LOCAL BUSES
Each town has its own local bus network and some are quite extensive. Check our city guides section for details on the larger cities. Most local bus stops have clearly indicated route markers or a friendly local might help you.

INTER-REGIONAL BUSES
Bus travel in Britain is an efficient service provided by several independent operators. National Express (www.nationalexpress.com) is the biggest of these with services to over 1200 destinations in England, Scotland and Wales. Most bus services in Northern Ireland are provided by Ulsterbus (www.ulsterbus.co.uk). Smaller operators include Green Line (www.greenline.co.uk), Megabus (www.megabus.com), Scottish Citylink (www.citylink.co.uk) and Silver Choice which provide comprehensive services in a specific region or along a particular route.

National Express offer some excellent travel passes. They also have discount cards like the Student Coachcard and the Young Persons Coachcard which both cost £9 and entitle the holder to a 30% discount on coach travel. All the passes below you can buy online from the National Express website.

National Express Brit Xplorer Pass
The Brit Xplorer pass is good for unlimited travel on the National Express network, but it is not available to British passport holders. The pass is valid for seven, 14 or 28 consecutive days of travel. Simply turn up at the coach terminal and show your pass to the driver. If there is a space you can jump on, you don't need to book ahead.

Scottish Citylink Explorer Pass
This good value pass is good for coach travel in Scotland on Scottish Citylink. This pass also gives you discounts on Caledonian Macbrayne and P&O Scottish Ferries allowing you to visit the Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland islands. Three passes are available for 3 consecutive days travel, 5 travel days in 10, or 8 travel days in 16.

PAYING
Depending on what type of bus you get will determine the ticketing process. If you are getting a long distance Eurolines bus you need to purchase the ticket beforehand at the Eurolines office and sit in the seat indicated on the ticket. For local buses you can purchase the ticket on board. For National Express buses you also need to purchase the seat before. You can do this by telephone or online with a credit card.

BUS PASSES FOR TRAVEL IN EUROPE
Eurolines www.eurolines.com is the largest network of international buses in Europe and they operate from London.

People under 26 years are around 10% less than the adult full fare. There are several circular explorer routes and passes available. Individual tickets are available on all routes with a number of circuits available allowing the traveller to travel along a pre-determined circular route taking in various destinations along the way. These passes are supplemented by the more flexible Eurolines pass. The Eurolines pass is probably the best travel deal in Europe allowing unlimited travel between 46 destinations in 26 countries on the Eurolines network. This pass is great value particularly during summer when it is a cheaper travel option than the equivalent Busabout pass.

Busabout (busabout.info@virgin.net) is another pass option for travellers and will also book accommodation for you in advance. However most of these are camping sites outside major towns. Eurobus also operates providing a hop on and off service.

There are a number of other companies that offer hop on hop off backpacker bus tours. They stop at the hostel door rather than the central bus station. They are normally filled with other travellers and can be good fun. However many true travellers would avoid these.

USEFUL LINKS
Here is a list of some helpful links and bus services:

National Express
www.nationalexpress.com