Hello, in July this year, I decided to embark on an epic adventure from my hometown on the Wirral to Carlisle, travelling only by bus. It was a fun and interesting journey, involving a variety of vehicles from Wright Bus to Alexander Dennis, Arriva, and Stagecoach. I visited some major towns and cities like Lancaster, Preston, and Carlisle. I originally filmed the trip, but I did manage to take quite a few photos.

I began my adventure in my hometown of New Brighton by taking the 432 to Liverpool City Centre. I often ride this bus between home and Liverpool, especially when I’m going out for drinks in town with friends. The 433/432 route uses 12-year-old Wright Gemini 2 Hybrid B5LH buses in the newly repainted Regional livery (Hybrid ECO). I particularly enjoy this route, as travelling through the Wallasey Tunnel is always a neat feature.

I arrived in Liverpool around 9 a.m., hoping to catch the X2 to Preston, where I would connect to a bus towards Lancaster. The X2 follows an interesting route, starting from Liverpool to Southport and then continuing to Preston Bus Station. Let me know if you’d like me to start a Route Review series on the blog.

The official journey to Carlisle started at Queen Square Bus Station where I was catching the X2 from Liverpool to Preston via Southport town centre. I Rather like Southport however the isn’t really a Bus Station or Interchange just a number of Bus Stops in and around the main town centre. From Queen Square we head onto Scotland Road heading towards Bootle, Waterloo, Birkenhead, Ainsdale & Eventually arriving into Southport.

Upon arriving in Preston, I have a brief window to photograph the iconic bus station, renowned for its Art Deco style. It appears impressive, albeit somewhat outdated. I thoroughly enjoyed my journey from Liverpool to Preston and eagerly anticipate my next bus ride towards Keswick, before catching my final bus to Carlisle. However, things don’t quite go as planned.

The route we took from Preston Bus Station was the 41 to Lancaster, operated by Stagecoach using Enviro 400 Classics from 2012. I quite like the Enviro 400, and it was a pleasant ride between Preston and Lancaster. I hope to ride on these buses again. If you would like me to embark on more epic adventures like this, let me know in the comments.

For me, the most exciting route comes next: catching the rather famous 555, again operated by Stagecoach Bus using the Enviro 400 MMC! This was such an interesting route as it ran between Lancaster, Windermere, and Keswick, travelling through some of the most beautiful scenery you will see on a bus!

The route its self goes along the M6 which for me was rather interesting, traveling along a Motorway on a Bus, the only time I have been on a Motorway on some kind of Public Transport has been on a Coach either on Rail Replacement or just out for an adventure. We make a couple of stops before heading towards Windermere Railway Station.

And now the interesting part of the journey as we make our second to last trip onboard the 544 towards Whiston then it continues onward to Carlisle again using classic Enviro 400 Scania models. However sadly this didn’t end so well with the bus starting to catch fire around its back breaks on the rear wheels. I have never been on a bus where that has actually happened before.

I was a bit anxious of what would be happening however thankfully there was another bus to whisk me all the way to Carlisle Bus Station and again another Enviro but this time it was an Enviro 300. I got chatting with the Driver and it turns out he used to live on the Wirral I believe somewhere in Irby or something similar.

Finally, I reached my destination by catching the last bus of the day, another Enviro 400 operated by Stagecoach. It was a wonderful trip, and I’m disappointed that I can’t share the video on YouTube because some people disliked it without reason. I also have a collection of photos from my journey around North Wales using the BWS1 Ticket!

Upon arriving in Carlisle, I made my way to the railway station, intending to take the train back to Liverpool for convenience. I have a fondness for Carlisle and hope to visit again in the future to explore the stations between Carlisle and Newcastle. This was an epic adventure, and I truly hope you embark on something similar. The total cost was £0, as I used my Disabled Pass for travel.

That’s all for this post. I really hope you enjoyed reading it. I’m planning to get out again and have some mega adventures by bus. My next idea is to travel down south and see how far I can get in a day. I have a rough idea to travel to Coventry. If you have any interesting ideas you’d like me to blog about, I would really appreciate it if you left me a comment.