If you’re taking a trip on the 477 bus, you’ll need to plan your journey carefully, because the timetable changes every day.
The 477 bus serves the famous Holy Island, also known as Lindisfarne, off the coast of Northumberland.
It’s one of the UK’s 43 ‘sometimes’ islands that are only accessible at low tide. As such, the timetable is dependent on when the causeway to the island isn’t submerged by water during high tide.
For example, if you want to travel to Holy Island on Wednesday July 2, you’d hop on the bus at the Causeway End stop, on the mainland, at 12:54am.
But if you did the same journey a week later, on Wednesday July 9, you’d have to go to the same bus stop at 10:54am instead.
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And crucially, you need to make sure you can get off the island, before the tide rises and you’re trapped.
The Met Office warns that ‘each year, lots of people get cut off by the tide and need to be rescued’ — and that’s certainly the case for Holy Island. Northumberland County Council say that ‘around 10 to 20 vehicles are stranded each year’ on the causeway.
The bus, which travels from Berwick-upon-Tweed, operates mainly on Wednesdays and Sundays, with some additional days thrown in on extra days. It usually makes one or two journeys per day.
Operated by Borders Buses, the 477 has been dubbed ‘baffling’ and ‘the world’s most confusing’ by YouTuber Tom Scott.
And, in a list of the 10 most beautiful bus routes in the UK, The Telegraph dubbed it ‘stupendously complicated’.
Reddit users have also confirmed that it’s no easy feat to plan a trip to Holy Island by bus, with one person advising travellers to ‘get a catapult’ instead.
Another said: ‘For the full experience I recommend you simply swim through the tide.’
Once visitors do make it onto Holy Island though, they’re in for a treat.
The island itself is beautiful, with the stunning ruins of Lindisfarne priory and Lindisfarne castle.
It’s rich with history. In 635AD Saint Aidan travelled from Iona and founded his monastery on the island, making it a centre point for Anglo-Saxon Christianity. The saint is buried here, and there’s a museum to explore too.
Sandham Bay, North Shore and Coves Haven are just some of the islands beaches to visit, and you can’t visit Holy Island without sampling some Lindisfarne Mead in the quaint village before you head back to the mainland.
Just make sure you check the bus timetable for your return journey, or you’ll be stuck there for the night.
UK train and bus routes 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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