Would appreciate your advice /comments on the following itinerary. It seems like we’re doing a lot of back tracking on the train but not sure if it can be avoided . (Just a note that because we are visiting with friends and family on the weekends we are doing our own sightseeing during the week.)
Bath - 2 nights
Chester or Liverpool - use one or the other as a base for 2 nights
Flint , North Wales - 3 nights
York - 3 nights
Staffordshire - 4 nights
London - 5 nights
We purchased a railcard (Two Together) and will probably use the off peak fares rather than the split and save fares as they offer more flexibility.
Thank you in advance .
Posted by
2409 posts
I presume that Flint is included because it is the location of friends/family? Same with Staffordshire?
Posted by
Lake District, England
5755 posts
In some ways it is a shame that you have bought two together railcards. If you aren't going to use advance fares, instead using off peak walk up fares it may well have been as suitable to use BritRail passes.
They have their heavy detractors on this forum, but in your case may have been a good investment.
But you can still retain flexibility by looking a day or two in advance of each journey for last minute advance fares, Under the new fare system each of the long distance routes above has them- usually up until midnight day before travel or even.later.
As an example it is now 7am. I'm looking and there are advance fares fares of £42.90 on the 0731 train from Newport (Gwent) to Chester, as against £70.20 anytime single.
More pertinently for you there are advance fares NOW on the 1040 from Bath to Chester (1 change at Newport) of £55.20 before railcard discount, as opposed to £107.10 anytime single.
Flint (or at least Chester) to York and Staffordshire to London will be the same kind of script.
Flint to York- buy this on the day as Flint to Chester, then a Chester to York advance. There are advance tickets now (at 0711) on the 0723 train from Chester which are £30 cheaper than the anytime single on the same train (also on almost all later trains). Flint to Chester is a 15 minute journey yet even that has last minute advance fares. That is a route where a split fare of two last minute advance fares is the right way to book it- the only sensible way.