Just one look at the sheer range of destinations offered by coach companies and another at the sheer numbers of satisfied customers points to a form of travel that is on the up.

The Coach Tourism Council says choice, quality and value are three of the key features which make an excursion, short break or holiday by coach such an attractive option for many of us. Gone are the days when an old charabanc took people to the seaside for a day trip - today you are more than likely to be travelling in an ultra modern, air-conditioned coach with all mod-cons worth several hundred thousand pounds.

Satisfaction is a fourth feature. Coach holidays got the best ratings for customer satisfaction in a survey by Holiday Which? in its Winter 2005 edition, with 69 per cent of readers questioned saying they would recommend one to a friend.

Coaching outscored holidays which are generally perceived to be more popular. For example, 65 per cent of those who took cruise holidays would recommend them to a friend, while the figure fell to 62 per cent for long-haul holidays.

And what is considered to be the most popular holiday choice for the majority of us - going to the seaside/beach - attracted a recommendation of only 46 per cent.

So why is coaching enjoying a surge in popularity? The huge and diverse choice of coach holidays is one reason as today you can join anything from a day trip to a tour across the UK and Europe to worldwide trips to far flung destinations.

Touring by coach has unique advantages over other forms of holiday transport, too. The view from your on-board armchair for one - the latest coaches come with reclining seats and increased legroom.

Your own coach driver - you could almost say chauffeur - is another. There's no need to worry about getting lost! It's easy to make friendships with other passengers on board too.

And don't think coaches are just for the old and for children on school trips. Increasing numbers of people in their 20s and 30s now prefer to book a coach tour.

Not just because they offer excellent value for money but a level of personal service not generally offered by package holiday operators or airlines.

For example, forget about the expense of driving to an airport and costly airport parking, long check-in times and flight delays - almost all coach tours have local departure points while many also offer to pick-up their holiday customers from their home. Literally everything is taken care of.

In the UK, the Coach Tourism Council (www.coachtourismcouncil.co.uk) promotes travel and tourism by coach.

Its members operate around 2,800 coaches, providing a choice of 75,000 different tours, which attract nearly five million passengers a year.