I went on a magical two-hour bus journey from Bristol and it only cost me £2

‘Can you go out for the day, catch a bus and see how far you can travel for £2,’ came the request from my editor.

Looking at the perilous state of my bank account at the end of a long, hard month, it was a quite a relief that it was just the £2 and I still had some change jangling about in my pocket.

I’m a frequent bus user and I’m used to paying £6 for an all-day ticket to get around Bristol but quite how far I could get beyond the city for £2 was going to be a challenge.

With my two shiny £1 coins, I hot-footed it to the Bristol bus station and waited for the 376 bus, which travels up the Wells Road to Whitchurch and then through Mendip villages like Pensford, Clutton, Farrington Gurney and Chewton Mendip before going to Wells, Glastonbury and then Street.

That’s a long journey by bus - Bristol bus station to Street takes two hours, sometimes more depending on traffic and how many passengers it picks up along the way.

As I waited for the bus, I was still unconvinced that my £2 would get me much further than the Bristol boundary. After all, a single bus trip in the city is that price even if you’re going a couple of stops.

I queued with a handful of other passengers, most of whom seemed old enough to be using free bus passes anyway. When it came to my turn to talk to the driver, I was quite nervous when I boldly asked for ‘a £2 single please’ without stating the actual destination.

The driver didn’t say anything - do they ever? - and off reeled the paper ticket for £2. Without asking, the destination stated ‘Green Lane Avenue’ which I had to look up on my phone. It was a street in, ahem, Street.

So, the £2 capped fare I had heard about DID exist after all, but you need to know about it first as there isn’t much information about it.

I looked around the bus and I couldn’t spot any advertisements for this great value £2 single fare, which will take you on a magical ‘Mendip Xplorer’ bus journey that takes you through some stunning countryside to Somerset’s largest village and the home of Clarks shoes (some of the old factory buildings now form part of the Clarks Village retail park and museum).

A picturesque two-hour bus journey for just £2 is outstanding value and it’s part of a discounted bus fare scheme run by the Government which is separate to West of England Combined Authority’s own similar capping scheme.

The scheme will be in place until the end of October this year and it’s too good a bargain not to take advantage of this summer.

Of course, it cost me £2 to come back to Bristol but was still the best £4 I’ve spent for ages and I can’t wait to do it again. Even better, the editor was paying.