If you live in Devon and fancy a day by the seaside, there’s a handy bus service that can take you to the coast.
But be sure to get to the bus stop on time — if you miss it, there won’t be another one for nine months.
The 112 bus from Tavistock to Dawlish only runs from April to September, on every fifth Saturday, when there is one in the month.
The unusual schedule means that there are only two return journeys per year. You’ve already missed the first for 2026, which was on May 31, but there is a second on the timetable for August 30.
The 16-seat mini bus departs from Tavistock at 9:05am, returning from Dawlish at 3:30pm, making 25 stops in total.
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Unsurprisingly, the quirky 112, which has been dubbed the ‘rarest bus in the world’ by the Telegraph, has become somewhat of a tourist attraction, so seats on the bus fill up quickly.
However, half of the seats are available to be pre-booked online, while the others are first come, first serve.
The service, run by Tavistock Country Bus, is powered completely by volunteers — which may explain why its so infrequent.
The famous route is also one of the UK’s most beautiful. The two hour journey passes through Dartmoor National Park, with stops in Princetown, home to the notorious HMP Dartmoor, and Ashburton, a market town recorded in the Domesday Book.
You can also alight at Two Bridges, and visit one of the UK’s rainforests, which is supposedly haunted by a ‘ghost dog’.
If none of these places take your fancy though, the 112 operates a ‘hail and ride’ system, meaning the bus will stop anywhere on the route, as long as its safe to do so.
Blogger, Roger French, who writes about his journeys on the UK’s public transport network, rode the 112 in May this year. He called it ‘a fabulous ride and a true quirky experience,’ adding that, if you want to claim your spot on the bus, you need to be prepared. ‘When I checked, there’s at least four names on the waiting list in case a cancellation comes up,’ he said.
Meanwhile, writer Matt Harrison, completed a Year of Buses series back in 2019, in which he catalogued 365 bus routes around the UK. He called the 112 ‘an eccentric and completely bonkers set-up’
UK bus routes and train trips to have on your radar
- The UK’s cheapest train ticket costs just 10p, but it doesn’t really get you anywhere. A ‘Platform Ticket’ grants you access to the station platform for 60 minutes after being issued. They’re not valid on trains and are only good for the station where they were issued.
- Flixbus has launched a new route connecting London and Brighton for as little as £4.49. The twice-daily FlixBus service, which welcomed its first passengers on June 13, does take a little longer than the train at around 2 hours and 25 minutes, but is considerably cheaper than most train fares to the seaside.
- The stretch of railway between Settle, North Yorkshire, and Carlisle in Cumbria claimed the number one spot on Lonely Planet’s list of the most scenic train rides in Europe. The journey through the Yorkshire Dales passes the Ribblehead Viaduct and stops at several charming countryside stations.
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