Xmas and New Year buses / Maps

Bluestar & Unilink have announced their plans for Christmas and New Year. Click here for details.

One of the things that can put many people off using buses is that they aren't sure where they go. New at the bottom of this page is a list of bus routes in our region. Press Control and F and then type in the area you want to travel to/from and your browser will jump to the routes serving that area. Next you'll want to know exactly where in that area the buses run and for that you'll need a map. There are several to choose from, unfortunately not all are kept up-to-date. Here's a run-through of the maps you have at your disposal:

Hampshire County Council's county-wide map is out-of-date (June 2009) but useful for planning longer journeys outside the city. Just double-check with the bus operator before travelling.

The county council also have some town-centre maps with more detail covering the following areas in our region: Holbury, Blackfield, Fawley & Calshot, Eastleigh & Hedge End, Hythe, New Forest and Totton. Romsey has its own complete travel guide booklet. Some details on those maps are out-of-date, so double-check with the operator before travelling.

Southampton City Council's map covers all operators, but is out-of-date.

Eastleigh Borough Council's map is so out-of-date that I refuse to link to it. Use the County Council's Eastleigh & Hedge End map instead.

Standards vary hugely between the bus operators when it comes to mapping their routes in our region. Bluestar have an at-a-glance network map plus town centre maps for Southampton, Eastleigh, Hedge End, Totton, Hythe and Winchester. There is also a more detailed map for each individual route. First have this and that map, both uselessly and unprofessionally out-of-date. Unilink have this network map. Velvet uses hi-tech, zoomable Google maps to show us their routes. No maps however from Brijan Tours, Dorset Sprinter, Stagecoach or Wilts & Dorset covering their services in our area.