Bus routes and maps for Sidmouth - valid for 2022. Travelling to Sidmouth festival FolkWeek by bus/train.

There were many changes in bus routes and timetables in and around Sidmouth in recent years. Some internet sites give obsolete details. The most recent changes were from 31 July 2022 - see panel below.

Sidmouth is primarily served by three different bus companies: Stagecoach (routes 9, 9A, 157), AVMT (route 52 and route 899). There are other services, for example from Ottery St Mary (382 by Hatch Green Coaches)

Services 9 and 9A (Exeter to Honiton and Seaton) have new routes and 9A was extended to serve as far as Lyme Regis. The trip from Seaton to Lyme Regis is no longer via service 9A - see panel below. These routes replace the old 52A and 52B - which no longer exist. Route 9 is a straight replacement for the old 52B. Download the Stagecoach app!

The local 899 service uses quaint old buses and is operated by Axe Valley Travel. It runs infrequently between Lyme Regis and Sidmouth via Seaton (and some interesting small villages in-between including Branscombe). The routes are recommended for a few hours tour of the countryside on a fine sunny day,

A very useful UK travel website is traveline.inf

CHANGES as of 31 July 2022.

Service 9/9A (Exeter – Honiton / Lyme Regis via Sidmouth)

Service 9A will no longer serve the section of route beyond Seaton to Lyme Regis. Service between Seaton and Lyme Regis will be provided by another operator, with 5 journeys daily (Mon-Sat) in the Summer and 2 (Mon-Fri) in the Winter Seaton, further details are available from the relevant local transport authority.

The Monday to Saturday evening frequency will be adjusted from hourly to every 90 minutes.

On Sundays and Public Holidays, Service 9A will operate up to every 60 minutes between Exeter and Seaton during the day.

There will be only two journeys in each direction on Sunday and Public Holidays on Service 9 between Sidmouth and Honiton, which will operate under contract to Devon County Council.

BY RAIL: Closest Intercity train stations are Exeter St David's or Honiton. Inter-city trains use (always) Exeter St David's and (sometimes) Exeter High St as well. If you can get reservations, www.megatrain.com can be very cheap between Exeter or Honiton and London. They bulk-buy tickets and sell them cheap for advance travel plans. Just don't miss the appointed train!

Basic map of Sidmouth showing the 9/9A bus service routes. Route 9 goes from Exeter to Honiton (but via Sidmouth). Route 9A goes from Exeter to Lyme Regis along the A3052 but again via Sidmouth.

There is no regular bus service along the A3052 from Waitrose to Sidford (which is a real nuisance!!), only a very infrequent 52 service.

The 9/9A service from Exeter runs every half hour in the daytime, alternating 9 / 9A / 9 / 9A, so each 9 or 9A service is hourly.

Stagecoach bus 9 is an hourly/90 minute service and calls at Honiton rail station. It goes into Sidmouth via Sidbury and Sidford (pink dots on map) and then into Exeter along the Woolbrook Road (past LIDL, blue dots).

There is no bus from either Exeter or Honiton that takes you directly past the official Bulverton campsite. Services 157 (Stagecoach) is from Exmouth and 382 from Ottery St Mary (basically a 9am to 5pm service)

From central Sidmouth (the terminus is The Triangle near the seafront) you can walk 1.5 miles up to the campsite or get the special festival bus (or a lift!). The walk up can be dangerous - see this link.  Alternatively, to avoid going into central Sidmouth and back out again, you can do a short-cut walk to the campsite using the 9/9A bus from Exeter by getting off in Woolbrook Road at the Core Hill Road stop and walking up Ice House Lane (about 0.3 miles, narrow but OK except during very wet weather when it can be flooded). You then have only a short distance to walk along the Bulverton Road (B3176).

From Honiton you will arrive at Sidford Traffic Lights along School St. Travelling from Honiton on the 9 you can get off at the junction of Arcot Road and Woolbrook Road and walk past LIDL and then turn left up Ice House Lane to the campsite, but it's a trek.

The only petrol station in Sidmouth is on the Woolbrook Road, next door to the LIDL store - where parking is free for up to 2 hours.

For lots of info about the campsite etc, work forwards and backwards from this page.