When is a bus not a bus?
When it's a coach, of course. In the UK, people use the term coach when they mean intercity buses, longer distance tour buses and special express excursion buses -- from town centers to distant airports, for example. Get used to asking for the coach terminal, coach station or coach stops if that's what you mean. Otherwise, you could find yourself directed to local transportation when you want to go across the country.
Local transportation
Buses, on the other hand, are always local. In addition to London's familiar, red, double decker buses, all UK cities have some kind of local bus service - many with double decker buses as well. There are also dozens of country bus services.In the past, I'd always found local buses among the greatest mysteries for a visitor. How do you find the stop? Will it pass the places you want to go? Do you need exact change? Yet taking an ordinary public bus is a very cheap way for a visitor to have a good look around.
Thank goodness for the internet! Figuring out bus schedules, finding bus routes and fare prices is much easier for visitors nowadays.
A little knowledge about where to find the best and most up-to-date information is all you need. Let's take a look first at sources of UK Intercity coach travel information.
