Find buses from Manchester to Bristol

Buses from Manchester to Bristol are plentiful, as this is a busy route. You’ll find roughly 28 buses a day on most days of the week, with Fridays and Sundays offering roughly 23. This gives you around 180 trips per week. During busier times of the year, around the holiday periods, there can be as many as about 35 a day. On a typical day, the schedule is weighted towards the late afternoon peak hours, with buses leaving simultaneously or about 5-10min apart at these times. During off-peak hours, buses to Bristol from Manchester leave every 20min or so, with a roughly hour-long gap between trains in the mid-afternoon.

The first buses from Manchester to Bristol typically leave at around 04:10, operated by National Express. These take about 5h 55min, requiring one connection in Birmingham. They’re followed by a few from Megabus at around 04:45. These take between 4h 10min and 4h 55min, with two travelling directly to Bristol and the other two also making a connection in Birmingham. The last buses to Bristol from Manchester are in the early evening, when you’ll usually find two departing at about 19:30, both operated by Megabus. They take roughly 4h 05min and 4h 20min, respectively, both travelling directly. The last commuter buses of the work day leave at around 16:55, taking about 5h 55min to make the journey to Bristol.

Buses from Manchester to Bristol depart either from Manchester Coach Station or Manchester Victoria Station. It will take you about 1min to get to Manchester Bus Station from the city centre – catch an Arriva UK No. 263 or a Stagecoach South Lancashire No. 85 or 86 bus. Manchester Victoria Station is a little further out from central Manchester; it will take you about 8min to reach on the No. 33B bus from The Unicorn, Manchester City Centre. Buses to Bristol from Manchester arrive at one of three bus stations: Bristol Bus & Coach Station is in the city centre, so you can catch a taxi in about 2min or walk in about 7min. A bus does a circuitous route, taking about 20min on the 70s lines. Bristol Frenchay Campus Station is about 15min from the city centre on a First No. M1 bus, and Bristol Bond Street Station is about 2min away on the same bus line.

If you buy bus tickets from Manchester to Bristol with National Express, you’ll travel in a comfortable seat with its own air-conditioning controls and USB charging points, and you can use the Wi-Fi on board for free. Staff have been trained to assist passengers with limited-mobility needs, and you can bring a wheelchair, as long as you notify the carrier a few days in advance. Megabus gives you the ability to select your specific seat when you buy your ticket and also has wheelchair space – this is limited to one per bus, so it’s best to book early. You can also book seats that have extra legroom, for a small extra charge. The buses are all air conditioned and equipped with Wi-Fi.

Megabus has a fairly laissez-faire luggage policy, allowing you to bring as many hold items as you like, within reason, provided they don’t weigh more than 44 lb cumulatively and don’t exceed 79 inches when you add together their dimensions. You could also bring one large luggage item up to these limits instead. In addition, you can bring a single piece of carry-on luggage, provided it can comfortably fit under the seat in front of you or on your lap. On Manchester to Bristol buses operated by National Express, you can either take one piece of hold luggage up to 31 x 20 x 12 inches and 44 lb or two up to 12 x 18 x 28 inches each and the same weight combined. You can also bring a carry-on bag, provided it is soft.

You can purchase a ticket from Manchester to Bristol within the week and expect to pay £21 or more one-way. At £24 on average, one-way bus tickets from Manchester to Bristol are best booked early to save more on your trip.

Currently, the price you pay to get from Manchester to Bristol by bus this week is around £24 one-way. We don’t expect to see any changes in price within the next 3 months.

You can find bus tickets for Megabus, National Express, and FlixBus which service this route currently. Megabus is the cheapest option recently available with prices starting at £13 round-trip.

Manchester and Bristol are 140.8 mi apart from one another. The actual distance travelled by bus depends on the route taken - roadwork or traffic often impact this and longer routes can change often.

To save time, the fastest way to travel is by train from Manchester to Bristol on Cross Country. Expect the length of time you’ll spend onboard Cross Country to be about 3h 21m compared to taking a flight from Manchester to Bristol or a bus from Manchester to Bristol which have been found to be slower alternatives.

Expect a bus to be one of the cheapest options available to you for travel. Currently, a bus has deals available from £10. While they may not be the most cost-effective options currently available a flight from Manchester to Bristol or a train from Manchester to Bristol can also be options worth looking into if other factors outside of cost are a higher priority.