Brief

National express is (in my opinion) Britain’s most powerful coach operator. Based in Birmingham coach station the operators travel to nearly everywhere in the country and even internationally such as Amsterdam, Paris and Brussels. In London, Victoria Coach Station is its main hub and a CenterPoint to many of their destinations.

Cost

The cost of riding a national express bus depends on you’re destination, date, time and also when you book you’re ticket as they vary depending on how full the buses are. A trip from Heathrow airport to London (Victoria) and vice versa costs around £5 – £15. Other Airports also have similar costs and below are more locations and single ‘one way’ rates (as of  March 2018)

• London to Cornwall around £30 – £80
• London to Oxford around £15 – £45
• London to Bath around £5 – £30
• London to Edinburgh around £20 – £70
• London to Cardiff  around £9 – £30
• London to Manchester around £7.50 – £30
• London to Liverpool around £6 – £30

Upon booking National express does have a booking fee of £1 and add-ons like insurance, seat priority and even luggage can be purchased.

Experience

I usually use ‘National Express’ when trains are too expensive and I am in no particular rush. Coaches has its positives and negatives, the downsides are the unreliable schedules as it is all dependant on traffic whilst comfort is also limited, the positives are its prices which are cheaper in comparison to trains and flights.

‘National Express’ does not apply seat allocations although you can purchase a ticket to do so. Seats are comfortable, some newer coaches have leather and a generous recline. The seats have a coat tag, a table, a charging point and excellent leg room, furthermore all coaches have a small toilet either at the back or in the middle which has weak running water. The temperature in the coach varies but I believe you can request desired a temperature (keeping in mind there are many other passengers). However there are cool air blowers in each seat (just like aircrafts) which you can operate at your own accord. There is limited room for carry on baggage but the luggage hold underneath the coach is huge. Lastly at night journeys the driver does tend to turn off the lights due to his/ her visibility but each seats have their own personal lights again replicating that of an aircraft. I have never in any of my travels with the company experienced a stopover, maybe this would be for longer journeys.

Overall National Express is your standard coach ride going from A to B around the UK and to some parts of Europe. It is comfortable in comparison with other coach companies around the world. It is a cheaper option to taking trains and flights across the United Kingdom but could take much longer.

References

www.nationalexpress.com

Photos

All photos are my own (except for price screenshot)

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