I am planning a trip to England and Scotland next October. We fly into Gatwick and then want to take a train to Thirsk. After renting a car and driving in and around Scotland we want to take a train to Cornwall.I have been looking up information on British Rail but often find I "can't get there from here." Are there other train companies I need to check? Thanks in advance for any help.
Posted by
Brisbane, queensland, Australia
15 posts
British Rail disappeared in the 1990s. Use nationalrail.co.uk to check your trains. when you select the train you want you can go to the train operater's website to make the booking. You may have to be a bit more precise with your queries. Scotland to Cornwall will not get any results. Edinburgh to St Ives will.
Posted by
Elk Grove, CA, USA
6898 posts
Ahh Thirsk!. Home of James Alfred Wight who, under the pen name James Herriot, wrote All Creatures Great and Small. He was a veterinarian and practiced in Thirsk. About 20 minutes out of York.
You can take a National Rail train directly from the Kings Cross Station to Thirsk via York. 2hrs25min. Here's what the schedule looks like. http://gyazo.com/73e82f822e3574a88a062ee8e80f8860
Posted by
New England
317 posts
Hi, http://www.seat61.com/ has a lot of train info. How long is your trip? Going from the south of the country to the north back to the southwest corner has quite a lot of territory to cover, not that it can't be done, but it's traveling time to be sure you can accomplish. The RS page for Great Britain rail passes has a map that mentions prices, but maybe it'll help to explain that you sometimes have to make a change (or changes!) to get A to B, https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains/britain-rail-passes Cheers.
Posted by
New England
317 posts
Hi, http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations_destinations/maps.aspx has a number of maps to show where things go and the "can't get there from here" business. One map shows all stations and rail companies, perhaps that'll help. Cheers.