Plymouth Transportation

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I wanted to visit Royal William Yard which is situated on the outskirts of the city centre in Stonehouse and a bus ride is required. I caught the no. 34 Plymouth City Bus from Royal Parade in the City Centre to the destination. It cost me 1.30 gbp (one way) and took me approximately 10 minutes. If you're planning to make a number of trips during your time in Plymouth it could be worth investing in either dayrider tickets and period passes.

The Plymouth City Bus company provides Plymouth's local bus service.

You can find out further information about the city's local bus services and obtaining bus timetable and maps at the city centre's travel centre. The address is: 3rd Floor Debenhams, Royal Parade, Plymouth.

Theatre Royal – Old George Street

Located next to the Theatre Royal and Civic Centre, close to west end shops and well placed for Plymouth Hoe. This is a multi-storey car park with toilets.

Pay on exit

Long Stay

Capacity: 612 cars

Monday to Saturday: 8:00 am to 12:00 pm

3 Hours: £3.60

Old George Street, Plymouth PL1 2TG

July 2011

Plymouth's bus and coach station is located at Bretonside, a few minutes walk from the city centre and is serviced mainly by National Express with regular services from London and elsewhere around the country. The Bretonside Bus Station is also the hub for local services around Devon and Cornwall and is fairly well organised with easy to read timetables and information boards.

For city bus services see next tip or 2nd website.

PS Don't be put off on arrival by the homeless guys hanging around or sleeping on the benches they are usually pretty harmless!

Cremyll Passenger ferry takes you between Stonehouse in Plymouth and Cremyll, Mount Edgecombe in Cornwall. There is a free carpark at Admirals Hard, on the Plymouth side.

The Ferry only takes 7 minutes & costs £1.00 each way.

First ferry of the day starts at 06.50, service finishes at 20.15

You get wonderful views on the revevelopement of the impressive Royal William Yard. Which used to be a navel base which is now a top notch housing developement.

A VT member asked about 7 day bus Explorer travel cards. I am informed by the 'Western National' bus company that they are available from and WN bus driver, and cost (6 Mar 01) £UK 29.50. They will allow travel within parts of Plymouth and on WN bus routes within Cornwall.

First Western National appear not to have a website, but you can look here for ravel information: Bus Information in Devon and Cornwall Just enter your departure point in the search box, and follow the instructions.

First Western National,
Attention of TIS)
Union Street, CAMBORNE Cornwall TR14 8HS

Telephone Number: 01208 79898.

Now how did a picture of 'Buck' get on here? Haha.

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The River Tamar provides the natural border between the counties of Devon and Cornwall. There are several spectacular road and rail bridges which connect the two including the Calstock Viaduct and the Brunel-designed Royal Albert Bridge but for travelling from Plymouth to the Cornish South Coast the Tamar ferries make for a shorter journey.

There are two ferries running from Plymouth across the river - The Cremyll foot passenger ferry (1st website) and the vehicle and foot passenger Torpoint ferry (2nd website).

The Cremyll boat shuttles between Admiral's Hard in Plymouth's Stonehouse suburb and Mt Edgcumbe on the outskirts of the town of Cremyll. This is a cute little ferry which can carry about 30 passengers at a time and the crossings are every 15 minutes during the day with a crossing time of about 7 minutes. Local bus services on either side are timed to connect with the ferry and so you can soon be on your way to whichever destination you are headed.

The Torpoint Ferry is the UK's busiest river crossing, carrying over two million vehicles a year. This is a much more industrial operation with 3 chain-driven ferries plying the route and a peak frequency of every 10 minutes. This operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, although nightime and Christmas period frequencies are half-hourly. If travelling this route by public transport the bus actually goes across on the ferry and you can pop out to stretch your legs during the crossing.

The bus connections for both ferries are the "First" company's service #81 and the easiest route planner is that on www.travelinesw.com

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Plymouth's ferry port services the Brittany Ferries boats to (and from) Roscoff and Santander. The terminal is located at Millbay docks, just off Union Street, about a 15 minute walk west from the city centre.

From the train station it is about 20 minutes walking or alternatively the First Group #4 bus stops just before the roundabout at the start of Union Street, from which it is about 5 minutes walk.

The terminal is open roughly 9 to 5 every day and an hour or so before departures.

There's only basic facilities such as a cafe, bureau de change and toilets but there are a couple of pubs, cafes and fast-food places on Union Street and the road leading down to the docks.

For foot passengers there's a short covered walkway directly onto the ferries and boarding, security and passport control are usually swift and hassle-free.

The City of Plymouth has an excellent local bus service radiating out from The Royal Parade in the city centre covering all the city and suburban areas and even tentacling out into country areas such as Wembury to the east and St Budeaux, in the shadow of the Tamar Bridge looking across the river to Cornwall, to the west.

If you are spending some time in Plymouth and want to get out and about around the city and its immediate environs then a good option is the Dayrider from City Bus which is valid from purchase until the last service that day on all City Bus services with no limit to the number of journeys (tho' note it is NOT valid on the rival Stagecoach services who offer a similar ticket but without the extensive network).

And a couple of small addendi: most of the City Buses are "Low-riders" thus allowing disabled and push-chair access too. Drivers are generally friendly and helpful and all-in-all it really is a good service :-)