Scarborough: 'I went for a day out at the seaside and I was surprised to find the bus journey was the best part of my day'

Many people head to the coast via coach or car and choose between the North Bay or South Bay for the day.

That’s until you experience the coastal town by bus, which enables you to travel from bay to bay in style, says our reporter Sophie Mei Lan Malin.

Transport isn’t merely a means to an end, it connects people and places and as they say it’s about the journey not the destination.

The journey can be memorable, sometimes for positive reasons and sometimes for the negative. We’ve all had not so pleasant memories of pungent aromas polluting the atmosphere on crowded buses in hot weather due to fellow passengers’ bodily odours and, then we’ve had the positive experiences, the new acquaintances you’ve met or the places you’ve visited after a glitch-free journey.

Let’s face it, however, with our public transport system the latter is rare.

Normally my favourite mode of transport is via foot which is what I would have done on a child-free day out in Scarborough. As it's the school holidays, some of the kids came which meant we needed to keep walking to a minimum.

We had caught two trains to reach the Yorkshire Coast, where we arrived into Scarborough train station onto the platform which is home to the world’s longest railway bench at 456-foot (139 metre) in length.

Right outside the station are plenty of bus stops but I was determined to at least walk down to the beach through the town centre because it’s downhill.

I love looking at the market hall and the vaults as well as wandering down some of the narrow cobbled streets to arrive at the beach with the famous Grand Hotel looming over the cliff edge.

With only a few hours before we had to be at North Bay for our booking at the newly reopened Alpamare water park, we crammed in as much as we could from our must-do list such as the amusement arcade, a bag of chips and a walk along the beach.

We had an hour spare to get to North Bay for our booking at Alpamare water park and the kids didn’t fancy the walk. With no car, I checked taxis but with all the traffic it seemed pointless. I had spotted regular buses passing across the front so I thought we’d hop on one.

I showed the kids how I had always checked bus times and directions by asking people and looking at bus stop timetables rather than relying on apps like they do now.

Within minutes a Shoreline suncruiser pulled up. It cost £3 for me and £2 per child with the bus running from the spa to the North Bay daily.

Initially with the pushchair we sat downstairs with stunning window views of the beach as we shuffled along the seafront in the traffic. Until I realised it was an open top bus. Quickly I folded up the pram and off upstairs we went.

It is cheaper than a lot of standard buses back home and definitely cheaper than the London open top sightseeing bus. We had the perfect view as we chuntered along in the traffic with photo opportunities galore.

As we picked up some speed once the traffic had subsided past Luna Park, we had spectacular views of Scarborough castle with the wind breezing through our hair.

It was one of the only bus journey’s where I’ve longed for more traffic to be able to capture the coast.

We cruised along the road at the edge of North Bay Beach.

It was a real treat to experience Scarborough from high up with the beach stretching along our magnificent route.

We hopped off at the stop opposite Peasholm Park near to where the Yorkshire Coastliner also stops. Here there are plenty of l things to do whether it be a walk through the oriental themed park or relaxing in a beach hut, visiting the Sea Life centre or heading across the road to North Bay railway and the Open Air Theatre. For us it was a short but steep walk uphill to Alpamare.

Following a fun couple of hours it was time to make our way back to the train station. We spotted that the Beachcomber bus not only drives along the coast connecting the north and south bays but it also now stops right outside the train station.

For the Beachcomber a day pass is £7 or single £4.

Again we had a brilliant birds eye view of Scarborough right up to the Spa before the bus winded its way uphill to the station via the Grand Hotel, Rotunda Museum and art gallery. It gave me a chance to enjoy hidden gems I hadn’t previously appreciated.

Whether you drive, catch a train, coach or bus to get to Scarborough, make sure you travel by bus during your day.