From the top deck, you can take in 90 minutes of the region’s most stunning scenery

06:04, 04 Jul 2026Updated 07:12, 04 Jul 2026

Is this Greater Manchester’s most scenic bus route?

Two quid doesn’t go very far these days. It might stretch to half a pint in Wetherspoons, a Greggs steak bake or a can of pop and a Mars bar.

Or you could buy a ticket for a 90 minute trip on what’s arguably Greater Manchester’s most scenic bus route.

That’s exactly what I did this week when I caught the Bee Network’s 350 bus from Oldham to Ashton. And the half-hourly service really does go the long way round.

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From Oldham bus station it heads east into the picturesque villages of Saddleworth before horseshoeing southwest into Mossley and downhill into Ashton. If you’re in a rush, maybe get a cab.

Luckily I’m not and after paying the driver I head to the top deck and take a seat right at the front, so I’ve got a widescreen view of the ever-changing scenery. We’re on our way within moments, minus a quick stop near the market to let off a fella who’s caught the wrong bus.

As we trundle out of town from Oldham Mumps we pass the handsome old Co-op building on Huddersfield Road, now home to a Carpetworld promising ‘Great laminate deals in store now’ and the excellently-named Knuckles Muay Thai boxing gym.

The 350 from Oldham to Ashton passes through some of Greater Manchester’s best scenery(Image: Sean Hansford | Manchester Evening News)

Near Austerlands we pass the historic boundary of the old West Riding of Yorkshire, a change in geography which in these parts still rankles 50 years on, and someone gets on at what must surely be the only chimney in the UK with its own bus stop.

From here it’s a gear box straining climb up the hill to Scouthead. But it’s worth it.

Pretty soon we’ve left the dual carriageways, takeaways and supermarkets of the outskirts of Oldham behind as drystone walls and imposing hills of the South Pennines stretch out into the distance. We’re only 10 miles from the city centre, even less as the crow flies, but sat up on the top deck it feels like we’re a world away.

For most of the journey I’ve got the upstairs entirely to myself. But near Dobcross a fellow passenger gets on and takes the seat next to me.

“Do you catch this bus often?,” she asks, as she sees me filming out the window. When I explain that I’m a reporter from the M.E.N. writing a piece about the route, she smiles and tells me she could have walked to her destination just as easily, but caught the bus because she likes sitting upstairs and taking in the scenery.

“The views really are fantastic,” she says. “This bit coming up is particularly interesting. They need very good driving skills for it.”

She’s not wrong. On Denshaw Road, near the old White Lion pub in Delph, the driver swings his 14 tonne bus into an unlikely right-hand turn. Rising up ahead of us is what looks like a single lane farm track.

If I hadn’t been forewarned I would have assumed we’d got lost. It’s amazing a double decker would even consider going up there, but remarkably the driver squeezes the bus through the eye of a needle and we carry on our merry way.

“I told you,” my fellow front passenger laughs. And there’s more neat navigating to come.

In the jam-packed centre of Uppermill, as well-heeled villagers drink coffee in the sun, the bus weaves through the cramped, traffic-clogged streets without a hitch.

Hartshead Pike(Image: Sean Hansford | Manchester Evening News)

From there we leave Saddleworth behind and, with both the River Tame and the Huddersfield Narrow Canal running in parallel alongside us, head out towards Mossley. We’re around an hour into the journey now and arguably the best is yet to come.

As we top out near the Harsthead Inn, suddenly the landscape opens up. Above us a plane begins its descent into the airport.

Below and to our right the skyscrapers of the city centre poke up in the distance as the Cheshire Basin stretches out to the horizon. From way up here in the clouds Manchester’s ever-changing skyline resembles a tiny bar chart.

It’s a stunning scene, made even more dramatic by our lofty vantage point. But just as quickly as it sprang into view, it’s gone again.

Soon we’re plodding back downhill and some 20 odd minutes later, via a quick stop at Tameside General Hospital, we’re pulling into Ashton bus station and my little adventure on top deck of the 350 is over.