Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Try to avoid bus travel on Friday and Sunday evenings, when weekend travelers are
more likely to make buses sell out.
To ensure getting a ticket—and to save money with special promotions—you can
book your ticket in advance online (National Express charges a
£
1 fee) or over the phone
(
£
2 surcharge). The cheapest pre-purchased tickets can be changed (for a
£
5 fee), but
they're usually nonrefundable within 72 hours of travel. If you have a British mobile
phone, you can order online and have a “text ticket” sent right to your phone.
Ideally you'll buy your tickets online. But if you must buy one at the station, try to
arrive an hour before the bus departs—or drop by the day before. Ticketing machines are
scattered around the station (separate machines for National Express/Eurolines and Meg-
abus; you can buy either for today or for tomorrow); there's also a ticket counter near gate
21.
National Express buses
go to:
Oxford
(2/hour, about 2 hours),
Cambridge
(every
60-90 minutes, 2-2.5 hours),
Canterbury
(about hourly, 2-2.5 hours),
Dover
(about
hourly, 2.5-3.25 hours),
Brighton
(hourly, 2 hours),
Penzance
(5/day, 8.5-10 hours,
overnight available),
Cardiff
(hourly, 3.25-3.5 hours),
Stratford-upon-Avon
(3/day, 3.5
hours),
Liverpool
(8/day direct, 4.75-6 hours, overnight available),
Blackpool
(4/day dir-
ect, 6.25-7 hours, overnight available),
York
(4/day direct, 5.25-6.25 hours),
Durham
(3/
day direct, 6-8 hours, train is better),
Glasgow
(2-4/day direct, 8-9 hours, train is a much
better option),
Edinburgh
(2/day direct, 8.75-9.75 hours, go by train instead).
To Dublin, Ireland:
This bus/boat journey, operated by National Express, takes
10-12 hours (
£
35-40, 1/day, departs Victoria Coach Station at 18:00, check in with
passport one hour before). Consider a cheap 1.25-hour Ryanair flight instead
(
www.ryanair.com
).
To the Continent:
Especially in summer, buses run to destinations all over Europe,
including Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, and Germany (sometimes crossing the Channel by
ferry, other times through the Chunnel). For any international connection, you need to
check in with your passport one hour before departure. For details, call 0871-781-8178 or
visit
www.eurolines.co.uk
.
For information on crossing the Channel by bus, see
here
.
The fastest and most convenient way to get from Big Ben to the Eiffel Tower is by rail. The
Eurostar is the speedy passenger train that zips you (and up to 800 others in 18 sleek cars)
