What seems like a relaxing way to spend a Saturday with a 4 year old and a 2 year old?? How about travelling across the country to spend the day at Chester Zoo by coach?! (blog post on Chester Zoo can be found here)
It seemed like a good idea at the time, but with an early start leading to grumpy grown-ups and a new mode of transport leading to overexcited children, it could have been a loooooong day! However, once we all got settled, we had a really comfortable and enjoyable journey to Chester.
So, what did we like about the journey:
Booster Seats
This got a big thumbs up from the little ones, even causing an argument over them!! You cannot book them prior to travel, but the coach going to Chester had 2 available and the one coming back had 1 available and they were very comfortable – apparently!!
Power sockets
Each pair of seats has a power socket to share and so using your phone/tablet is much easier to do. It has a 3 pin plug as opposed to a USB port, so make sure you bring your plug as well as wire!!
Seats
The seats were surprisingly comfortable and not what I was expecting at all. As you can see, they are leather and have a decent amount of legroom. Each seat has a seatbelt (legally, you must wear the seatbelt) which makes the journey feel even safer.
Friendly drivers
On the commentary, the driver going to Chester Zoo seemed genuinely excited to be taking a lot of passengers there and he even talked about some of the animals you could see when approaching the coach stop!! We had a folding pushchair with us, and the drivers insisted on putting the luggage into the coach hold – all you have to do is fold it down and they do the rest.
Last and most importantly,
You can sit and interact with your child
Especially being a single parent, when going by car on a long journey, it is difficult to talk to and interact with your child sat in the back seat. You can spend some quality time with your little one sitting together on a coach. This means you can have fun, chat, play games and, most importantly, make memories.
All in all, it was a very long and tiring day in the sun. It certainly meant that the little ones had a good night’s sleep!! One thing that would have been really difficult was if we had to change coaches on the way home. However, due to the number of routes National Express operate, it is more likely than not, there is a direct service to the place you want to go.
Would we go again by National Express? Absolutely, especially when it gives you the chance to explore the country at a reasonable price.
Full Disclaimer: We were offered free travel for the purposes of this post, although no influence has been made to alter the content of the post.
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I love National Express because you do t have to catch a feeder coach once you are on you are on x me and my hubby have been to St Ives a couple of times and your luggage is put on the coach and delivered to your hotel room door fabulous x helpful friendly and most enjoyable x
Can i ask how long it took on the coach to st ives please as i am looking to go but my youngest gets travel sick .
Could you send me some dates that are coming up and how to book