These are the UK’s most scenic bus routes, according to the Guardian

Who says a road trip has to involve driving a car? After all, you’ll have a far better chance at gorging on snacks, jamming to your playlist and seeing the UK’s stunning scenery sitting on the top deck of a bus than hunched at the wheel of your Fiat 500. 

And with England’s bus fares capped at £2, it’s probably a much cheaper option too (not applicable to Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, but fares are still reasonable). So, sit back, relax, and let us guide you through the Guardian’s round-up of the UK’s most beautiful bus routes. 

Of course, you can’t list the most spectacular bus journeys without mentioning the Lake District’s Bus 555, which travels from Kendal to Keswick and takes you past four breathtaking lakes. 

The busway leading from Cambridge railway station to the medieval market town of St Ives (not the Cornish one) is the world’s longest guided busway and has earned a spot on the list for its ‘sights of Cambridge with glimpses of the Round Church and River Cam’ and views over ‘flat fields and fens, with the odd church or windmill’. 

Other routes to make the cut included Scotland’s bus ride from Aviemore to Grantown-on-Spey for its ‘mountains views, evergreen forests and village cafes’; the Land’s End Coaster offering incredible cliffside and coastal vistas with a glimpse of St Michael’s Mount thrown in; the Welsh bus 5 route through mountains and moors from Bangor to Llandudno and the bus 402 route in Northern Ireland which runs from Coleraine to Ballycastle, serving a ‘dramatic hour-long tour of windswept moors and romantic clifftop castles’. How dreamy. 

Here’s the full list of the UK’s most scenic bus routes, according to the Guardian. 

• Bus 555 from Kendal to Keswick
• Busway A from Cambridge to St Ives, Cambridgeshire
• Bus 37 from Aviemore to Grantown-on-Spey
• Bus 402 from Coleraine to Ballycastle
• X93/X94 from Scarborough to Whitby
• CH1 from Cromer to Wells-next-the-Sea
• Bus 5 from Bangor to Llandudno, Conwy
• Bus X18 from Newcastle to Berwick-upon-Tweed
• Bus 218 from Sheffield to Bakewell
• Land’s End Coaster

We’ll fight you for a window seat. Read more on the official Guardian website here. 

ICYMI: These are the most scenic rail journeys in the UK, according to the Guardian

Plus: this is officially the UK’s most epic road trip.