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17.5.14

X20: Solihull - Stratford-upon-Avon

*UPDATED 2nd August 2022*


The X20 travels along roads that William Shakespeare himself would have used from Stratford-upon-Avon to visit Henley-in-Arden and points further north. It was operated by Johnson's Excelbus, who have just sold their bus operations to Diamond, who then dumped the route. It's now been picked up by Stagecoach, who already run the route on Sundays and will take on the Mon-Sat service from 15th August 2022. Click here to discover other bus routes throughout the Midlands.



Places served:

Solihull

Morrisons supermarket Solihull
Sainsbury's supermarket Solihull


Shirley

Buses towards Stratford stop at the Longmore Road stop on Stratford Road:

The X20 towards Solihull stops at the Sutherland Avenue stop on Solihull Road:

Buses towards Birmingham stop at the Saracen's Head on Stratford Road. To get to Birmingham, use National Express route 6 from there.

Aldi supermarket Shirley
Lidl supermarket Sears Retail Park,  use the Harwood Grove stops



Tesco Extra hypermarket Solihull, use the Monkspath, M42 Junction 4 stops
Notcutts Garden Centre Solihull, use the Monkspath, M42 Junction 4 stops



Hockley Heath

Buses to Stratford use this stop at The Wharf, which is the last stop in the West Midlands, so nBus and nNetwork tickets are not valid beyond here:

Buses to Birmingham stop over the road outside the Co-op:

If you're peckish by this point, there's a Miller & Carter Steakhouse nearby.

Henley-in-Arden

We're now in Warwickshire. Buses towards Stratford stop outside the Shakespeare Hospice shop on High Street, near what was the Three Tuns pub:

Buses towards Birmingham stop over the road, outside Costa:

If you stop to explore Henley, you might want to visit the following:


Wootton Wawen

Buses to Stratford stop here on Stratford Road, opposite the General Store:

Buses towards Birmingham stop over the road. The General Store is in the background:

Why not visit Yew Tree Farm Shopping Village nearby?


Bearley

Stratford-upon-Avon



Buses towards Birmingham/Coventry stop at Oxfam on Wood Street, and on Alcester Road opposite the railway station. Here's the Oxfam stop:





There is of course no shortage of things to see and do in Shakespeare's birthplace. Explore these links for some ideas:
Visit Stratford-upon-Avon
Mechanical Art & Design Museum
Shakespeare's Birthplace
Tesco superstore Stratford-upon-Avon, use the Tesco stops
Morrisons supermarket Stratford-upon-Avon


Timetables

See the timetable on the following websites:

Here are links to live schedule departure times from major stops towards Stratford-upon-Avon:

...and back towards Birmingham:


Tickets


Look up single and return fares on Stagecoach's website.

The cheapest day ticket valid through the route is the Stagecoach Midlands Gold Dayrider at £9.60 for an adult. It's valid throughout Stagecoach's routes in the Midlands.

For more local journeys, the Stagecoach Stratford-upon-Avon Dayrider at £4.50 is valid on the X20 from Stratford as far as Bearley Station, and the Stagecoach Stratford Plus Dayrider at £8.20 is valid on the X20 as far as Henley-in-Arden. Both tickets are also valid on all other Stagecoach routes in their respective zones.


Transport for West Midlands' range of multi-operator tickets, such as the 1 day off-peak nBus at £4.20, are valid on the X20 between Solihull and Hockley Heath, The Wharf only. They are not valid for travel to Henley-in-Arden nor to Stratford-upon-Avon. They are however valid on all buses of all operators within the West Midlands County.


Plusbus tickets bought with rail tickets to/from certain stations in the West Midlands are valid on the X20 between Solihull and Hockley Heath, The Wharf only. They are not valid for travel to Henley-in-Arden nor to Stratford-upon-Avon.


Connections



Shirley is where you need to change for buses towards Longbridge or Birmingham. Timetables for any bus route in the West Midlands can be found here. See a map of all bus routes in the Borough of Solihull, which includes Shirley, here.

See a list of all bus routes in Stratford-upon-Avon here. These are the major routes and destinations:



The X20 passes near to the following railway stations:


Alternatives

Frequent buses run between Central Birmingham and Shirley on National Express route 6.

For the rest of the route, the only alternative to the X20 is the rail service operated by West Midlands Railway. Check rail fares here.


Long Distance Footpaths

The X20 takes you to the following long distance footpaths:



Click here to discover other bus routes throughout the Midlands.

All of the information in this post is correct at the time of writing, but please check the relevant links before travelling.


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5 comments:

  1. PH19 May 2014 at 21:47

    Three things to add: -

    1. Johnsons often use double deckers on the X20, giving excellent views across the South Warwickshire countryside.

    2. Connections at Stratford: also Johnsons 21 and 22 to Moreton-in-Marsh via Chipping Campden and Broadway - a main route into the Cotswolds.

    3 Tickets: also, a Johnsons Day Ticket is available from drivers, price £8.00, and valid on all its services.

    ReplyDelete
  2. SotonBus20 May 2014 at 23:35

    Hi Justin, thanks for the extra tips! Johnson's don't mention their day ticket on their website, so it's good to know about it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous11 April 2017 at 16:05

    What are the times of the x20 on bank holiday Sunday from Stratford between 1pm and 3pm to Birmingham.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous26 April 2019 at 23:01

    This route has been curtailed to Shirley Station and renumbered to service 20.

    https://www.networkwestmidlands.com/plan-your-journey/timetables/#/route/cen_32020_%20_H_y11_2-2

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous9 April 2022 at 22:24

    Looking at Johnsons' website, the X20 has been reinstated to run Stratford to Coventry via Henley and Solihull. On Sundays the X50 runs to the old X20 route between Stratford and Birmingham.

    ReplyDelete