'I went to the UK's top seaside destination for less than a fiver and had the best day out'

When it comes to seaside destinations, Blackpool definitely takes the title of being among the nation’s favourite. It’s got everything you could want from a coastal resort: piers (three to be precise), a world-famous tower, huge beaches, arcades...the list goes on.

A train ticket to Blackpool from Manchester can cost around £14 for an adult single, which soon adds up when there’s a few of you travelling for a day out. But there is a cheaper way to visit Blackpool which takes the same amount of time.

National Express offers coach tickets from Manchester to Blackpool from as little as £4 one way. With an average journey time of an hour and twenty minutes, it’s no longer than the train (traffic depending) and drops you off only minutes away from the tower itself.

READ MORE: We went glamping in North Wales and it felt more like a luxury hotel

A basic ‘restricted’ fare is the cheapest at £4, although it means you can’t make any changes to your ticket. For an extra quid you can bag a ‘standard’ ticket which offers some flexibility (for example you can make changes to your booking) and if you fork out £10 you can secure a fully flexible ticket (which has the option of a full refund up to 24 hours before your journey).

The downside is that there’s a £1.50 booking fee, but it still means an overall fare of £5.50, cheaper than the train. Another drawback of the coach is that there are fewer services throughout the day, so you have to be a little bit more open to when you’re going to travel - which is how I ended up catching the 7.40am National Express service to Blackpool one sunny weekday morning.

My journey began at Manchester Coach Station on Chorlton Street, which was pleasantly clean and quiet; it felt rather calm compared