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Sick of stressful airport travel? Ride in style with National Express!

 

So your alarm is set, your suitcase is packed and your trip is booked. Every final detail is confirmed, from your flights and transfers to your tour itineraries and restaurant reservations. Going on holiday can be pretty stressful, and it is often made worse by the hassle of getting to and from the airport. Flying is lots of fun, but let’s face it, who really wants to get there 3 hours before a flight and spend ages queuing at the check in desk?! Not me, that’s for sure! One of the things I find most stressful about travelling is actually the hassle of getting to and from the airport. I can drive but I prefer not to travel long distances in my car and would rather not leave it at the airport car park for a week.

Living in Oxford, I am lucky that I have several airports to choose from when considering booking flights, but the hassle of getting to and from each airport has often put me off in the past. However, as an avid fan of public transport, I would always try and catch a bus, coach or train to an airport wherever possible, and that’s where National Express comes in. I’ve been using National Express services for years and have always had fantastic journeys, so I was delighted to be asked to team up with them for the purpose of this blog review, and when I realised I needed transport for my upcoming European city break it was hard to refuse such a fantastic offer. Lets find out what I got up to on my recent trip with National Express…

 

An early start

 

My coach from Oxford to London Gatwick

 

I’m pretty sure I’m not the only person in the world who will happily get up at 2am, after zero sleep and at the most awkward time possible, just to jump on a cheap flight to anywhere if it means I can get better value on my travel deals! Luckily, National Express is the largest operator of scheduled coach services in the UK operating high frequency services linking more than 900 destinations. National Express know that there are lots of people out there who, like me, need to get to an airport at ridiculous o’clock in the morning, and they operate coach services direct to the terminal for all major UK airports, 24 hours a day with 1,100 airport services running every day. They also offer generous luggage allowance of two medium sized suitcases and a small piece of hand luggage as well as driver assistance – pretty amazing if you ask me! My 2am wake up call didn’t seem so bad when I hopped on board my perfectly timed coach ready to start my next adventure.

 

A comfortable outwards journey

 

Image courtesy of National Express

 

One of the benefits of getting on an early morning coach usually means that it’s not too busy, although surprisingly my coach was pretty full by the time I left Oxford to head to London! The coaches are also usually very quiet during the early morning times, which means I can catch up on some much needed sleep before arriving at the airport and being in holiday mode. National Express coaches are modern and comfortable with a variety of facilities and features including a free wifi and entertainment system which consists of a complimentary on-board app offering TV, films and magazines to passengers. On board the coach you’ll also find smart leather seats, convenient power sockets for charging your mobile devices, comfortable leg room for business class passengers, welcome air-conditioning on a warm day and clean toilets on every journey. My outwards journey from Oxford to London Gatwick took just under 2 hours and it was smooth, comfortable and extremely easy.

 

A relaxing homeward journey

 

Image courtesy of National Express

 

After my whirlwind weekend abroad, it was time to come home and I actually looked forward to my return journey back home given that my first coach journey on the way out was so comfortable. I wasn’t sure if I would actually make my return journey on time as my flight was delayed by almost an hour! But luckily we made up some time and I had booked the coach an hour later than I had actually needed to just allow for some additional time, so this really helped. If your flight is delayed though, I’m aware that you can hop on the next coach (up to 180 mins after your booked coach time) providing that the driver of the next available coach has room for you. My journey home was just as good as my journey out and I felt fully relaxed by the time I got back to Oxford – there’s nothing worse than a stressful drive home to dampen your holiday mood!

 

So as you can see I had a really pleasant journey to and from Oxford and London Gatwick during my recent trip and it definitely made my holiday both stress free and hassle free. Turning up and being able to get to and from the airport safely and swiftly really makes me relax before a holiday and, for me, is a great alternative to driving. The drivers were friendly, the seats were comfy, I felt safe at all times and even got a couple of hours kip before my flight… Oh and the free on board WIFI worked a treat too – bonus! Overall I had a fantastic return journey with National Express and I would highly recommend their services to anyone looking for a hassle free start and end to their airport trips. You can also benefit from a Coachcard if you’re a young person (aged 16- 26), a senior (aged 60+), or if you’re registered as disabled. For the price of just £12.50 a year you’ll get up to a third off standard and fully flexible fares, as well as benefiting from discounted travel to and from nationwide festivals, and 20% off Pizza Hut too!

Have you ever travelled with National Express before? What did you think of their services? As I mentioned, I have used them for many years and never had a problem so am already looking forward to booking up next time I need airport transport. The question is, where will I travel to next? Answers on a postcard please!…

Love Jess x

NB. I was a guest of National Express and was gifted tickets to come on board for the purpose of this review but all thoughts and comments are of course my own.

For more information and to find the best value fares visit www.nationalexpress.com or call 0871 7818181

 

Image courtesy of National Express

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Five Other Worldly Destinations That Don’t Belong On Planet Earth

 

Planet earth. I love our planet, I love everything about it. I love the oceans, the green fields and the desert plains. I love the glaciers, the mountains and the coastlines. We have everything we could ever need, all around us, all the time. But there are some places on this planet that look as though they really shouldn’t be here at all. They look other worldly, almost from a completely different solar system, and not like they should be on this earth with us. I’ve been looking at some of these destinations and they’ve been giving me alllll the wanderlust feels, so much so that I’ve teamed up with Netflights, one of the UK’s leading internet based travel companies supplying flights, hotels and more, to put together a little inspo list; let’s see what you think of these out of this world landmarks…

Salar de Uyuni (The Salt Flats), Bolivia

 

 

Located amid the Andes in South West Bolivia, Salar de Uyuni is home to the world’s largest salt flat, a prehistoric lake that turned dry over thousands of years, leaving behind an 11000 square kilometre landscape. Filled with unique rock formations, bright white salt and stunning islands, this incredible landmark stands almost 12000ft above sea level and is surrounded by mountains. Covered by several metres of salt crust, the flats give the most amazing reflections in the bright sunshine and they’re also a major breeding ground for a number of different flamingo species.

 

Las Coloradas (The Pink Lagoon), Rio Lagartos, Mexico

 

Naturally Pink Lagoon in Mexico 🌴⛅ Photo By @marisahampe #boredpanda

A post shared by Bored Panda (@boredpanda) on

 

Possibly the most instagrammable place I’ve ever seen, this baby-pink-cotton-candy natural lagoon is located on the Yacatan Peninsula in the tiny fishing town of Las Coloradas, just 3 hours away from Cancun. Surrounded by amazing white salt banks and dreamy blue skies, this Barbie pink lagoon gets its beautiful colour from the micro-organisms, such as red plankton and shrimp, which live there and dye the water with their chemicals. If pink is your thing you HAVE to check this place out – it’s giving me serious wanderlust!

 

The Glacier Lagoon Jokulsarlon, (Diamond Beach), Iceland

 

 

Located in south east Iceland, this enormous glacial lake on the edge of Vatnajokull National Park was formed when the glacier started to recede from the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. At almost 250 metres in depth, the lake has recently become the deepest in the whole country. The icebergs get their differing bright blue and wonderful white colours depending on how much air is trapped within the ice, and the lake is home to a variety of sea life too. Diamond Beach lies the other side of the road and is filled with ice cubes, illuminated ice crystals and icebergs and complete with beautiful black sand.

 

Vinicunca (The Rainbow Mountain), Peru

 

 

An undiscovered land in the heart of the Peruvian Andes, the Ausangate Mountain, also known as the Rainbow Mountain, or Vinicunca, is striped with bright and beautiful colours giving the most amazing landscape. Sitting at over 6000 metres above sea level, and located 100km from the busy city of Cusco, this geological wonder gets its rainbow like colours from its rich and varied mineralogy. During your trek across the mountain you’ll find herds of llama and alpaca waiting to greet you while you fumble for your camera trying to get the photograph of the year.

 

Wulingyuan Scenic and Historic Interest Area, Zhangjiajie, China

 

Mother nature 🌿 (📷: @allapetropavlovska via @awesome.earth)

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Said to be the inspiration for the Hallelujah Mountains of Pandora in blockbuster Disney film Avatar, this 266 square mile scenic forest-like attraction is home to more than 3000 quartzite sandstone pillars, natural skyscrapers as tall as the Empire State Building. The tree like figures in this UNESCO World Heritage Site were formed over 400 million years ago through a series of geological events giving us some of the most unique rock formations on planet earth. Standing amongst lakes, ravines, gorges, waterfalls, natural bridges and over 40 incredible caves, this place creates the most incredible landscape in the Zhangjiajie area of China.

 

So there we have it, five of my favourite other worldly destinations. Have you ever been to any of these places before? They’re all now firmly planted high up on my bucket list, so I’d love to know if you’ve visited any of them. Speaking of other worldly destinations, did you know that Netflights has launched the NEW TS48 spacecraft running flights to outer space? Yes, you heard me right, actual REAL OUTER SPACE!! Operating out of a top secret location in the Lake District, you can now fly from earth to infinity and beyond. To become a pioneer of the Netflights outer space journeys, register your interest and find out more here: https://www.netflights.com/blog/space/

This sponsored post was brought to you in collaboration with NetFlights, but all words are my own. Instagram photos credited accordingly.

 

🇺🇸🇺🇸

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