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Bath to Bristol Airport- Rick Steves vs Rome2Rio

How would you get from Bath to Bristol Airport?

The 2023 Rick Steves guidebook recommended either taking Bristol Air Decker bus or a taxi(40 Pounds), but I want to verify after his incomplete information about how to get from Heathrow to Bath.

I looked at Rome2Rio, but they said the best way was to take the train from Bath to Bristol Temple Meads, and then take the A1 bus to Bristol Airport. And, it also estimated that the taxi would cost 55 pounds to 61 pounds.

For two people, if the Bristol Air Decker will cost a total of 33 pounds vs a taxi that will cost 40 pounds, then I'll just go with the taxi because the price difference between those 2 options isn't that bad.

But, if the taxi is going to cost 61 pounds or $80, then I'll stick with public transportation.

And, how early should I get to the Bristol Airport for a Easy Jet international flight to Dubrovnik in Croatia? The flight leaves at 13:10PM so would 11:10AM still be fine?

This is my first time flying with Easy Jet so I don't know if there's anything different that I need to know about early I need to check in with them. If it makes a difference, I'm dropping off luggage. (In America, the luggage would be considered carry on but its technically too large for EasyJet's size restrictions).

So far, it was a bit unusual how early you could check in online with EasyJet( I think it was like a month before the actual flight). But, you couldn't choose your seats for free when I checked in. 24 hours before the flight, will I be able to choose seats the way you can with other airlines?

Posted by
654 posts

Public transport is the way I’d do it.

I wouldn’t trust a guidebook for taxi prices but you could get a quote from a local taxi firm, who will have a standard price for airport runs.

EasyJet will charge you extra to choose your seat. They’re also strict on arrival times and very strict on bag size so you’re doing the right thing to check your luggage.

Posted by
7326 posts

This is the official taxi tariff for Bath-
https://beta.bathnes.gov.uk/sites/default/files/Hackney%20Carriage%20Tariff%20Card%202023.pdf

The distance is 19.8 miles.

If my back of the envelope maths are correct from this tariff sheet that equates to about £63 + the £6 airport drop off fee- so say around £69.

I have got 3 quotes from local companies on line, including Arrow Cars (the official airport taxi company)- all around £70 to £75. So r2r in this case looks about right, when including the drop off charge. I don't often say that r2r is right.

Me I would take the air decker at £17 each. Train/A1 will cost £18.70 and can be bought as a through ticket- which is the same as the sum of the 2 fares- £9.70 train and £9 bus. Not much difference but not needing to change would swing it for me personally.

Posted by
5140 posts

We used a private car service based in Bath to go from there to the Bristol airport and were very pleased. It's not a really long distance so the cost (don't remember exactly) was reasonable. The service we used was Chauffeur Travel, and the web site is https://chauffeurtravel.co.uk/

Check it out and see if it will work for you.

Posted by
1280 posts

You do have the option with EasyJet to pay for a larger cabin bag in addition to the free underseat bag. Have you checked if your bag would fit those dimensions? Checking a bag is such a faff.

You will not get to choose a seat on EasyJet without paying. If you don’t pay they allocate you a random seat.

I would allow at least 2.5hrs at Bristol if you do need to check a bag. There is one queue to check bags for all the EasyJet flights (this is the same at every airport) so depending on the flight schedule it can be long.