Transport News Advice and Comment

Bishopthorpe has a useful bus service to the Centre of York (First York Route 11). Service frequency is half-hourly during the day, and hourly evenings and Sundays. (There is no evening service on Sundays.) The route through Bishopthorpe is circular, and stops are clearly marked. In York, the service calls at The Stonebow, Ousegate, Rougier Street and York Station. The other service through Bishopthorpe (Harrogate Travel Route C1) is from Askham Bar to Tadcaster via various villages. The timetable is rather complicated, and service intervals vary, so reference to a full timetable (see Information Page) is necessary. Services finish early evening, and there is no service on Sundays. This bus is useful for shopping at Tesco (Askham Bar), for transfer at Askham Bar to Park & Ride and Yorkshire Coastliner buses and for York College. As well as savouring the delights of Tadcaster, one can change in that town to buses for Leeds (Coastliner), Pontefract (Arriva), and Wetherby/Otley (Utopia - infrequent service by bus as in life).

York is a good rail transport centre, with services provided by several operators: London - Scotland National Express East Coast West Country - Midlands - Scotland Cross-country Manchester and Liverpool - North East & Scarborough First Trans-Pennine Services to Blackpool via Bradford/Halifax from Scarborough & the N.E. Also services to Hull, S. Yorks. and Harrogate - Northern Various concessionary tickets are available (mostly by advance booking) as are Regional Rover Tickets (little publicised but good value). Through ticketing is available on National Express East Coast to Eurostar destinations and to other continental stations.

From January 1st 2006, travellers within the EC (and Switzerland) will need a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC). You can apply for this online here or by phoning 0845 606 2030. It is also advisable to buy private insurance. The EHIC covers basic health care but does not, of course, cover cancellation, loss of baggage, repatriation, etc. Some private insurance policies require the EHIC to be used for basic treatment.