We are planning to fly to Edinburgh, train and bus to Kenwith in the Lake District, train and bus to Conwy, Wales, then ferry to Dublin. The time in Ireland is flexible. All of these plans seem to work fine as we have researched the bus and train schedules. Has anyone reading this had experience with any of these bus or train travels? Do you have cautions or ???
Posted by
Washington DC
27212 posts
My major caution is that UK rail fares can go very, very high if you buy tickets shortly before departure. On some routes you can save over 75% by committing to a specific train (date and time) well in advance. But those tickets don't retain much value if you later decide you've made a mistake and want to exchange them, so I consider them essentially non-refundable/non-changeable. You need to be sure before you grab the bargains. You can check rail fares at nationalrail.co.uk
I don't know of a Kenwith in the Lake District (but I'm no expert). Did you perhaps mean Keswith? Or Kendal. There's also a Penrith nearby, but not actually in the Lake District.
My general comment is that how well an itinerary works in real life depends to a considerable degree on whether the traveler allows enough time to do what she's interested in doing at each stop, after allowing for all the time spent checking in and out of hotels and traveling from place to place.
Posted by
Tunbridge Wells
6113 posts
There is a Kenwith in Devon, but not in the Lake District.
Posted by
UK
1015 posts
I honestly can’t work out whether you mean Penrith or Keswick but I don’t think Keswick has a train station.
Posted by
3122 posts
As the other comments ask, which town in the Lake District are you referring to? I believe Penrith has a train station, but Keswick doesn't so you'd go from Penrith to Keswick by bus. Although Penrith isn't officially in the Lake District, we enjoyed it more than Keswick because it feels like a real town, not full of tourists. The TI office is very helpful. In the high street near the historic square & clock tower there's a nice little restaurant called Narrowbar that has good meals, very affordable.
No matter what time of year you're going, make sure to have layers of clothing and rain gear.