londonteacher
Member
- Joined
- 10 Aug 2018
- Messages
- 671
As someone who doesn’t mind a bus journey and quite enjoys the way of travelling, yesterday I purchased a Discovery ticket to venture around the south east.
Left Plumstead and caught a train to London Bridge at about 06:30, changing for a Thameslink service to Redhill. Left the station and then purchased the Discovery ticket whilst boarding a 420 service by Metrobus to Crawley. I’ve never approached Gatwick Airport on a bus so it was very interesting - going past the runway was awesome just like going around Heathrow.
Arrived in Crawley on time and boarded the 271 to Brighton (Kemp Town). This bus, despite the long journey duration, felt really quick due to the beautiful landscape and scenery we traversed. Crossing the South Downs in a metrodecker thrashing up the hills and down the dual carriageway was brilliant. Arrived into Brighton on the seafront at just before 11.
Purchased breakfast in Morrisons and then boarded the 12X by Brighton and Hove to Eastbourne. This was a rather beautiful route along the tops of the cliffs. A very busy bus though and in the heat was not a very pleasant journey as their was little ventilation.
Arrived into Eastbourne and purchased a cold iced Frappe from McDonald’s before boarding a 99 Stagecoach bus to Hastings. Again another picturesque route with many hills to climb and drop down. Arriving in Hastings, a quick change on to a 101 to Rye.
Arriving in Rye I had the longest layover of the day of about 39 minutes waiting for the next bus. Purchased lunch in Jempsons which seemed to be a posh Coop. Boarded the 102 to Lydd which was an interesting and busy to route.
Arrived into Lydd and waited for the 11 to Ashford. An uncomfortable bus journey now on an ALX400 (think that’s what they are called) where the seats were tightly packed. Alighted at Ashford International and, as the last bus to Canterbury had left, boarded a train to Maidstone East.
Arrived in Maidstone and boarded the Arriva 101 service to Chatham. A quick service on a clean bus which is a shame because not all of Arriva Medways buses are like that. Boarded a 700 bus to Bluewater which was quiet but the ones in the opposite direction were packed. Arrived at Bluewater at about 9pm where I boarded a 96 bus back home travelling in the thunderstorms.
Overall a good day out in the south east and very cheap. The whole day including travel and food for about £25!
Left Plumstead and caught a train to London Bridge at about 06:30, changing for a Thameslink service to Redhill. Left the station and then purchased the Discovery ticket whilst boarding a 420 service by Metrobus to Crawley. I’ve never approached Gatwick Airport on a bus so it was very interesting - going past the runway was awesome just like going around Heathrow.
Arrived in Crawley on time and boarded the 271 to Brighton (Kemp Town). This bus, despite the long journey duration, felt really quick due to the beautiful landscape and scenery we traversed. Crossing the South Downs in a metrodecker thrashing up the hills and down the dual carriageway was brilliant. Arrived into Brighton on the seafront at just before 11.
Purchased breakfast in Morrisons and then boarded the 12X by Brighton and Hove to Eastbourne. This was a rather beautiful route along the tops of the cliffs. A very busy bus though and in the heat was not a very pleasant journey as their was little ventilation.
Arrived into Eastbourne and purchased a cold iced Frappe from McDonald’s before boarding a 99 Stagecoach bus to Hastings. Again another picturesque route with many hills to climb and drop down. Arriving in Hastings, a quick change on to a 101 to Rye.
Arriving in Rye I had the longest layover of the day of about 39 minutes waiting for the next bus. Purchased lunch in Jempsons which seemed to be a posh Coop. Boarded the 102 to Lydd which was an interesting and busy to route.
Arrived into Lydd and waited for the 11 to Ashford. An uncomfortable bus journey now on an ALX400 (think that’s what they are called) where the seats were tightly packed. Alighted at Ashford International and, as the last bus to Canterbury had left, boarded a train to Maidstone East.
Arrived in Maidstone and boarded the Arriva 101 service to Chatham. A quick service on a clean bus which is a shame because not all of Arriva Medways buses are like that. Boarded a 700 bus to Bluewater which was quiet but the ones in the opposite direction were packed. Arrived at Bluewater at about 9pm where I boarded a 96 bus back home travelling in the thunderstorms.
Overall a good day out in the south east and very cheap. The whole day including travel and food for about £25!
