National Express coaches

[Mervyn and Trish]

Has anyone used National Express coaches? If so how was the service, standard of coach and any other advice or tips? Might have to use one to get to London next week if rail strike is still on.

[sunseeker16]

We used NE last month when Sunday engineering work make the train journey (with additional replacement coach segments) look a nightmare.
Very comfortable coach, with just a few local pick-ups then off at acceptable speed. Pleasant drivers both ways.
It was quite nice to see central London from the vantage point of coach-seat height
Victoria coach station is not too bad. It's a pain that it is a walk to the tube, if that's where you're headed, but again, really not too bad
That all sounds a bit 'damning with faint praise'. Not so - it's fine
Oh, I also thought it was a bit more 'restful' than the train. The seats are more comfortable and the bus is not constantly stopping, doors swishing open, people walking past, as happens, and is a disturbance, on the train.

[Raybosailor]

We have used National Express quite a few times and never had a problem with them, the service is better now than it used to be and the airport links are pretty useful too. The last time we used them was for a ships visit on Oriana in Southampton which we made into a weekend with an overnight stay.

From Nottingham it is a two stage journey, Nottingham-London Victoria and London Victoria-Southampton with just a few stops on the way down and one at Golders Green in London before we reached Victoria Coach Station. The coach station is always busy and sometimes there is a wait between connecting coaches but there are a number of nice bars and coffee houses just outside the station.

We walked through the covered arcade from the arrival point and there was a side door to a nice pub so we popped in for a quick drink but the menu looked nice so we decided to miss the next coach to Southampton and have a leisurely lunch before boarding the next coach.

As Sunseeker says you also get an unguided tour of London which is never the same route every time as the drivers seem to vary it depending on the flow of traffic at the time.

[Dark Knight]

Take the National Express when your life's in a mess
It'll make you smile
All human life is here
From the feeble old dear to the screaming child
From the student who knows that to have one of those
Would be suicide
To the family man
Manhandling the pram with paternal pride
And everybody sings 'ba ba ba da'
We're going where the air is free

On the National Express there's a jolly hostess
Selling crisps and tea
She'll provide you with drinks and theatrical winks
For a sky-high fee
Mini-skirts were in style when she danced down the aisle
Back in '63 (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)
But it's hard to get by when your a*se is the size
Of a small country
And everybody sings 'ba ba ba da'
We're going where the air is free
Tomorrow belongs to me

When you're sad and feeling blue
With nothing better to do
Don't just sit there feeling stressed
Take a trip on the National Express, the National Express, let's go

Courtesy of the Divine Comedy, before some old misery complains about it

[Mervyn and Trish]

Thank you for that Batty. Blessedly the strike is off so we can continue with our originally planned 1.5 hour rail journey rather than having to resort to 4 hours on the coach.

[Silver_Shiney]

The last time I went on National Express, I was 16 and was crammed in beside a chain-smoking female cradling a baby who kept being sick. I never knew the journey from Glasgow to London could be so long...

[Mervyn and Trish]

That's no way to talk about Mrs Shiney! Though something similar was our fear. By comparison the train was bliss.