For too long, holidaying by bus has been overlooked in Britain – but that may be changing
In the pecking order of British travel, coach holidays have long been regarded as the lowest of the low; the last resort.
Some of the prejudice is pertinent. We all have memories of seats cramped front and side, coaches that were clammy and pongy, and a subterranean loo that would have constricted Houdini – and getting to it was like navigating a bouncy castle made of pressed steel.
Your long-awaited Highland highlights tour was dulled by a rain-spattered window – unless you got the seat beside the pillar, in which case you saw nothing at all. Throw in a tiny TV with a snowy screen, dud Wi-Fi (if any), the driver’s favourite radio station and someone smuggling on a toasted blue cheese and kipper sandwich and you were in for a real treat.
But lots of working-class families got their first taste of the South of France and the Austrian Alps on whistlestop bus tours; before no-frills air travel, it was the only way to see anything other than the Costas.