Last weekend we enjoyed a family day out travelling from Stoke on Trent to Manchester by National Express coach.
Disclosure: #AD This is a paid collaboration with National Express. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This post also contains affiliate links – any purchase you make are unaffected but I may receive a small commission
Stoke to Manchester with National Express
I will be honest, we usually travel by camper van or by train for the majority of our UK breaks, but travelling by rail can be pretty expensive for a family of five, particularly if our tickets are not purchased in advance. The last time I travelled by coach was when I was about 16. I travelled to Spain for a holiday with one of my oldest friends and her family. I actually have really fond memories of the journey. It was a long journey – yes, but not unpleasant, and I have lovely memories of that holiday. That being said, I have never really considered travelling by coach with my children, so I was interested to experience coach travel as it is today.
We love to travel to Manchester from Stoke-on-Trent. The journey is fairly short and there is so much for the kids to do, one day is never long enough. I used to work in Manchester, so it is a familiar city and therefore pretty easy to navigate around.
The National Express coached arrived at Hanley Bus Station in Stoke on Trent and was actually early, allowing us to get our seat and settle in before we set off. We opted for the 9.15 departure time to give us a full day in Manchester. The coach stopped off at Manchester airport before arriving at Manchester coach station, Chorlton Street at around 10.45.
I was a little worried about parking and finding out where to pick up the coach at Hanley bus station. We decided to park at Birch Terrace and we paid £8 to park the car for a day. The car park is positioned near to Hanley bus station and it is well signposted.
Coach travel with kids
Children are welcome to travel with National Express coaches. You may be wondering if you have to bring your child’s car seat along with you? In fact it is strongly recommended that you bring a child car seat appropriate to your child’s age, but you have to take responsibility to fit the seat yourself.
If your child is aged between approximately 4 years and 11 years (or up to 150cm tall) National Express provide booster seats. There are also toilets onboard and you are able to bring on two pieces of luggage, and one carry-on. We only had hand luggage for our day trip but we did bring the travel stroller with us without any problems.
A family of five travelling from Stoke to Manchester cost £35.80 return including booking fee. You can also pay £2 per person to reserve your seat. We didn’t do this, but I would definitely reserve seats next time as the coach did get busy.
I packed a small bag with a few of our best travel toys and activities for kids including a Kindle Fire, activity books and some colouring books to keep them occupied for the journey. There are power sockets available to charge your devices. There is also air-conditioning, the leather seats are extremely comfortable and the National Express free WiFi is a treat. There is also an on-board entertainment app, VUER, which provides hours of free TV, film and magazine content.
Things to do in and around Manchester with kids
There are so many fun things to do in Manchester with kids. We made our way to the Science and Industry Museum. It is free entry (a donation is appreciated) and provides hours of fun for children of all ages. We also took part in the organised craft activities during our visit. I can highly recommend eating at the bistro on the first floor. We ordered the vegetarian middle eastern burger which was delicious and there is a dedicated children’s menu that includes a soft drink, main meal and ice cream for £6.50.
Address: Science and Industry Museum, Liverpool Road Manchester M3 4FP (open 10-5pm)
Another option is the Manchester Museum, which is extremely family friendly. You can visit their dedicated gallery for under 5’s – Nature Discovery, where children can explore the natural world.
The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, Greater Manchester, M13 9PL
A little further afield is the Legoland Discovery Centre. Located at the Trafford Centre, the LEGOLAND Discovery Centre is an amazing indoor LEGO playground specially designed for children aged 3-10 to enjoy.
Address: Barton Square, The Trafford Centre, Manchester, Greater Manchester, M17 8AA
We also wandered around Manchester, exploring Spinningfields, Manchester Cathedral, and strolling around Deansgate.
National Express – environment and climate change
- National Express is the UK’s largest coach operator serving over 540 locations across the country.
- Continual investment means the average age of the National Express fleet is 3 years old and any vehicles purchased since summer 2014 meet the latest standards for engine emissions (Euro 6)
- Travelling by coach is the most environmentally friendly form of public transport – generating up to five times less Co2 per passenger than the average car journey.
- National Express’ policy is to not leave engines running for prolonged periods of time so vehicles are fitted with a mechanism that automatically switches off the engine after 5 minutes idling.
You can book tickets to National Express here, and also find out a little more information about destinations, coach stations, timetables and frequently asked questions.
Like this post about our day trip to Manchester with National express? why not pin for later
Disclosure: #AD This is a paid collaboration with National Express. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This post also contains affiliate links – any purchase you make are unaffected but I may receive a small commission
Leave a Reply