Getting about this summer with Stagecoach

Having finally passed my driving test this summer, I’ve been super excited about getting out and about. Yet with the rising cost of living, diesel and parking fees sometimes are ridiculously high for a day out. Every penny counts right now, and we’re trying to stretch the budget out as far as we can so we can squeeze lots of adventures into the summer.

Oren has been asking to go on a bus again for ages – it’s fun in itself for little ones, and it’s been a while since we’ve done it. We teamed up with Stagecoach for their Bus Trip Challenge, they challenged us to use Stagecoach buses in our local area to get out and about for a day.

I spent a bit of time on their Journey Planner, figuring out where we wanted to go for the day. It was really easy to use, and was a great way to get some ideas. After a bit of looking, a lot of talking it over between the kiddos and me, we settled on a trip to the zoo. We were pleased to find that there is a bus that goes right to the Zoo entrance – one thing I remember from not driving is how often buses don’t actually go where you want and you end up having to walk miles after the bus ride to get there!

As luck would have it, the X1 service runs from Chester to Liverpool, with a stop by the main entrance. While we got off at the zoo, it’s good to know how easy {and cheap} it would be to go all the way to Liverpool for a day out!

We were up and on early, wanting to get to the Zoo for opening time so we had plenty of time to explore. Oren was very excited waiting for the bus to arrive! Once it arrived we hopped on board, found a good seat and sat back to enjoy the journey. I actually remembered how nice it can be to travel by bus – especially now I am used to having to concentrate on the driving!

The discussions on the way there focused on what we wanted to see – Monkeys, Elephants, Lemurs, Bats and Tapirs seemed to be the most popular suggestions.

It’s a long walk around the zoo – so we stopped for ice creams to perk us all back up again and give us enough energy for the rest of the day!

After our ice-creams we enjoyed a boat ride around the islands. It was a welcome break to sit down and rest our feet by that point!

At the end of the day, the boys were as excited about the bus journey as they were the zoo. And it was good to realise how affordable the bus can be – it’s a great way to stretch your budget out. A tank of diesel costs me almost £100 now, and not everywhere has free car parks! We’ll definitely be doing some more bus trips over the summer!

This post is a collaboration with Stagecoach, but all thoughts and experiences are my own