Adventures around Plymouthwith PlusBus
A lido, a lighthouse, sea views, geo trails and circular forts: Plymouth is packed with interesting coastal sights, shops, cafes and clifftop walks. You can reach them by bus and spend the day exploring. Arrive by train and buy a PlusBus ticket to get unlimited bus travel right across the area. Here are some of the things you can see.
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1. The Hoe and Tinside Lido
The railway journeys to Plymouth from Exeter or from Penzance are staggeringly beautiful, running along the Devon coast or through the Cornish estuaries. When you buy your train ticket or when you arrive at Plymouth station, ask for PlusBus to get a great-value day pass on all Citybus and Stagecoach buses across a wide area.
- Come out of the railway station and catch bus 2 towards Mount Batten (see 3 below) or bus 51 or bus 61. Between them, these buses run roughly every ten minutes (every 20 minutes on Sunday). And there are several other buses heading into the city too – just ask if they go to Royal Parade.
- Hop off at shop-lined Royal Parade, cross at the lights and turn right along Armada Way, passing between the impressive Guildhall building and a rectangular pond. Keep walking for about five minutes along the central pedestrianised section, past flowerbeds, sculptures and fountains to reach Hoe Park with its panoramic views, monuments, and statue of Frances Drake. This is the site of the green where Drake, Plymouth mayor and celebrated explorer, famously finished a game of bowls before going out to fight the Spanish Armada in 1588.
- Below the Hoe is a more recent city icon: the elegant 1930s Tinside Lido is a big semi-circular outdoor pool on the tip of the promontory, surrounded by sea. Just beyond Smeaton’s Tower, the red and white striped lighthouse, walk down the steps by the Sea View café to find a lift down to lido.
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2. Royal William Yard
Engineer Sir John Rennie first created the ten towering buildings of Royal William Yard in 1825 to keep the navy supplied with provisions. The edifices now form Europe’s largest collection of Grade I listed military buildings with their original uses (brewhouse, slaughterhouse) stencilled on the walls.
- Royal William Yard has a huge choice of waterfront shops and cafés. There’s also a geo trail, that points out some of the fossils embedded in the limestone that the buildings are made from.
- How do I get to Royal William Yard by bus? From Royal Parade in the city centre (see 1 above), bus 34 leaves every half an hour. Get off the bus at St Paul’s church and follow Royal William Road to the yard’s impressive arched gateway.
- Inside the complex, you can find a studio, sauna, salon, a dozen brilliant bars and cafes and a craft market on the first Sunday of the month.
- You could also try your hand at Stand-up paddleboarding or walk a short stretch of the South West coast path.
- The Cremyll Ferry from Admiral’s Hard, just up the road, heads over the water to Mount Edgcumbe House and Country Park.
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3. Mount Batten
The UK’s first National Marine Park, the whole area around Plymouth Sound is great for watersports, rockpooling and coastal walks. Mount Batten is a good place to try all three. Across the sound from the city itself, Mount Batten is a rocky outcrop that gives its name to a whole picturesque peninsula. Bars, beaches, a fortified tower, and long breakwater make Mount Batten a great destination for another bus adventure.
- How do I get to Mount Batten by bus? Bus 2 runs every 15 minutes from outside Plymouth railway station towards to Mount Batten and takes just over half an hour to arrive.
- What can I see from the bus window? Look out as the bus crosses Lair Bridge over the wide River Plym. The route passes Radford Park, once site of a grand Tudor house that was visited by Frances Drake and Walter Raleigh. The park now has an arboretum and lake with a Victorian castle.
- The bus stop called Mount Batten Water Sports Centre is a good place to start exploring the peninsula. Pleasant sections of the South West coast path leads off from here in both directions. You could walk a mile through trees and over grassy headlands with great views to sunset-facing Jennycliff cafe and catch the bus back from there. And/or stroll half a mile north, past Mount Batten tower and breakwater to the end of the peninsula with the option of a ferry back over the city.
- The Mount batten centre offers kayaking and SUP sessions and the Galley Kitchen is another good place for refreshments. Right next to the bus stop, Mount batten beach is a mix of sand and shingle and great for rockpooling.
- Bus 2 also runs back to the station from the stop called Mount Batten Pier near the breakwater. While you’re waiting for the bus, there are views across Plymouth Sound to the Hoe, Smeaton’s Tower and Drake’s Island.
- For more car-free adventures in the area, see our directions to the National Marine Aquarium and Saltram. To stay in the area, try Rail Holiday St Germans.
