Our August - September trip will require a total of 5 days of train travel. After 6 nights in London, I plan 2 nights in Canterbury, 2 nights in Eastbourne, 4 nights in Portsmouth and 3 nights in Bath and back to Heathrow. My husband has driven in England before, but I think a non-driving trip would be more relaxing. Please is there a British rail pass that would work well for our itinerary? Or would individual tickets be better? How soon would we need to reserve individual tickets for this itinerary? Thank you!
Posted by
Virginia
1043 posts
https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/
https://www.southernrailway.com/
https://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/
https://www.gwr.com/
Price out individual journeys and see what really works for you. I did a very very quick check, for random day in August not looking for discounts and rounding up on the price to whole £, and got London St Pancras to Canterbury £19; Canterbury to Eastbourne £29; Eastbourne to Portsmouth £22; Portsmouth to Bath £18. At £88 or so I think individual tickets would be ideal. My impression of rail passes is that they benefit those doing many long distance journeys.
If you're traveling in August and September you're with in the window for the cheapest Advance Tickets. You may also find an Anytime ticket to be the best option for some journeys.
Posted by
Preston UK
1549 posts
Almost certainly buying single tickets will be cheapest. If there are two of you it might be worth getting a TwoTogether railcard. For £35 that will give you 1/3rd off the prices above so marginal saving for just those journeys but if you did any more or wanted to buy more flexible and expensive tickets then could be worthwhile. Just note that you can’t use the railcard before 9.30am on weekdays.
Posted by
Lake District, England
9972 posts
There is no UK rail pass which suits. But for flexibility the BritRail London plus pass may suit- purchased at home before travel.
You can probably do it cheaper with Advance purchased train specific tickets like £19 London to Canterbury but then you have no flexibility to travel in the moment.
Btitrail has no time restrictions.
So it kind of depends what kind of traveller you are.
If you went for Advance Tickets they should be open 12 weeks before travel, but equally the day before would do, if at a slightly higher price.
Posted by
OP
64 posts
Thank you all for your advice! That is all so encouraging and enlightening! Please, how early should we plan to be at a station before a scheduled departure? Do we just show our ticket once we are on the train?
Posted by
Lake District, England
9972 posts
In all of these instances there are ticket gates at the platforms so you put your ticket in the gate (if a paper one) and it gives it you back after reading. If an electronic one put your device flat on the reader for it to read the QR code.
All gates are also staffed, so any issues show the ticket to the staff member.
If you have a pass such as Britrail 9 times out of 10 the gates won't be able to read it - just show it to the staff. 22 days of experience nationwide with that in the last two months, and far more similar experience over the years.
Normally at London stations a train will not have its platform advertised until around 15 minutes before departure.
So that is quite adequate time but arrive earlier if you wish. Bath only has two platforms, one in each direction so no surprises there.
Portsmouth has two stations- Portsmouth and Southsea ( in the city centre) or Portsmouth Harbour (for the Historic Dockyard, also the Gosport and Isle of Wight ferries). Choose the one closest to your hotel. Almost all trains stop at both.