On 25 Sep, 00:02, Peter Heather wrote:

Try the 409 from East Croydon Station. It's a long lived survivor from
LT Country Bus days and still goes to East Grinstead, miles out in the
country, albeit via a very slightly different route these days. It's
surprising how quickly you leave behind the very urban feel of Croydon
as it trundles through leafy suburbs and heads off through very
sparsly populated areas and zig zags across Surrey picking up various
towns otherwise unserved by any buses at all. It even at one point
back-tracks on itself along the same road in the Farleigh area! It's
usually a single deck vehicle, although double deckers are sometimes
used - despite the fact that it it usually only has a couple of people
on board. Allow yourself plenty of time as it must be one of the
slowest ways of getting anywhere, which is why almost no one uses it,
apart from the fact that it only runs once an hour and stops running
at about 6p.m. and not at all on Sundays. Welcome to public transport
outside London!

I quite often do almost the whole route, East Croydon Station to East
Grinstead High Street, on Saturdays. I don't do it as often as I used
to, because recently I have been doing my projectionist thing on many
Saturdays. I may well go tomorrow; I will be at my main job next
Saturday, and then projecting for the next three, so I won't be free
again until at least the end of October.

The last bus back from East Grinstead was at 16:50 until recently, but
I think it runs a few minutes later now.

What was the reason for it returning to Metrobus after just a short
time with Southdown PSV? I'm doubtful how long this route will
survive; it seems to load very lightly. It's £5 return from Croydo to
East Grinstead.

For a short journey, the 405 to Redhill can be quite a pleasant ride.
I want to do the route from East Grinstead to Tonbridge one day;
basically it's the replacement for the old railway.

I'd also like to nominate a couple of routes that are nowhere near
London, so a bit OT.

Firstly, there's the X20 from Stratford-upon-Avon to Birmingham.
There used be be a X50 route a few years ago from Stratford to Oxford,
but that doesn't seem to run now, except for a couple of trips on
Sundays.

Lastly, to get even further from London, the MTA route S79 in New
York. This runs from outside the Subway station one stop before the
terminus of the R line in Brooklyn and almost immediately crosses the
Verrazano Narrows Bridge to Staten Island; that's why it's a 'S'
route, not a 'B'. It runs to Staten Island Mall, near the centre of
the Island. As I said, a long way from London but well worth doing if
you happen to be over there. The Subway fare is $2 (about £1 now),
but you then get a free transfer to the bus with a Metrocard, so the
whole journey is only $2, even if you started from a subway station
right up in the Bronx. How's that for value?

peter wrote:
I was travelling on the W3 the other day past Alexandra Palace, which
has great views across London, and I got to thinking - has anybody
compiled a list of scenic London bus journeys (not the central London
tourist sights, which are well documented)?

My initial contribution - in no way exhaustive - would be:

20 - North Circular Road to Loughton
43/134/263 - Highgate to Archway (this direction only, and only if
you're sitting in the front)
65 - Kew to Kingston
111 - Kingston to Hampton
210 - Archway to Golders Green, though it is compromised by being a
single deck route
251 - Totteridge to Mill Hill (again loses marks for being single
deck)
275 - Chingford Mount to Woodford
307 - Enfield to Cockfosters
W3 - Wood Green to Crouch End

A fairly blatant northern bias, because that's where I live!

Any additions?

My favourites:

H2 - Hampstead Garden Suburb circular
H3 - Golders Green to Hilltop

Quite "fun" hail and ride routes passing by some nice residential areas.
The H3 also cuts round the top part of Hampstead Heath before running
down The Bishops Avenue which must be one of London's wealthiest roads.

--
Phil Richards, London, UK
3,600+ railway photos since 1980 at:
http://europeanrail.fotopic.net
http://britishrail.fotopic.net