so it was handy to be comfortable. I had a panic that there were was no Internet, so the kindly staff member on board (there are two staff) typed a password into my phone so I remained quiet for the journey and didn’t have to complain about not having access to my email.

You get free water which is rather lovely, although it got even more decadent than that.

We got a free snack! I accept I should probably get out more…

There was a free trolley service and you don’t get that on a National Express coach. I was able to have two cups of juice which is helpful in keeping refreshed.

There was a stop at some services on the E80 which allowed passengers to use the toilet facilities and make some purchases. It was a long journey, taking over two hours just to get out of Istanbul, so it was handy to get off for at least a short while.

I purchased these and they were a true giant of a crisp, I might even make a separate blog post about these at some point. I know, it’s beyond exciting isn’t it? Jonathan was more local than me, finding some soup from the cafe in the services. I was too nervous about the coach going without me, I have a low risk tolerance here.

And safely in Ankara coach station, only seven hours after setting off.

Although it was disappointing not to be able to get a train, and a bit of a faff, it was really quite nice to try the Turkish long-distance coaches network. This is a big thing in Turkey because of the limitations of the railways and it was keenly priced, especially taking into account the snacks provided.

January 27, 2026
Flixbus – Trieste to Ljubljana

I can’t say that I ever really look forward to using Flixbus, there’s usually some sort of issue attached to their journeys which just makes things difficult. However, the journey from Trieste to Ljubljana is relatively quick by coach and hard by any other method, so given it was reasonably priced, I booked it.

In the above photo is where it’s meant to leave from, at the downstairs of the coach station. They make very clear on the ticket location not to wait outside the coach station.

And here’s the Flixbus that stopped outside the coach station. Fortunately, someone came in and told everyone waiting that the coach was departing from outside, but it was a bit of a faff for those with luggage to have to move at short notice. Apparently this isn’t actually where it usually stops, I have no idea what their logic was that night.

Flixbus doesn’t always force people to have a seat reservation, but they did on this service. And, it was the usual mess and chaos, although my window seat was free and I didn’t have any issues. An upset lady did though have a problem as her seat was already taken and a staff member came over to resolve it, then he realised that about six people were in the wrong place and it would be too difficult to fix without ending up playing some odd form of Jenga on a moving coach. With that, the coach pulled off and the poor lady, by now quite upset, fell over. The staff were very friendly, but Flixbus makes very little simple.

And safely into Ljubljana…. I will continue to try and avoid Flixbus, they’re a public transport option of last resort for me as there’s nearly always something that’s a problem. But maybe I’m being unfair as I just prefer trains……

December 9, 2025
Ljubljana – Day Four (Flixbus from Ljubljana to Trieste)

It was the morning of my birthday, so what better plan could I have than to travel on a bloody Flixbus? Four of us were taking the ninety minute journey to Trieste where we spending the evening before all flying back the following day.

I’ve used Flixbus many times and I always dread it, as their policies seem odd to me. I boarded and then tried to take the seat they told me to sit in, which annoyed the lady next to me I think as it soon became apparent that the coach was nearly entirely empty. Steve, Susanna, Bev and I were scattered around the coach, their whole reservation strategy is just a nuisance. I don’t understand why it can’t be an optional thing like many other coach companies such as National Express.

Bev and Susanna just boarded the coach without showing their tickets, as they’re like that. Steve and I thought we’d board properly, but Bev and Susanna soon rushed off to the ticket collector when they realised.

There are USB power outlets on the back of some seats, but they didn’t work.

Safely in Trieste where it was wet and rainy. The staff members on the Flixbus were polite, the driving seemed entirely acceptable and the coach was sort of clean. It was only a ninety minute journey, but for as long as Flixbus keep forcing seat reservations on people, I’m going to try and avoid travelling with them.

November 29, 2025
Flixbus – Wrocław to Munich

As I’m meeting up with Richard in Munich later today, I needed to get from Wrocław last night and the most efficient way of doing that was the direct Flixbus between the two cities. I’ve had mixed experiences with Flixbus, but I thought that it would be worth the risk as the timings worked out well to save me getting a hotel for the evening. Here’s the rather glamorous bus station in Wrocław, although it’s more a shopping centre than a bus station. It’s relatively new and it apparently replaced a ramshackle and disorganised bus station that was previously on the site.

And here’s the grand central area of the shopping centre element, which was rather nicer than the bus station. Ridiculously, the bus station toilets are chargeable and the shopping malls ones are free, so I walked the extra 50 metres to go to the latter.

The coach stops are in the downstairs of the building, but everything was clearly signed. I was pleased that it seemed logical, it’s not always the case.

There we go, stand 7 and I discovered something that I didn’t know, which is that Monachium is the Polish name for Munich.

The coach comes sweeping into stand 6, but that’s near enough. There were two drivers (well, one driver and one helping) and they were friendly and personable.

On board and I had a compulsory free seat reservation which I sometimes think are more hassle than they’re worth. Some people were put next to others despite the coach being nearly empty, but I was fortunate to have no-one next to me for the entire journey so there was plenty of space. There were only two stops which were Dresden and Nuremberg (well, and to fill the thing up with diesel and for the police check).

It was clean on board, but the tray was sticky.

The charging point being down there was a bit of a hassle as neither of my cables were long enough to even tuck my phone into the seat pocket. Instead, I charged my power bank and then charged my phone from the power bank.

Leaving Wrocław I tried to take a photo of the sunset, but, having thought about it, the foreground doesn’t look very decadent.

The police board at the German border, which I’m not sure is entirely commonplace, but it’s why Flixbus has to check passports and ID documents before anyone boards a cross-border route. The policeman was particularly interested in my passport with all its stamps, but not concerned enough to hold the coach up. There was a stop for diesel just before we crossed the Polish/German border and there must have been some sort of issue as there was lots of shouting about and moving the coach about the place. Someone wanted to get off for a cigarette, but this was refused in the middle of a petrol station.

And safely in Munich after the stops at Dresden and Nuremberg. The coach was always on time, or within a couple of minutes, and it was clean and comfortable. The free wi-fi was a bit limited in terms of the amount of data, but I had free roaming so it didn’t matter. The drivers were friendly, there was plenty of space and it was a reasonable experience for the £45 I paid. This was I accept a little bit expensive for a coach trip, but it saved a hotel and didn’t seem unreasonable. I got a sufficient amount of sleep on board and it was a generally very quiet coach which made that easier. Based on this experience, I’m becoming a little more confident to use Flixbus a little more often rather than just as an operator of last resort. Oh, and the coach station at Munich wasn’t as new and shiny as the one in Wrocław and it did look a bit like it might fall down soon.

August 20, 2025
Norwich – Flixbus

In news that comes as no great surprise, Flixbus have now arrived in Norwich. The above photo is from the US as I don’t have one from Norwich yet, but they’ll be going to destinations such as London and also, the pearl of the west country, Swindon, so start packing your tiaras for that decadent treat. I’ve travelled with them many times and it’s all a bit erratic as they franchise out their operations so the quality of service is highly variable. I try to stick to trains as coaches are just more stressful and less comfortable, but their prices are generally very low so I’m sure I’ll end up on one at some stage but I’m it’s always something of a local dip of travelling going with them.

April 16, 2025
Sort of the End of Megabus UK….

Having travelled a lot with Megabus in the UK and the US over the years, it’s a little sad to hear today that they’re ditching most of their routes in the UK. I hadn’t realised that they’ve got a useful cross-country coach service from Norwich, although that information is now too late for me to use it. I had thought they’d left Norwich, so perhaps their marketing went a bit awry as I’m not sure how they’ve lost so many customers over the years. I imagine Flixbus hasn’t helped and maybe they’ll be moving to take over some of the Norwich routes soon enough.

October 25, 2024
Belgrade Trip – Getting Back from Luton Airport

I had a slightly (very) sub-optimal arrangement to get back to Newmarket from London Luton Airport, although I’ve realised if I can get slightly earlier flights back then I can get a National Express bus straight back. Unfortunately, the final leg of that service isn’t operated a night, so I had a few hours wait at the Pret landside with a 99p filter coffee. They have power and seating, that’s all I really required. I was suitably productive though, so the time wasn’t wasted.

The coach can arrive at any of these gates it seems.

As a slight side issue, why are they being that precise that a coach will be leaving one minute late? And I accept there are more important things to worry about in the world, but when you’re meandering around outside an airport at 04:30 these things provide at least a modicum of amusement.

Here it comes.

Four of us boarded. This route just flits between Luton Airport and Cambridge, obviously much busier later in the day taking passengers from the airport. They need more legroom on these coaches, that’s my summary of the service.

Morning Cambridge!

Then a 20 minute walk to the railway station.

It’s all happening now.

There’s the Ipswich Rocket at platform 5 that took me back to Newmarket.

After a quick sausage roll at Greggs waiting for Wetherspoons to open, I then had the £3 breakfast and £1 unlimited coffees. I quite a few coffees to stay awake, but as Tony Blair said, “that is that, the end”. Well, for the Belgrade trip anyway. I’m conscious I’ve skipped great chunks of the history, food and culture that I thought I’d write about, but there we go, maybe I’ll get back to it another time. Oh, I didn’t mention, that was one of the better Wetherspoons breakfasts so all was well with the world.

September 17, 2024
£2 Bus Cap Extended – How Very Lovely

Apologies for a little interruption to my ‘riveting’ write-up of the group trip to Gdansk.

It’s just been announced that the Government is extending the £2 bus fare policy until 31 October 2023 and then it’ll be increased until £2.50 until November 2024. This was always inevitable given the popularity of the scheme, as was their increase in cost, with a longer extension also almost being certain as it’ll be hard to row back from this now. Personally, this will be of significant benefit to me over the course of the year, one small piece of good news for public transport at least. The scheme also seems to have been a much wider success, encouraging people onto public transport with fares having been just too high before.

May 16, 2023