Arriving/departing from London by Coach
London's main coach station - for both
national and international services - is located at 164 Buckingham Palace Road, SW1W 9TP (Show Map), Tel: 020 7730 3466. Just a stone's throw away from London
Victoria railway station, companies offering coach services to/from here include National
Express (www.nationalexpress.com, domestic
routes only), Tel: 0870 580 8080, Greenline and Eurolines (Tel: 0870 514 3219), which operates services to over 300 continental
destinations. For details of timetables by phone, check out the Transport for London website at:
www.tfl.gov.uk.
European Coach Travel (to London from Mainland Europe)
For many travellers, Eurolines offer the greatest
convenience both in terms of routes and pricing for trips to London from mainland Europe.
As well as passes valid for 15, 30 or 60 days, other ticket options include adult, youth, senior citizen and child singles/returns,
together with open jaw (flexible) tickets. Twice daily services operate from Paris (journey time 9 hours),
three times a week from Munich (24 hours); and three times a week from Stockholm (44 hours). On
longer routes, which employ two alternating drivers, the bus proceeds almost without interruption,
taking only occasional breaks for meals. The company's website also features a range of
promotional fares offering significant reductions over their standard prices (via an online booking
facility).
Alternatively, Busabout
offers a pan-European network covering 70 destinations, allowing you
to travel the continent by pre-booking each leg of your journey with a Busabout guide, or
via the company's own website. In addition, your guide can phone ahead on a specific part of the
journey to help organise accommodation (you can also book further in advance if required).
Although the company's route network doesn't extend to the United Kingdom, it's perfectly
possible to travel to Paris from where travellers can connect to Eurostar or alternative
coach services.
From Ireland
In conjunction with Eurolines
Ireland, Bus Éireann operate scheduled services from Dublin to London (via
Birmingham). Coaches cross the Irish Sea either on a Stena HSS fastcraft or Irish Ferries cruise
ship. Adult (return) fares start from €35 with the price being
dependent upon when you travel (and the ship used for the crossing), whilst overnight services are also
available. When joining from points other than Dublin, expect to pay an additional €10.
For more information and online booking visit: www.buseireann.ie/EurolinesPublic.
From other UK Destinations
As well as National Express (see above), Green Line Travel operate scheduled services between London and the home
counties. Serving towns such as Slough, Maidstone, Southend and Sidcup, Green Line are also useful
for visitors to London who are planning day trips to sights and attractions such as Windsor Castle,
Legoland and Lakeside Thurrock.
In addition, the "no-frills" intercity operator Megabus
(a subsidiary of Stagecoach PLC) offers low-cost fares to London from cities such as
Birmingham, Portsmouth, Cardiff, Glasgow, Leeds, Newcastle, Nottingham and Norwich.
For anyone planning a trip to London from Scotland, City Link provide services between cities such
as Edinburgh and Glasgow, while National Express handle onward connections to London Victoria. As
well as giving a list of sample fares, City Link's website also features a useful journey planner
that provides a list of suitable coach services (along with information on where you'll need to
change if necessary).
Coach trips from Welsh cities such as Cardiff, Wrexham and Swansea are served
by National Express.
For areas not covered by our guide, a useful website to visit is www.traveline.org.uk. Not only does it supply details of
local and national coach services, but listings for equivalent rail and air services too.
And finally, for fully-escorted tours to London, the highly respected UK
holiday company Wallace Arnold is hard
to beat.
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