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TRIVIA - Longest distance with ONE bus ticket

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Ayman Ilham

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Blackburn (Lancs)
There are many day tickets for buses that can provide some crazy value for money due to how far their boundaries can extend, especially with bus routes that traverse multiple counties! This discussion is about how far you can travel using just ONE ticket which HAS to be bought from the driver, which completely rules out any form of advanced booking, but it doesn't matter whether the service is operated by a bus or coach as long as it is valid with the ticket. Another rule is that, based on current timetables, the journey must be possible to complete within a day. Multi-operator tickets are allowed, by the way. I'll list a few to start off, all prices listed are undiscounted adult fares for ease of comparison:

Transdev Daytripper (£10):
152 - Preston to Burnley
M4 - Burnley to Keighley
60 - Keighley to Leeds
36 - Leeds to Ripon
With DT+ (£7 extra) you can get 840 Leeds to Whitby to add 100 or so extra miles!

Stagecoach Explorer Leeds (£8):
X10 - Leeds to Barnsley
X17 - Barnsley to Matlock
Since both services are express and operated by either coaches or coach-seated buses, this is a good alternative to the train or NatEx!

Arriva North West & Wales (£5.50):
362 - Chorley to Wigan
360 - Wigan to Warrington
X30 - Warrington to Chester
10A - Chester to Holywell
11M - Holywell to Rhyl
12 - Rhyl to Llandudno
X5 - Llandudno to Bangor
X4 - Bangor to Holyhead
Yes, this is possible within a day, I checked the timetables!

First West Yorkshire Day (£5):
184 - Manchester to Huddersfield
X63 - Huddersfield to Bradford
X6 - Bradford to Leeds
X99 - Leeds to Wetherby
I often use this ticket to get from Oldham to Halifax or Bradford!

Stagecoach East Scotland Dayrider (£15.60):
X26 - Glasgow to Dundee
X7 - Dundee to Aberdeen
Both services are operated by modern coaches, making it a cheaper alternative to Citylink/Megabus!

Arriva North East Day (£8):
X93 - Scarborough to Middlesbrough
X12 - Middlesbrough to Newcastle
X15 - Newcastle to Berwick-upon-Tweed
You could instead use a £10.50 Network One Explorer and use the faster X9/X10 by GNE between Middlesbrough and Newcastle!

Stagecoach East Dayrider Gold (£14):
11 - Bury St Edmunds to Cambridge
X5 - Cambridge to Oxford
66 - Oxford to Swindon
The X5 coach service is the kingpin of this network!

Stagecoach Explorer North West (£11):
5 - Mold to Ellesmere Port
X8 - Ellesmere Port to Liverpool
X2 - Liverpool to Preston
40 - Preston to Lancaster
555 - Lancaster to Keswick
X5 - Keswick to Penrith
104 - Penrith to Carlisle
79 - Carlisle to Dumfries
Probably the cheapest way to get from Wales to Scotland!

TrawsCymru Day Ticket (£10):
T2 - Bangor to Machynlleth
T12 - Machynlleth to Newtown
T4 - Newtown to Cardiff
You can do this for free on weekends until next summer!

If possible, it is preferable if you can work out the total distance travelled for each and compare it to the price of the ticket to give an idea of the value for money offered. The best ticket would be the one that offers the most miles for the money in a quicker time with better quality vehicles.
 
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Jordan Adam

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The "Bluebird Explorer" must be up there somewhere, it allows travel on all services operated under the Bluebird Buses Ltd along with the Strathtay operated X7 to Dundee and the Highland operated 11 between Elgin and Inverness. The options are almost endless, how ever you could travel from Dundee to Inverness via the Aberdeen & Buchan Coast for only £17.35 per day. That journey alone totals almost 250 miles.

You could for example do.
  • X7 Dundee to Aberdeen
  • 60 Aberdeen to Peterhead
  • 69 Peterhead to Fraserburgh
  • 271/272 Fraserburgh to Banff
  • 35 Banff to Elgin
  • 10/11 Elgin to Inverness
All those routes excluding the 271/272 are hourly or better. So it's very much possible in a day.

You could also add variations to extend the overall distance even further such as. This of course is applying the rule that you can't double back.
  • 727 Aberdeen to Aberdeen Airport
  • 747 Aberdeen Airport to Ellon
  • 50 Ellon to Newburgh
  • 63 Newburgh to Peterhead
 
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1,909
• You can get from Dover to Salisbury on the Discovery ticket.

• You can get from Chelmsford to Oxford on the Explorer ticket.

• You can get from Wrexham to Newcastle on the Stagecoach North West Explorer ticket.
 

LiviCrazy

Member
Joined
6 Oct 2018
Messages
322
The One Ticket would allow you to do Berwick Upon Tweed to Dundee. Extend through Livingston and East Neuk of Fife it could be over 170 miles.

60 Berwick to Galashiels
X95 Galashiels to Edinburgh
23 Edinburgh to Livingston
X51 Livingston to Ferrytoll
X60 Ferrytoll to Anstruther
95 Anstruther to St Andrews
99 St Andrews to Dundee

The day ticket for that is £15.80
 
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Ayman Ilham

Member
Joined
2 Jul 2016
Messages
412
Location
Blackburn (Lancs)
The "Bluebird Explorer" must be up there somewhere, it allows travel on all services operated under the Bluebird Buses Ltd along with the Strathtay operated X7 to Dundee and the Highland operated 11 between Elgin and Inverness. The options are almost endless, how ever you could travel from Dundee to Inverness via the Aberdeen & Buchan Coast for only £17.35 per day. That journey alone totals almost 250 miles.

You could for example do.
  • X7 Dundee to Aberdeen
  • 60 Aberdeen to Peterhead
  • 69 Peterhead to Fraserburgh
  • 271/272 Fraserburgh to Banff
  • 35 Banff to Elgin
  • 10/11 Elgin to Inverness
Can't you do the 10 all the way from Aberdeen to Inverness? That would mean literally only two coaches on the one ticket to get from Inverness to Dundee! Or has the 10 been curtailed?
 

Ianno87

Veteran Member
Joined
3 May 2015
Messages
15,215
Stagecoach Explorer North West (£11):
5 - Mold to Ellesmere Port
X8 - Ellesmere Port to Liverpool
X2 - Liverpool to Preston
40 - Preston to Lancaster
555 - Lancaster to Keswick
X5 - Keswick to Penrith
104 - Penrith to Carlisle
79 - Carlisle to Dumfries
Probably the cheapest way to get from Wales to Scotland!

Wow!

Although the chespest tier of Advance train fares from Shotton to Gretna Green in theory beat this (if they're ever available/sold): http://www.brfares.com/#expert?orig=SHT&dest=GEA
 

Megafuss

Member
Joined
5 May 2018
Messages
640
There are many day tickets for buses that can provide some crazy value for money due to how far their boundaries can extend, especially with bus routes that traverse multiple counties! This discussion is about how far you can travel using just ONE ticket which HAS to be bought from the driver, which completely rules out any form of advanced booking, but it doesn't matter whether the service is operated by a bus or coach as long as it is valid with the ticket. Another rule is that, based on current timetables, the journey must be possible to complete within a day. Multi-operator tickets are allowed, by the way. I'll list a few to start off, all prices listed are undiscounted adult fares for ease of comparison:

Transdev Daytripper (£10):
152 - Preston to Burnley
M4 - Burnley to Keighley
60 - Keighley to Leeds
36 - Leeds to Ripon
With DT+ (£7 extra) you can get 840 Leeds to Whitby to add 100 or so extra miles!

Stagecoach Explorer Leeds (£8):
X10 - Leeds to Barnsley
X17 - Barnsley to Matlock
Since both services are express and operated by either coaches or coach-seated buses, this is a good alternative to the train or NatEx!

Arriva North West & Wales (£5.50):
362 - Chorley to Wigan
360 - Wigan to Warrington
X30 - Warrington to Chester
10A - Chester to Holywell
11M - Holywell to Rhyl
12 - Rhyl to Llandudno
X5 - Llandudno to Bangor
X4 - Bangor to Holyhead
Yes, this is possible within a day, I checked the timetables!

First West Yorkshire Day (£5):
184 - Manchester to Huddersfield
X63 - Huddersfield to Bradford
X6 - Bradford to Leeds
X99 - Leeds to Wetherby
I often use this ticket to get from Oldham to Halifax or Bradford!

Stagecoach East Scotland Dayrider (£15.60):
X26 - Glasgow to Dundee
X7 - Dundee to Aberdeen
Both services are operated by modern coaches, making it a cheaper alternative to Citylink/Megabus!

Arriva North East Day (£8):
X93 - Scarborough to Middlesbrough
X12 - Middlesbrough to Newcastle
X15 - Newcastle to Berwick-upon-Tweed
You could instead use a £10.50 Network One Explorer and use the faster X9/X10 by GNE between Middlesbrough and Newcastle!

Stagecoach East Dayrider Gold (£14):
11 - Bury St Edmunds to Cambridge
X5 - Cambridge to Oxford
66 - Oxford to Swindon
The X5 coach service is the kingpin of this network!

Stagecoach Explorer North West (£11):
5 - Mold to Ellesmere Port
X8 - Ellesmere Port to Liverpool
X2 - Liverpool to Preston
40 - Preston to Lancaster
555 - Lancaster to Keswick
X5 - Keswick to Penrith
104 - Penrith to Carlisle
79 - Carlisle to Dumfries
Probably the cheapest way to get from Wales to Scotland!

TrawsCymru Day Ticket (£10):
T2 - Bangor to Machynlleth
T12 - Machynlleth to Newtown
T4 - Newtown to Cardiff
You can do this for free on weekends until next summer!

If possible, it is preferable if you can work out the total distance travelled for each and compare it to the price of the ticket to give an idea of the value for money offered. The best ticket would be the one that offers the most miles for the money in a quicker time with better quality vehicles.

You can actually use the East Dayrider Gold all the way from Kings Lynn and do 505 Lynn to Spalding, 37 Spalding to Peterborough, B Peterborough to Huntingdon, 66 Huntingdon to St Neots, X5 St Neots to Oxford and S6 Oxford to Swindon. Stagecoach journey planner does it in over 12 hours, although you have to leave at 6am for it to work.
 

Jordan Adam

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Joined
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Messages
5,514
Location
Aberdeen
Can't you do the 10 all the way from Aberdeen to Inverness? That would mean literally only two coaches on the one ticket to get from Inverness to Dundee! Or has the 10 been curtailed?

The idea of going via Buchan was to make the route as long as possible without double backing, while still being possible in a day.
 

Deerfold

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Joined
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Messages
12,571
Location
Yorkshire
First West Yorkshire Day (£5):
184 - Manchester to Huddersfield
X63 - Huddersfield to Bradford
X6 - Bradford to Leeds
X99 - Leeds to Wetherby
I often use this ticket to get from Oldham to Halifax or Bradford!

So much easier when you could get just one bus from Oldham to Halifax (and going a little further back, just one to Bradford).

Back in the late 90s the First Day you could buy in West Yorkshire was valid throughout Greater Manchester too (and the other way round) - so you could go slightly further. I used to use one on a Friday and another on a Saturday from Ripponden to Oldham then to Manchester, returning home after a night at Jilly's Rockworld.

Annoyingly, the same day ticket was not valid on the short section of route on the X84 between Addingham and Skipton in North Yorkshire.
 

Wirewiper

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612
Location
BET & TQY
Reading Buses simplyNetwork day ticket can be used from Heathrow Airport to Newbury (703 to Bracknell, 3b/4/X4 to Reading, 1 to Newbury). The cost is £7 adult, £4 child, and a bargain £10 for a group of up to four (£15 before 09.30 Mondays-Fridays).

Alternatively, if you are prepared to stump up £20 (£10 child, £49 group), a Green Line Day ticket allows travel all the way from London Victoria to Newbury, using the 702 and changing to the 703 in Slough or Windsor. This ticket is also valid on First Berkshire services (although not sold by them except at Slough Bus Station), so could also be used to travel to High Wycombe (change at Slough to the X74).

With the possible exception of Lothian Buses, does any other municipal operator's day ticket stretch that far?
 

philthetube

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Can't believe no one beat me to the ENTS ticket, Lands End to the Scottish border.
 

Wirewiper

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Messages
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Location
BET & TQY
Devon is England's fourth largest County in geographical area. The Devon Day Ticket (multiple operators, but not First/Buses of Somerset) allows travel throughout Devon, and also to Torpoint, Saltash, Gunnislake, Launceston (Stagecoach 6A only), Bude, Dulverton (Dartline 398 only), Taunton (Stagecoach 20 & Dartline 387 only) and Lyme Regis (Stagecoach 9A only). £9.30 adult, £6.20 child, £18.60 family (max 2 adults, 3 children).

Stagecoach South West's Explorer is slightly cheaper and covers the same area*, but is only valid on Stagecoach-operated routes. £8.30 adult, £5.50 child, £16.60 group (up to five people, any ages).

I would guess that Bude - Lyme Regis would be the longest direct journey possible using these tickets - and can be done on just two buses (6A Bude - Exeter, 9A Exeter - Lyme Regis).

* except Torpoint and Dulverton as these are not served by Stagecoach routes.
 
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TheEastCoaster

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1,206
Lothian Buses network dayticket for £9 gives you unlimited travel on all its service (including Lothian Country/East Coast) and extends as far as Blackridge in West Lothian to Dunbar in East Lothian, both about 57 Miles apart from each other
 
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I did Dover to Bournemouth back in early 2012 on the old Explorer ticket for just £4.80 total. The Explorer ticket was issued and accepted by over 50 bus operators across the South East but interestingly they were all allowed to charge whatever they wanted. So in 2012 the cheapest operator charged £4.80 while the most expensive operator charged £8.80 for it. This ticket has since been replaced by the Discovery and has far less validity these days. So this journey is no longer possible as First Hampshire and Go Ahead South Coast no longer issue and accept the Discovery ticket (also a lot of the late evening buses have been withdrawn so i don't think it would still be possible anyway). So that is the furthest i have personally done on one ticket.
 

TheGrandWazoo

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I did Dover to Bournemouth back in early 2012 on the old Explorer ticket for just £4.80 total. The Explorer ticket was issued and accepted by over 50 bus operators across the South East but interestingly they were all allowed to charge whatever they wanted. So in 2012 the cheapest operator charged £4.80 while the most expensive operator charged £8.80 for it. This ticket has since been replaced by the Discovery and has far less validity these days. So this journey is no longer possible as First Hampshire and Go Ahead South Coast no longer issue and accept the Discovery ticket (also a lot of the late evening buses have been withdrawn so i don't think it would still be possible anyway). So that is the furthest i have personally done on one ticket.

That's impressive 8-)

Anyone else care to volunteer masochistic experiences <:D
 

alangla

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Pretty sure Citylink will sell almost anything on-bus once you’re away from the main bus stations, so something like Great Western Road or Dumbarton to Uig return should be possible on-bus.

EDIT - just measured it, 444 miles return. Doable in a day, leaving Gartnavel Hospital at 07:01, getting back at 21:59, you get from 13:35 to 14:45 to watch the boats. £63.80 for a day return
 
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johnnychips

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On the old National Bus Company ticket, which I think was £2.97, issued by three consecutive 99p tickets, I did Doncaster to Bristol and Southampton to Wolverhampton in the early 80s.
 

jay38a

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Messages
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Location
Aircoach Dublin
If you buy a dayrider gold in Oxfordshire it states on the bottom of the ticket that is “valid in all Stagecoach buses in the South (expect the X5)” which means the Dayrider Gold has a validity from Dover in the South to Leicester in the North, even though I don’t think it is possible to do that in one day as you have to travel a very long way round.
 

route101

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Messages
10,595
The "Bluebird Explorer" must be up there somewhere, it allows travel on all services operated under the Bluebird Buses Ltd along with the Strathtay operated X7 to Dundee and the Highland operated 11 between Elgin and Inverness. The options are almost endless, how ever you could travel from Dundee to Inverness via the Aberdeen & Buchan Coast for only £17.35 per day. That journey alone totals almost 250 miles.

You could for example do.
  • X7 Dundee to Aberdeen
  • 60 Aberdeen to Peterhead
  • 69 Peterhead to Fraserburgh
  • 271/272 Fraserburgh to Banff
  • 35 Banff to Elgin
  • 10/11 Elgin to Inverness
All those routes excluding the 271/272 are hourly or better. So it's very much possible in a day.

You could also add variations to extend the overall distance even further such as. This of course is applying the rule that you can't double back.
  • 727 Aberdeen to Aberdeen Airport
  • 747 Aberdeen Airport to Ellon
  • 50 Ellon to Newburgh
  • 63 Newburgh to Peterhead


That area is on my to do list , area pretty much unexplored by me . Only time is Inverness to Airport and 727 to Aberdeen Airport . And the train between Inverness and Aberdeen once
 

route101

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Messages
10,595
Pretty sure Citylink will sell almost anything on-bus once you’re away from the main bus stations, so something like Great Western Road or Dumbarton to Uig return should be possible on-bus.

EDIT - just measured it, 444 miles return. Doable in a day, leaving Gartnavel Hospital at 07:01, getting back at 21:59, you get from 13:35 to 14:45 to watch the boats. £63.80 for a day return

That ticket is bit expensive i find , when i looked there was Apex but not cheap advances .
Was on coach to Oban and it picked up people on GWR road , the driver was telling them to pre book next time as there may not be space.
 

Slower Travel

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Location
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Me and my wife did a version of the Arriva North West & Wales one last year. Rather than start in Chorley, though, we started down the road from our house in Manchester.

From there it was on to Macclesfield, then Crewe, then onto Chester. Come to think of it, we only went as far as Bangor in the end, but still...!

Honourable mention, too, to the Red Rover ticket we got the next day (£5.50 for that as well, I think). That took us on a lap of Anglesey in the morning before getting us to Aberystwyth in the afternoon.
 

westcoaster

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That's impressive 8-)

Anyone else care to volunteer masochistic experiences <:D
Back in the 1990's iirc, our family used an arriva explorer from luton to great yarmouth. Cost was £5 for 4 of us. Looked on google maps it says 154 miles.
Route was
31 to dunstable (arriva)
? To bedford (stagecoach)
X1 to Peterborough (coachlinks by stagecoach)
X1 to great yarmouth (first eastern counties)

Also used the £5 explorer to reach places such as leicester, kings lynn via cambridge, newbury, oxford and all of herts beds and bucks.
 

extendedpaul

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Location
Caerphilly and Kent
Not sure if I should start a new thread for this but how about the longest distance it's possible to travel on one bus ticket in one day BUT starting and ending at the same point and with no duplication of journey, ie a circular route ?

I'd love to do some of the suggested itineraries but looks like they'd all require a night in a hotel or a late train journey back to starting point.
 

TheGrandWazoo

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Joined
18 Feb 2013
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Location
Somerset with international travel (e.g. across th
Not sure if I should start a new thread for this but how about the longest distance it's possible to travel on one bus ticket in one day BUT starting and ending at the same point and with no duplication of journey, ie a circular route ?

I'd love to do some of the suggested itineraries but looks like they'd all require a night in a hotel or a late train journey back to starting point.

In the immediate post deregulation days when NBC/ex NBC operators still accepted Explorers, I did Darlington - Northallerton - Ripon - York - Pocklington - Bridlington - Scarborough - Whitby - Loftus - Middlesbrough and back to Darlington. Three different NBC firms too!
 

_toommm_

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This is my plan for next week - note the first journey is a train - if it was a month or two ago it would be with the same company though :D

0750 MAN HHD 1057

1110 X4 Holyhead to Bangor 1233

1252 X5 Bangor to Llandudno 1354

1402 12 Llandudno to Rhyl 1522

1545 11M Rhyl to Holywell 1643

1650 11 Holywell to Chester 1806

1850 X30 Chester to Frodsham 1923

1925 FRD MCV 2017
 
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