UK by rail not a tour |
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posted 4-12-2024 @ 08:48 PM
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UK by rail not a tour
Has anyone travelled by train in the UK. Not on a tour just a self guided get off and on. Pre planned stops of course. Would appreciate any tips.
Thanks! |
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posted 4-12-2024 @ 09:08 PM
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Can't help too much with UK, but hubby and I toured Japan by train. It was a great way to travel.
I guess some tips might be similar. Like you suggested, we pre planned stops and booked hotels mostly walking distance from the train stations to
reduce costs and make things easier. We also joined a chain of hotels and by almost exclusively staying with the chain gave us further discounts.
When we did UK a few years ago, we did a similar thing but rented a car for 2 weeks, not by train. But we rented a hybrid, so fuel costs were very
cheap. |
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posted 5-12-2024 @ 10:50 AM
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Thanks Smiley
Thanks for the tips, did you plan yourself or go through a travel agent.
Kind regards
kitkat
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posted 5-12-2024 @ 01:59 PM
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About 30 ish years ago I travelled around Britain by train. I can't remember how I set it up but I had
a BritRail Pass that gave me 15days on the train in 30 days. I think I purchased before I left Aus.
This site might help: https://www.britrail.com/britrail-passes/
Another site: https://www.acprail.com/rail-passes/britrail/?gad_source=1&a...
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posted 5-12-2024 @ 02:43 PM
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Travelling by train in the UK is a lovely way to appreciate the countryside and as most stations are in the heart of the towns and cities it can get
you to close to accommodation / sites etc. The network is extensive so seeing the UK this way is absolutely doable.
But - it is extremely expensive. More so if you want to be flexible. When I was there recently, I spent hours working out how to get the cheapest
seats. Sometimes that involved strange trickery - like breaking the journey into segments and buying the route in various portions. Or you could break
the journey, go a less direct route or travel at a different time. A return ticket is often only a pound more than a single, but not so useful if you
are doing a circuit. Booking in advance down to the seat and time of travel can save a fortune, but you may then be concerned about missing
connections or being tied to your plan.
Also - travel extremely light. There is next to no room for luggage. Some trains have a small luggage rack at the ends of the carriage, and an
overhead shelf for day bags, but you are unlikely to be able to sit near your bag/case. Don’t rely on there being a toilet onboard on long journeys as
they are often unusable.
I am unfamiliar with current rail passes but definitely look into these as I expect they could save you heaps, and consider exactly where you want to
go and look at thetrainline.com for ideas of routes and prices.
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posted 5-12-2024 @ 03:10 PM
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We did it for a week this year as part of a bigger trip to Europe. We had a eurail first class pass because it was cheaper than the uk britrail
pass. First class gets you a meal and drinks on the uk trains (long distance) and often a lounge to wait in with free drinks and snacks so we found
it worth the 200 extra. We also used the pass in Switzerland. You need to learn how to use the eurail app and the British rail company app to get
reservations. I deliberately booked our accomodation near the railway stations so we didn’t have to get cabs. The stations are usually near the
centre of towns/cities. I’ll put more info below.
Also this site is a wealth of info about rail travel! Well worth searching https://www.seat61.com |
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posted 5-12-2024 @ 03:12 PM
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Here is some more info I wrote at the time -
Eurail passes
Last year we drove around Ireland. This year our independent travel was by rail. Our eurail 10 day flexi pass was good value. It was cheaper than
buying a Brit rail pass and a Swiss pass separately and significantly cheaper than ‘pay as you go’.
We didn’t have to stress about missing trains and didn’t need to plan carefully in advance as it basically allows you to get on any train you wish,
almost anywhere in Europe. I checked the prices we would otherwise pay for last minute tickets on some of our journeys and they were very expensive!
A few trains require seat reservations but these are rare and are free (if booked directly with the train company).
As the first class pass was only $100 each more than standard class I splurged on first class passes and on UK trains this provided a first class
lounge with drinks and snacks in the lounge and drinks, meals or snacks onboard. If you were particularly budget conscious you could catch trains to
supply all of your meals in the UK 🤣. We saw a few people make ample use of this perk - 4 g&ts anyone? 😲 It also meant we could
board any carriage we liked.
In Switzerland the pass covered the iconic rail journey https://mob.ch/activity/goldenpass-panoramic/?lang=en. and https://journey.mob.ch/en/stories/belle-epoque (both the same but one with a panoramic carriages and one with vintage carriages) and we made ample
use of these and other journeys.
The app was tricky to start with but soon we were using it with ease - choose a train, select it in the app and hop on!
I’m pleased I decided to buy the pass despite some concerning reviews (which seemed to be from people who didn’t really know how to use it effectively
or who had very fixed plans.) |
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posted 5-12-2024 @ 04:36 PM
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We did it all ourselves. It helped that I spoke Japanese, although you won't have a language problem in the UK.
I recommend what some others have said about getting a rail pass before you arrive in the UK. We got a Japan Rail pass for our trip. I didn't mention
it in my earlier post because I didn't know if they had a similar thing in the UK. For us it was cheaper to buy it here before we arrived in Japan.
Quote: Originally posted by kitkat  | Thanks Smiley
Thanks for the tips, did you plan yourself or go through a travel agent.
Kind regards
kitkat
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posted 5-12-2024 @ 06:27 PM
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We caught some trains in the UK and Italy a few years ago, great way to travel
If not buying a pass, single tickets in advance are much cheaper
as someone else suggested seat61.com is very handy for all rail bookings
check reviews for innner city hotels carefully on that my friend stayed in she said was great but I looked and reviews were terrible, people running
up and down the hallways at night, it turned out that some hotels at the end of train lines are used for bucks and hens nights all night partying.
Quiet during the week and noisy at weekends |
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posted 7-12-2024 @ 05:11 PM
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Thanks everyone for your input!
Kindest regards
kitkat
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