Half term is just a couple of weeks away, so we're going to run a few posts looking at our region's main tourist attractions and how best to get to them without a car.
We start today with Paultons Park.
The theme park near Ower is ideal for a day out with children. Just one bus route serves the area: Salisbury Reds X7 which runs from central Southampton to Salisbury. Timetable here. It also runs past both Southampton Central and Totton railway stations, providing a convenient interchange (but no integrated ticketing with the trains) for passengers travelling from a bit further afield.
You can travel to the door of Paultons Park on weekdays during Wiltshire school holidays and on Saturdays whenever the park is open. Only two journeys a day run via the park itself, one to get you there and one to get you back. To get there, you'd need to get the 1105 bus from Southampton, calling at Central Station (stop SB) at 1109:
and Totton at 1122
which arrives at this stop outside Paultons Park at 1131:
Having enjoyed your day out, get back to that stop for the bus back towards Southampton at 1622, which gets to Totton at 1634, Central Station at 1645 and West Quay at 1652.
All other journeys on route X7, including all buses on schooldays, don't run to the above stop, but use these stops on Romsey Road, a short walk from the main entrance:
Click here for the Nextbuses departure board for the stop on the right, for buses to Totton and Southampton.
Route X7 runs a limited service on Sundays or bank holidays, but only during the summer. We'll let you know when it starts up again. Once the clocks go back in October, there is no Sunday service at all.
Most of us will need to change buses (probably in Southampton City Centre or Totton) in order to get there, so what fare deals are available?
The X7 is operated by Salisbury Reds, which is Bluestar's sister company (them both being part of the Go-Ahead group), so if you only need to use Bluestar buses to connect with the X7, you can use a Bluestar Explorer (£8 Adults, £5 U16s, £18 Group of 5 people) to get you there and back home again.
If you need to use any other bus company (except Xelabus) to connect with the X7, or if you're travelling without children, then you'd probably be better off with a Solent Travelcard (£7.50 per person) which can be used on the buses of any operator (except Xelabus) in the rather large zone detailed on their website. Paultons Park is right at the edge of the zone.
A full interactive journey planner, can be found at Traveline.
Let us know your experiences of and thoughts on visiting Paultons Park by bus, by leaving a comment below.
In the next few posts, we'll look at getting to other local attractions by bus, including Marwell Zoo, the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu, Exbury Gardens and more.
I need to go from Southampton to Tatchbury Mount on Monday 2 July, arriving by 10am. It used to be two buses, one into the city centre and one out to the hospital in Loperwood Lane, taking 1h 15m in all. Now it appears I cannot get there by that time at all, and whenever I choose to go I'll need three buses! Please someone tell me I've got it wrong, this cannot be true.
ReplyDeleteApologies for the late reply. There is a Bluestar 10 leaving West Quay at 0855, arriving at Cadnam at 0939, before turning into a Bluestar 11 and leaving Cadnam at 0952, arriving at Tatchbury Mount Hospital at 1001. That's the earliest you can get there by bus. http://www.buscms.com/uploadedfiles/BlueStar/pdfs/bs1011.pdf
ReplyDeleteI need get a bus from southampton central train station by 11am on saturday 3 october to Paultons Park. Which bus route should i get and how much for adult and child?
ReplyDeletesame ^^
ReplyDeleteMarch 16 Please can u tell me the times of buses travelling to Paulton Park the last three weekdays before Easter. I will hope to board the bus from Soton rail station mid late am and also travel back from the park 4 ish to Southampton rail station to return to Christchurch. Many thanks.
ReplyDeleteseptember 17th please can u tell me the times of buses travelling to paultons park from ston train station. i would hope to get the bus from ston earlyiest possible and travel back from paultons around 5pm back to ston station, many thanks
ReplyDeleteHello which bus do I need to get outside the train station and how much ?? Thank you
ReplyDeleteIf you read the article you have commented on, you will find the answers to your questions. This site is independent of the bus companies, so you'll need to contact Salisbury Reds for details of single fares.
ReplyDeleteHi we live in gosport and was wondering the best way to get to Paultons park by public transport thankyou
ReplyDeleteFirst X5 bus from Gosport to Southampton and then Salisbury Reds X7 or Gardbus 139 from there to Paulton's. Solent Go day tickets at £8 will cover the whole journey.
ReplyDeleteHI - trying to get to paultons park from southampton train station , by public transport on the the bank holiday sunday and monday in a few days ??? any help please local ppl or is it £100 on taxi fares the only way ???
ReplyDeleteHi Daddy Pig, Xelabus X24 will provide a Saturday, Sunday and bank holiday service to Paulton's Park, but it doesn't start running until Saturday 23rd May. Until then, buses run to Paulton's Park on Mondays to Saturdays only on Salisbury Reds X7/X7R.
ReplyDeleteThe bus service is awful,with the latest bus leaving the park at just after 4pm, when the park is open later often beyond 6pm, and to leave it and wait for a bus at the end of the road dont help as there is only one more that goes later to southampton. The bus service is the only thing that spoils a trip to Paultons Park, I now get bus out and have to pay the stupid taxi fare for the return as there is no other option or leave very early which again seems daft as the cost of tickets to the park you want to get money worth.
ReplyDeleteneeds a later bus leaving the park at just after 4pm is daft when the parkis open beyond 6pm, the only option is a taxi back to southampton as the service is poor even if you walk to end of lane as there is only one more later. For such a big tourist attraction the bus service is appaling.
ReplyDelete