First & last buses

The single most expensive mistake in bus travel is misreading the last bus time. Here's how to get it right.

The trap: “last bus” times are for the first stop

When a route page says the last bus is at 23:15, that's when it leaves the start of the route. If you board halfway along, your last bus passes later than that — but if you're travelling to the end of the route, the last bus that gets you all the way home may be an earlier journey, because some late journeys terminate short.

Always check the full timetable column for the journey you plan to catch, and confirm it reaches your stop.

How to check on this site

• Every stop page shows the first and last departure from that exact stop, today.
• Every route page has the full timetable with every journey and every stop.
• Sunday and bank-holiday service is usually sparser — check the Sunday tab, not just weekdays.

Night buses

Outside London, true night buses are rare — most towns' networks wind down between 23:00 and midnight. Journeys that run after midnight appear in timetables with times like 24:30 (i.e. 00:30). If your plans run late, screenshot the timetable and have a taxi fallback.

Bank holidays

Most operators run a Sunday service on bank holidays and reduced or no service on Christmas Day and New Year's Day — but this varies by operator, so check their website on holiday weeks.