|
Much of this site tells the story of long-distance inter-city travel. But look closer at our pages and you will uncover a dense network of regional bus and train services that not only meet the long-distance services, but run to and through some of the finest landscapes and historic spots in Britain.
The splendours of Borrowdale, beside Derwentwater in the Lake District, provides a special local bus experience. The Borrowdale Rambler 77 runs year-round from Keswick, past some of the highest peaks in the Lakes, to Seatoller, a trip of 10mls/16km. It appears every hour in the winter, every half-hour in the summer. For sheer indulgence in mountains and lakes there?s the hop-on, hop-off day-long Borrowdale Day Rider bus ticket (cost £4.50). A little further south in the Lakes, the local bus for Wordsworth?s Dove Cottage in Grasmere conveniently leaves from outside Windermere rail station. The trip takes 30min.
Sheffield or Manchester provide a regular flow of local bus and train services that run into the Peak National Park. From either city, in something like 30mins you could be under the spell of the second most popular (in visitor numbers) national park in the world.
For one of the 'World's Great Railway Journeys' take the train from Inverness, the east coast ?capital? of the Scottish Highlands, across Scotland to the one-time ferry port of Kyle of Lochalsh on the west coast. There are three trains a day and each takes just under 2h 30m, end to end. This is a scenic railway experience at its most magnificent. Be prepared for the gasps as the train struggles up and then drops down from the heights of the Highland mass. At journey?s end there?s a bonus: simply drink in the sight of the Isle of Skye a mile across the waters of Loch Alsh. Or take the local bus (two an hour) over the bridge to Skye.
Image above: There?s no forgetting the age of the dinosaur along the south coast of England. That?s the message being spread by the ?Jurassic Coast? CoastLinx 53 express coach service that runs the 80mls/128kms between Poole, Dorset and Exeter, Devon. In dinosaur terms this stretch of coastline is the epicentre of bone and fossil finds in Britain. The rush of passengers, however, probably owes more to the attractions of the route than curiosity in the long-gone reptiles.
|
|
