Bus pass worth it?

Londoner97

Hopefully doing to be a fresher in September. Is a £200 bus pass worth it/needed?

Reply 1

jelly1000

Original post by Londoner97

Hopefully doing to be a fresher in September. Is a £200 bus pass worth it/needed?

Depends how often you'll be going into town really. Twice a week or more unless your with a group to split the cost of a taxi its definitley worth it. Once or less and it does work out cheaper overall to pay, even if the individual cost of a ticket is pricey.

University of East Anglia

Norwich

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Reply 2

takeawaymonkey

Nah don't bother. Everything you need is on campus - you're unlikely to go to town in the daytime more than once a fortnight. When you go out, there will always be people who'd rather get a taxi - half your friends won't have bus passes. And when its cold, you will point blank choose a taxi anyway rather than wait for a bus

Reply 3

lifeistoff

It will cost you barely anything to get the bus from the UEA into the city! If you are needing to get the bus every day thence is good value for money but typically, you won't pay more than £1-£2! If you do fancy going further afield like airports, Brighton, London or Cambridge companies like National Express do coaches, with an NUS extra card you get discount!

Also, it is possible to get weekly, monthly bus passes if you know you'll be using the bus a lot for a particular week/ month!

Reply 4

corybantically

Definitely, definitely get the bus pass! Most of my friends have it and we only rarely use taxis. An adult single into the city is 2.40 - less if you're 20 or under. However there's so much to do in Norwich and if you just stay on campus you'll really miss out! The campus shop is also kinda pricey and doesn't have a great selection of food, so if you want to do any shopping you'll need to go into town. Definitely get it for 2nd & 3rd year when you're living out. I've walked a lot of this year, but I lived a fair way out on a main bus route last year, so I was using the bus almost every day. It's also nice to know that if you get stuck anywhere or need to get back from a night out you can always hop on a bus, without worrying about having change :smile:

(Get the paper version though - having a bus pass on your phone is a wee bit unreliable.)

Reply 5

Clur.M.

Have to agree about getting a bus pass, too many students stay solely on campus and miss out on what Norwich has to offer. There are brilliant restaurants and cafes (not just the standard Wagamama/Giraffe/Yo! Sushi etc) such as Strangers Coffee Bar, The Bicycle Shop, Gonzo's Tea Room, Kofra, Shiki, The Little Red Roaster, and so many more!
There are number of cinema's in town including the boutique cinema Cinema City where for the past 2 years they've given free student memberships out (for free films) at the freshers fair.
There are a huge amount of pubs in Norwich - the joke is that there is a church for every Sunday of the year (some are music venues and art galleries) and a pub for every day of the year, the Playhouse Bar, The Birdcage etc are full of arty-types, the Belgian Monk and The Fat Cat serve a large range of interesting beers, The Reindeer has brilliant ales ciders and BBQ!
In regards to shopping there are two large malls, but really the best thing about Norwich shopping is The Lanes, a cross between Shoreditch and Brighton full of independent retailers as well as frequent vintage fairs.
Norwich has many venues holding live music events, anything from Hip Hop to Metal, World Music to Punk, and loads of acoustic events at places like The Rumsey Wells, The Waterfront, OPEN, The Bicycle Shop, The Arts Centre etc.
Loads of students make the mistake of not exploring Norwich in their first year, it really is a brilliant city, having a bus pass really helped me explore it :smile: