Joy as open-top bus service returns with £1.50 fares

The Coastal Clipper Cabriolet service can be used free with bus passes or has a £1.50 fare cap, making it potentially the cheapest open-top bus ride in the country

A tourist body has welcomed the seasonal return of an open-top bus, describing it as one of the cheapest attractions in a Norfolk seaside town.

First Eastern Counties now has six Coastal Clipper Cabriolets running from Hemsby to the Pleasure Beach.

While several towns offer sightseeing tourist buses, the Coastal Clipper Cabriolet service has a £1.50 fare and can even be accessed for free with certain bus passes.

Asa Morrison, chief executive of Visit Great Yarmouth, said: "The Coastal Clipper Cabriolet post was one of the most-liked Facebook posts we had this year and had a number of comments from people looking forward to going on it in 2025."

Michael Wilson said the regular fares made it a great way to take in the views of the Norfolk coast

Michael Wilson, visiting from Sheffield, said: "It's value for me. You see everything from one side to the other. It's very good for them to be regular."

Gill Pawson, from Norwich, said: "We don't have to pay at all because we've got our bus passes. It's fabulous and such nice weather today. We've picked the right day for a beach walk."

Shelley Wilson, on holiday from Essex, said: "It's a really cheap day out, especially when you have got a lot of kids. Can't really get better than an open-top bus. Loving life!"

Claire Quinton-Tulloch, from First Bus, said open-top buses were a popular part of seaside holidays in Great Yarmouth

First Bus spokesperson Claire Quinton-Tulloch said: "It's such a lovely traditional British holiday experience riding an open top bus. It's just a lovely thing for this place and these tourists.

"I think it's so incredibly popular and well loved here, with the large [holiday] parks to the north of the town and the length of the seafront, just lends itself well to having a service like this.

"Because there's so many visitors, it's an incredibly busy tourist place in the summer months, but there's a lot of people needing to move around the town."

'A little gem'

Asa Morrison, the chief executive of Visit Great Yarmouth, said when he highlighted on social media that the service was starting for the season, it was the most engaged post so far this year.

"It's a little gem, it's part of the holiday experience, and I think because we are in Norfolk, we don't have anything blocking the view, and it's a pretty good view from the top of that bus.

"The fact that the route follows the holiday parks creates a brilliant service for local people - but it wouldn't be there if it weren't for the huge number of visitors we get."

Driver and depot staffing manager Keith Wakefield said passengers were more relaxed on the open-topper

While Norwich, Cambridge and Southend have tourist sightseeing buses that run on special fares and allow passengers to hop on and hop off at attractions, only Great Yarmouth and Clacton have regular services in the East, accessible via capped fares and bus passes.

Ipswich Buses withdrew its open-top bus, which used to operate from Woodbridge to Felixstowe via Ipswich, in 2019.

Keith Wakefield, head of staffing at the Great Yarmouth Bus Depot, said: "They [Tourists] are on holiday, they want to enjoy the ride rather than just sit and read the paper and talking on their phones.

"It does help because of the £3 capped fare from the government, because then the people are getting the cheap [fare] and thrill of the ride."