I will be going London/Bath/York....Once I arrive at LGW, I'll be heading to Bath.
What is the best solution to get there:
A) Reserve my train tickets for 3 hours after my arrival at LGW
B) Grab the bus and the connection to Bath...not sure if I have to book ahead
C) Arrive at LGW and book at the airport, it will cost more, but at least I don't have to wait.
D) Suggest me a better solution if the 3 above are not good.
Btw, I won't be renting a car, so please do not suggest me that option.
Train to Reading and the change to a train going to Bath Spa
Or
Thameslink train to Farringdon and change to the Elizabeth Line to Paddington. Then train to Bath Spa.
I book in advance or just arrive and buy my ticket there? If you suggest in advance, how long should I allow, I figure 3 hours is enough. I'm also a backpacker, so I don't have to wait for my luggage or anything special like that.
Check the National Express website for direct coaches from Gatwick to Bath. It might take slightly longer than by train, but you wouldn’t have to change trains with luggage - I’d say that’s worth any extra journey time
@Amanda, is it necessary to book in advance or can I just buy my tickets directly at the airport? I ask this, because Ideally I do not want to book in advance, who knows if my flight will have delays or not.
It’s not a good journey via public transport. Do you have to bother with Bath and York? York is easy to access from London. Bath is as well, but in the opposite direction! The idea of visiting both in a week via train brings me out in a cold sweat.
If you buy on the spot the via London route will cost you £66, the via Reading route £77. Buying in advance via London is about £25.
Buying in advance it's about £40 via Reading- one ticket Gatwick to Reading, another one Reading to Bath.
As long as you allow 3 hours after arrival it should be safe.
Going to Reading direct is obviously easier as it avoids the walking between lines at Farringdon and Paddington. But the via London route will be running to some kind of frequency even if it's a rail strike day.
On National Express you would have to change bus at Heathrow. You can turn up and buy at Gatwick, but you run the risk of one or other bus being full, It is always better to book in advance.
So there isn't a perfect answer. It's weighing up the merits of each option.
The best choice seems to book a train via Reading in Advance or buy bus tickets in advance.
I dont necessarily have a solution for you but will share my experience with booking ahead.
In June 2021 I flew into LHR and had pre-booked my train to Edinburgh because it was a lot cheaper to do it far in advance. I anticpated massive issues at immigration because of covid and buffered myself a lot of extra time. Of course it all went off effortlessly and I arrived about five hours before my train left. I went to the desk and I didn't have a flexible ticket so they wouldn't let me change it to an earlier time. I thought, fine, I am in London I will kill the time. So I paid for bag storage at Kings Cross. It then proceeded to down pour and most things required a reservation at that time (i.e. the British Muesum). So I think saving a bunch on a book ahead ticket can be great but if the savings are not substantial and the route isn't going to sell out (busy weekend, events, etc) perhaps day of is a good choice too.
I honestly think the best option is to start your trip in London then travel to York, then go to Durham or somewhere else in the same direction as York, then return to London. So much less travelling. Bath is nice enough but there are tons of great places to visit and you will make better use of your time not zig zagging around the country.
I hadn't actually noticed that you were going onwards to York after Bath, as the question was all about the transfer to Bath, so that was what was answered (memo to me, read the whole post).
You don't actually say how long you are in the UK for.
Unless there is a big personal reason to go to Bath on the way (which there might be) I would agree.
You lose a day on the transfer to York from Bath, whether you take a via London route or a not via London route (via Bristol or via Reading).
York is simple from LGW. Thameslink to London St Pancras. Walk across the road to Kings Cross for York. York and Edinburgh is the tried and tested combination, but there is so much more between the two cities, all easily accessible by public transport. Using York as a base there are many day trip possibilities beyond the city.
I purchased a ticket for LGW to London for an upcoming trip that allowed for travel on any off-peak train on that date. Couldn't you do something like that so you don't have to worry about the timing quite as much?
Good advice above from isn31c (the Lake District).
I would be tempted to take the coach from Gatwick to Bath. It looks to me like, from the coach website maps, that the coach leaves Gatwick, travels to Heathrow coach stations (both of them) where it picks up more passengers, and then heads to Bath.
We made the trip two years ago, from Heathrow T5 coach (bus) depot to Bath, and it couldn't have been easier. We just walked up and bought a ticket at the window; no reservations in advance because we were uncertain whether our flight would be late coming in. The coach was not crowded. There were only two other passengers on the coach besides us.
Many coaches per day do this route, so I would be likely to not buy my ticket in advance. I would be surprised if every seat was taken on this bus/coach. If you had to wait for the next bus/coach (very unlikely) it would be along in 45 minutes to an hour, so grab a coffee and wait.
