1, 1A, 1B Lowestoft – Great Yarmouth – Lowestoft

The 1, 1A and 1B are the workhorse coastal buses of the East Anglian seaside, linking Lowestoft Bus Station with Great Yarmouth and the string of small resorts and villages that run up the coast to Martham. It is a route with a distinctly holiday flavour, threading past caravan parks, dune-backed beaches, amusement arcades and quiet churchyards in a single sitting.

Leaving Martham at the shelter on Cess Road, the bus sets off through the flat, hedge-lined lanes of the Broads fringe. Hemsby comes quickly, its Kings Head pub a familiar landmark, and then the road tips towards the coast through West Somerton and Winterton-on-Sea, where the church tower rises above pantiled cottages and the marram grass of the dunes is visible beyond the rooftops. California and Scratby follow, cliff-top villages of chalets and holiday parks stacked above the North Sea.

At Caister-on-Sea the character shifts. The bus works through the residential streets past the stadium (home to Caister speedway), the Centurion pub and the neat rows of bungalows that spread inland from the seafront. Beyond Caister the route swings into Great Yarmouth along the northern approach, passing the First bus garage on Caister Road before pulling into Stand E at Market Gates, the town's main interchange, moments from the Market Place, the Minster and the Golden Mile.

South of the Yare the journey continues into Gorleston-on-Sea, a Victorian resort with a broad sandy bay and a working harbour mouth. The bus calls at the town centre, the James Paget Hospital and a run of residential stops before crossing into Suffolk at Hopton-on-Sea, where holiday villages line the clifftop. Corton follows, a village with a ruined church tower and easy access to the coastal path, and then the road climbs past Pleasurewood Hills theme park with its rollercoasters visible from the top deck.

The final approach into Lowestoft runs through Gunton, past Denes High School and Manor Court, before dropping down into the town for the bus station. It is a route that stitches together two seaside towns and a whole necklace of villages in between, and for a day-tripper armed with a dayrider it opens up more of the Norfolk and north Suffolk coast than any single ticket has a right to.

The 1 group makes a proper coastal day out possible without ever having to move a car. Start early at Martham's Cess Road stop and settle in for the full run down to Lowestoft, or pick the bus up at Great Yarmouth Market Gates for a shorter half-day version. Either way the route hands you three very different seaside experiences on one ticket.

Break your journey first at Hemsby, where a short walk from the Kings Head stop takes you down Beach Road to a wide sandy beach backed by dunes. It is classic bucket-and-spade territory, with amusement arcades, cafes and the famous Hemsby Beach cafes serving fish and chips almost within earshot of the surf.

Back on the bus, continue to Caister-on-Sea. The Caister Roman Fort ruins (English Heritage, free to visit) sit just inland and the lifeboat station on the beach has a small heritage display remembering the town's independent lifeboat tradition. From the Stadium stop it is a short stroll to the seafront and the promenade north to the holiday park.

Rejoin the 1 into Great Yarmouth and get off at Market Gates. From here everything is walkable: the Time and Tide Museum in a preserved Victorian herring-curing works, the Elizabethan House on South Quay, the medieval town wall, and of course the Golden Mile with the Pleasure Beach, Britannia Pier and Sea Life Great Yarmouth. Lunch options range from proper chippies on Regent Road to seafood on the quayside.

Continuing south, Gorleston-on-Sea rewards a short stop. The beach here is quieter and cleaner than its bigger neighbour's, backed by beach huts and the handsome curve of the Cliff Hotel. A walk along the pier to the harbour mouth is a Norfolk favourite for watching boats come in on the tide.

Cross into Suffolk and, if you have children in tow, Pleasurewood Hills is the obvious stop, with the bus pausing at Gunton Hall right by the entrance. Otherwise stay on for Lowestoft, where the sandy South Beach, the Royal Plain fountains, the East Point Pavilion and the Ness (the most easterly point in the British Isles, marked by the Euroscope) can all be reached on foot from the bus station. Finish with tea and a walk along the prom before catching the bus back north as the light softens over the dunes.