Hi all,
Have travelled extensively in Europe by train(Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Germany) and have loved the ease of getting around easily to cities, towns, villages, etc. . We have also travelled by car in Ireland, loved the flexibility, but found the driving on the "wrong" side of the road somewhat daunting at our age (mid- late sixties). have also done the Rick Steve's group tour in Croatia, Slovenia, and Bosnia and enjoyed that as well.
Now would like to travel on our own in England, perhaps Wales, seeing more of the country side, small towns and villages, perhaps to Cornwall, the Cotswolds region, etc, (we have fallen in love with many of the BBC series... Midsomer Murders, All Creatures Great and Small, Doc Martin, etc) and would love to do some touring of those areas, hiking, biking, etc....and wondering how easy it is to get around without a car at our disposal.....?and using trains or buses...., Any advice or insight would be greatly appreciated!! Many thanks!
Posted by
Home_Sweet_Home :-)
507 posts
When I went to the London area to meet my grandparents (1963) Mum took us everywhere either by bus, by underground, or by train. We went on a bus tour of the Cotswolds.
Mum took us to South Hampton by train. It was memorable b/c we boarded the wrong train. Thirty minutes later Mum realized we were on the wrong train. At the next stop we got off of that train, & waited for/boarded the next train going in the opposite direction.
I have been back since (not recently). Nothing seemed to have changed to travel around England & Wales on my second trip.
Here is a link to a Londoner who explained the bus & underground systems on one of the RS forums. In fact she is about 6 posts below you.
You might drop Emma a private message with questions being she lives there.
My 2 cents worth. :-)
Posted by
Long Beach, California, USA
3398 posts
We have traveled extensively around England via public transport in both urban and rural areas. As long as you plan ahead you can certainly get to everywhere you want to go. You can find schedules online for buses of all kinds and, of course, British Rail. In the more remote areas bus service does run nearly everywhere but often you have to fit your plans around the bus schedules since they can be more infrequent, especially on the weekends. Just be patient, think ahead, and you can do it.
Posted by
2599 posts
Perhaps your starting point should be a map of the British Rail system. Go to the link that follows and then you can view several types of maps of the system. I think the second one down shows the system best. The third one down shows the routes of the train companies - though you can purchase tickets from any station to any other station. Sometimes it is cheaper to split tickets rather than buy one through ticket. Also see www.britrail.com for rail passes for foreigners - though these aren't exactly cheap. http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations_destinations/maps.aspx
Your best site for finding buses is www.transportdirect.info
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33991 posts
It can certainly be done, and reasonably comfortably, with a bit of planning.
I know quite a few people who don't run a car who live semi-rural, but all my rural friends do have cars. There are buses everywhere but the rural ones can be very rare. In the Cotswolds, for example, there are regular buses linking the major towns such as Bourton on the Water, Stow on the Wold (where the wind blows cold), Moreton in the Marsh, Cheltenham, Winchcombe, Chipping Campden, Banbury, Chipping Norton, etc.
But if you want to visit the smaller places like Upper Swell, Upper Slaughter, Lower Slaughter, Lower Swell, Temple Guiting, Bourton on the Hill, etc., you will struggle.
Trains go to all the cities and most of the larger towns, from where they are linked by buses. There is a plan called "Plus Bus" where for a reasonable price you can use all the buses surrounding a particular train station on one ticket.
Certainly in the big cities like Oxford, London, Bath, York, etc., a car is nothing more than an expensive liability.
For much of Wales what I said about buses is true; in South Wales a lot of the buses go up and down the valleys but not across them so to get from one to the other you need to go back to the head of the valley and go up the next.
Wales has trains across the bottom, across the top, along part of the west coast, and up through the middle, without much linking them other than buses. The geography prohibits, as well as the population density. Wales for a tourist can be a bit of a challenge without a car or motorcycle.