The Route Ahead: Bus Travel Trends for 2027

One in ten young Brits took a coach holiday last year. Swindon is on track to be the UK’s most talked-about destination by next summer. And more than half of all coach journeys could be booked on the day of travel by 2027. These are not predictions pulled from thin air - they’re where the data is pointing 👀

Back for its second edition, ‘The Route Ahead’ by FlixBus has dug into the data to uncover where bus travel is heading next year. The result? Seven trends and a set of destination and route predictions for 2027. Let’s get into it.

What the data tells us about 2027 bus travel trends

This year’s report draws on FlixBus booking patterns, mobile and web sales, and TikTok search volume forecasts, with UK government bus statistics providing some industry-level context.

Here are the 2027 holiday trends set to shape how Britain travels by bus 🚍

1. Gen Z has discovered the coach

The most striking finding in this year’s data isn’t about a destination or route. It’s about who is travelling 🎒

Nearly one in ten 18 to 24-year-olds (9%) took a coach holiday in 2025. Just two years earlier, that figure was 5%. And compared to the wider travelling population, where coach holidays account for 6% of trips, younger travellers are now more likely to choose the coach than the average UK adult 😮

A generation that has grown up treating sustainability as a given is choosing the form of transport that matches its values 🍃 The coach industry spent years underestimating this generation. That feeling, it seems, is not mutual. For anyone thinking about budget travel in 2027, the coach is where the numbers make the most sense.

2. Mobile bookings are about to take over

In 2025, 44% of FlixBus sales happened on mobile 📱 - a 10% increase on the previous year. Web bookings dropped from 53% to 48% in the same period. The crossover point looks likely to arrive in 2026 or early 2027 if current trends continue.

This is more than a platform preference. It reflects a broader change in how people relate to travel planning. It’s more impulsive, more app-native, and increasingly disconnected from the idea that a big trip requires a desktop browser and a Tuesday evening to organise 🖥️

3. Last-minute travel is becoming the default

Bookings made the day of or day before travel have risen from a 39% share to a 46% share, and 71% of all bookings now happen within the week before travel. If the trend line holds, by 2027 more than half of all coach bookings could be made within 48 hours of departure ⚡

This reflects a structural shift in how people approach travel - less annual leave carved up months in advance, more a rolling series of decisions made when the window appears. For a generation that has normalised same-day decisions on everything from food delivery to streaming, the coach is the natural fit.

4. Autumn is stealing the travel spotlight

January remains the strongest month for coach travel search interest, recording a 21% increase in volume compared to 2025. It’s essentially the booking equivalent of a Black Friday sale for bus travel. But the more interesting movement is at the other end of the calendar 🗓️

July dropped nearly 8% year-on-year, and September was up 21%, matching January’s growth rate. Cheaper, less-crowded shoulder-season travel is quietly redistributing demand across the year. If you haven’t booked an out-of-season trip yet, 60,000 other people already have 👀

5. Shorter journeys are gaining ground

Passenger trips in the UK across bus and coach for 2025 remained stable year-on-year but are still up 12% on 2024 levels. Within that picture, we found that the average distance travelled by bus dropped by 4%.

As a directional signal, that’s quite something. It suggests that more travellers are choosing the coach for shorter regional trips like day visits or cross-city hops 🗺️ It’s removing the long-distance alternative to flying and providing a more flexible, local option for anyone who’d rather leave the car at home 🚗

The FlixBus route network spans hundreds of UK and thousands of European connections, including an increasing number of regional routes suited to this kind of travel.

6. Britain’s holiday wish list is closer to home

Searches for UK holidays are up 32% year-on-year. But that headline figure is less interesting than what sits beneath it 📊

Searches for UK caravan holidays are up 124% 🚐 These aren't just vague expressions of domestic interest. They're searches by people who know exactly what kind of trip they want - simpler, more flexible, less disruptive, and built around their real life.

A caravan holiday doesn’t require a passport, and a domestic break doesn't involve stressful airport queues or hidden luggage fees. The UK holiday in 2027 is a deliberate, stress-free choice, and the coach is the mode of transport it was made for.

Trending destinations for 2027

Every year, The Route Ahead identifies one destination the data suggests is about to have its moment. Last year it was Weston-super-Mare. TikTok search forecasts are now pointing to a new set of destinations that most travel guides haven’t caught up with yet. Here’s where the momentum is building for 2027 🔎

Swindon

This year, the data points clearly to Swindon. TikTok search volumes are forecast to reach 368,532 by August 2027. That’s a 50% increase on August 2026 figures, and the highest growth rate of any destination in our analysis.

Swindon has spent years as the butt of a particular kind of English joke… our data suggests that joke is getting old 😉

The STEAM Museum of the Great Western Railway is one of the most underrated heritage attractions in the south-west 🛤️ The Designer Outlet is one of the largest retail destinations in the region 🛍️ Avebury and Marlborough Downs sit within easy reach for day trips, and Swindon’s central location on the national coach network makes it one of the most accessible destinations in this ranking.

Whether Swindon’s TikTok moment translates into a full visitor economy story will become clearer in 2027, but the conversation has started 💬

Southampton

Southampton is the second fastest-growing destination in our TikTok analysis, with search volumes forecast to reach 529,706 by August 2027. For a city that has spent decades being associated primarily with cruise departures and motorway junctions, that number is a statement ✨

The SeaCity Museum, Ocean Village Marina, and the city’s medieval walls are drawing a new generation of visitors who are discovering Southampton as a standalone destination.

Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough has silently built one of the most interesting cultural offerings in the north-east, and a 16% forecast growth in TikTok search interest suggests more people are noticing 🤓

The Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art is one of the north’s leading contemporary galleries 🎨 The Transporter Bridge, one of only a handful still operating in the world, is worth stopping by for the engineering alone. And for anyone looking beyond the city itself, the North York Moors and the coast of Saltburn-by-the-Sea sit within easy reach 🥾

York

A 7% TikTok growth forecast on already substantial search volumes - 589,496 by August 2027 - tells you something about York’s enduring appeal. As a UNESCO Creative City of Media Arts, the city has built a year-round cultural calendar that goes well beyond its Viking and Roman heritage 📜

Independent food markets, immersive arts venues, and a brewing scene that has grown considerably in recent years mean York in 2027 is far more interesting than the history books alone would suggest.

Also registering growth are Inverness (+10%), Derby (+10%), Poole (+8%), and Swansea (+8%).

Emerging routes for 2027

FlixBus booking data points to a set of intercity corridors where demand is building ahead of 2027, and several reflect the shorter-journey trend we identified above.

Leeds to Manchester

As one of the most discussed transport gaps in the UK, the Leeds to Manchester corridor is the emerging route most likely to define coach travel in 2027.

The cancellation of the eastern leg of HS2 left the Northern Powerhouse Rail ambition significantly diminished. Thankfully, affordable, frequent coach connections between the two cities are filling a gap that rail has left open, with coach travel times comparable with rail 🚆

London to Southampton

With Southampton registering the second-highest TikTok destination growth in our analysis, the London to Southampton corridor is the logical route to watch. As more visitors discover the city in its own right, demand for affordable connections from the capital is forecast to grow 📈

The same pattern is emerging on airport routes ✈️ Coventry and Leicester to London Heathrow Airport both feature in our emerging routes data, reflecting a growing preference for coach over car for major airport access.

Further routes seeing emerging demand include:

Next stop: 2027

The picture that emerges from this year’s data is one of a mode of transport changing faster, and in more interesting destinations, than most people have noticed. Younger travellers are arriving, bookings are moving closer to departure, journeys are getting shorter, and Swindon is trending 🤩

The coach doesn’t need a rebrand; it needs the data to be read properly. And the future of bus travel, read through this year’s data, looks considerably more interesting than conventional wisdom implies 🧐

Explore FlixBus routes across the UK and find your 2027 journey 💚 Book online, in the app, or directly with your driver.