Aberdeen by express bus...
... three operators in competition from Dundee
It’s only slightly slower to get to Aberdeen by bus than it is by train - but it can be confusing choosing which bus operator to use.
And given potential delays getting across the Tay Bridge it’s difficult to plan to catch a particular bus.
The fastest service is provided by Flixbus…
All Flixbus services (both north- and south-bound) stop outside Debenhams on West Marketgait at the stop on the left of the picture below.
The 99 shuttle bus between St Andrews and Dundee also stops outside Debenhams - but at the stop in Nethergate on the right of the picture below.
So, changing between the 99 and a Flixbus is just a matter of walking round the corner past the entrance to Debenhams…
If you want to get to Aberdeen as soon as possible you will want to check the time of the next Flixbus departure. Their buses don’t show well on the usual bus tracking websites, but they do have their own bus tracking page:
Flixbus Dundee bus departure tracker:
If you started your journey on the 95 to St Andrews and caught the first 99 from there to Dundee then you will often find that the arrival time in Dundee is well suited to catching the Flixbus to Aberdeen which runs once or twice an hour…
But if the Flixbus departure tracker is showing that the bus is cancelled or late you might want to consider staying on the 99 to Dundee Bus Station for a Megabus instead.
The Megabus for Aberdeen departs from Stance 8 at Dundee Seagate Bus Station and you can check the departure board on the bustimes.org website:
Dundee Seagate Bus Station Stance 8:
There are more services to Aberdeen from the Bus Station - 2 or 3 an hour - and they are scheduled to take around 1 hour 30 minutes compared to the 1 hour 20 minutes on Flixbus.
The third operator takes longer - 1 hour 47 minutes on its timetable - but if you got off on Nethergate to catch the Flixbus only to find that you have just missed it, or there are no seats left, then you may find it quickest and easiest to walk back to the stop at the front of Dundee Railway Station to catch the Ember E1 service to Aberdeen and Bridge of Don.
The Ember buses are all electric, so this is also the “greenest” way to travel. The buses stop in Union Street in Aberdeen and go on to the old Aberdeen Exhibition Centre Park & Ride at Bridge of Don if that helps.
Departure information can be found on bustimes.org
Dundee Railway Station Bus Stop
All three operators - Flixbus, Megabus and Ember - prefer you to book your ticket in advance on an App. But you are supposed to be able to walk up and buy a ticket on the day if seats are still available. And our experience is that with all this competition there are usually seats available and presenting a Bus Pass will get you one of these seats. But if you have to pay for tickets it may be advisable to download the appropriate App in advance, so that buying a ticket becomes something you can do while waiting to board the bus.
For the return journey Ember buses depart from Union Street outside the Adelphi:
But it may be more sensible to depart from Aberdeen Union Square Bus Station as both the Flixbus and Megabus services depart from there.
Indeed they both claim to depart from “Stance 1” - it’s just that there are two “Stance 1”s - one for Flixbus and one for Megabus:
and the adjacent…
Though, as you can see the Flixbus information on bustimes.org can be confusing - showing a mixture of arrivals and departures, so you may be better looking at Flixbus own departure board:
Again the Flixbus is generally timetabled to be 10 minutes faster than the Megabus but the Megabus arrives at Dundee’s Seagate Bus Station which is later on the 99’s one way route around the centre of Dundee. So for two buses departing at the same time from Aberdeen you are likely to end up on the same 99 to St Andrews whether you catch a Flixbus or a Megabus and we would recommend you to take the first bus available.
Planning ahead?
If you prefer to be certain of a seat and arrive in Aberdeen for a specific time - then you probably need to allow plenty of extra time for your journey (due to the possibility of traffic delays over the Tay Bridge and in Dundee) and book your express bus seats in advance online.
What if the A90 is blocked?
It can be useful to know that there is also a Stagecoach Express X7 that runs between Aberdeen and Dundee via the A92 coast road - this takes around 2 hours 30 minutes, but on normal days is likely to have plenty of seats available - and is a more scenic route if you prefer that.
Enjoy your journey…
95 Crail Bus