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Thoughts and advice about London to York (to Manchester?)

I was considering a day trip to South Wales from London but after asking some questions about public transportation on TripAdvisor, I was not-so-politely discouraged from this and told it was "unfeasible".

So my new idea is to go to York for a day. I wanted to go there a few years ago but didn't due to weather. My sister and I fly home from Manchester on Oct. 28, and I was thinking about going to York for the day on Oct. 27. We would check out of our hotel, go to York, and in the late afternoon take the train to Manchester. It seems more time-efficient (and cheaper?) to do it this way, rather than do a 6-hour round-trip to York one day and a 3-hour train trip to Manchester another day.

I searched this site for left luggage at the York train station but all of the available information seems to be more than 2 years old. Does anyone know if the York train station has left luggage?

My other question is whether to buy train tickets from London to York and York to Manchester now, or wait. I hesitate to buy them not only because of possible train strikes but also because of weather. I was in London 3 years ago and there was so much rain that there was flooding in northern England. I know that was a fluke, but it makes me hesitant.

Posted by
342 posts

Emma has made an excellent suggestion. IMO, York really deserves more than a couple of rushed hours. My husband and I stayed in a wonderful B&B last year that was a very short walk from the train station. Let me know if you want any details.

Posted by
16895 posts

York train station does have bag storage near platform 1. But I also like the plan of spending a night there.

Posted by
1526 posts

Why not enjoy Manchester? 20 pounds by train from London. It has historic attractions from the Industrial Revolution and many Museums. It also has major Sports, Music and Theater Venues. You can also run over to Chester which is a Roman walled city very similar to York. Save York and the Minster when you have more time for that area.

Posted by
1976 posts

Thanks for your suggestions. I'll talk to my sister and see what she says. I'd love to spend the night in York, but that would mean taking away the last 2 days from London. She's never been there before and wants to spend as much time in the city as possible.

Posted by
1976 posts

Emma, thanks for your added advice. You present a good case. :)