Train ticket Kings Cross - Stamford

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ is the place to start for all trains in Britain. This will jump you to the correct train company.
Yes buy early to get the cheaper tickets. This applies for all long distance trains, not just from London.
For Stamford, Lincolnshire, if coming from London your train will start from Kings Cross station and you will have to change trains in Peterborough.

Thanks heaps. Really appreciate your help :-)

What a lucky person you are!!!

That is a BIG course - you've probably seen it on TV. It is much bigger in person. I remember waiting by the lake one year during a long hold because William Fox Pitt came a cropper early in the course and the hold was absolutely forever. I love the house, the grounds, the town, and the course. Other than Rockingham it is my nearest good eventing course and boy, don't they do a great job there.

The station isn't too far, but a little bit of a walk. Are you going all three days or just for the Cross Country?

You can be confused by all the choices for vendors of train tickets. Since privatization some years ago all train companies in the country (and some non-railway company ticket sellers) can sell tickets on any route and any combination of operators even if they don't operate any of the route. So, for example, ScotRail - in Scotland - and Northern Rail which crosses the Pennines in the north of the country can sell the same tickets for your route which is actually provided by LNER (Kings Cross to Peterborough) and Cross Country (Peterborough to Stamford) and LNER can. In all cases one company is responsible for setting the fares (not necessarily the most obvious and usually of no interest to the consumer) and all others sell at that price. Third parties are different because they often add a fee onto the normal price.

National Rail is an industry wide group who make buying tickets easy by providing an overview and supposedly impartial display. They do default to the quickest routing so sometimes you can save a bit by going to the operator's website for the slower route and try to beat the system. Also splitting the ticket can sometimes save money, at the risk of it going wrong if the first train is late. If on one ticket if the first train is late you can get the next in the chain with no worry. If you split the ticket - say Kings Cross to Peterborough and Peterborough to Stamford, if the first train is late and you have a cheap non-changeable ticket for the second you may be out the price of a new ticket.

Getting an Advance (with a capital A, non-changeable and non-refundable, ties you to one specific train time, usually cheapest) well in advance, say 9 to 12 weeks ahead, will put money back in your pocket. They are only sold as single (one-way) journeys so you another to return.

With walk-up tickets (even if you get it in advance (no capital a)) you can get a day return (returning the same day) or period return (up to 30 days later) for just a little more than a single (one-way). Often as little as 10 pence more than a single.

So indeed, many choices. That's why I'm here, to try to help with the maze.

I so appreciate the help.
We’re just going for the cross country ... I went to Badminton with my parents in 2005 and made my poor mum sit through 2 full days of dressage :-)... Andrew Hoy won (and I’m Australian) and it was a brilliant time. I’ve always wanted to see the Burghley course so I can’t wait!
I like the idea of the ticket where I return on the same day but I can pick my time... I don’t know exactly when we’ll be heading back... I’d like to look at the shops at Burghley and also have a little wander around Stamford if time.
Can you clarify the type of ticket I’m looking for? Thanks again :-)

Nigel, I never would have guessed you are a fan of horse trials!

CathyG, what a great opportunity. We were in Stamford a couple of years back just as an overnight stop on the way to the Lake District, and walked some of the grounds. It was spring and they were setting up for a country fair. Lovely place. We stayed at a B and B that had a direct path; I can look it up if you like.

The ticket you want is a "day return." On the National Rail site, you put in both outbound and return dates (in your case the same date) and it should offer you options. I am seeing £44 for the return ticket, but that is for Advance ticket for the return, which ties you to a particular train. For flexibility you want an Off-Peak ticket for the return portion, which is £ 8 more, so £52 for the package.

Hopefully someone will correct me if I am wrong.

To see the "off-peak" fares for the Return leg, pick one of the £18 Advance options shown, such at the 17:00 train, and then tick "other tickets" just below the price. It will display several options, including Off-Peak. Choose that. You can confirm by looking at "other routes and services" for that ticket thT it is good on any departure from Stamford that afternoon or evening. ( It is pretty much all Off-Peak on Saturday). So you can decide thT day when you want to return to London.

I can do it for £44.65.

£36.20 Off Peak Return Kings Cross/KGX to Peterborough/PBO; they are all off-peak on a Saturday plus
£8.45 Anytime Return PBO to Stamford/SMD; there are no off-peaks on that short run, the Anytime Return is a great fare
equals
£44.65.

And you can come back after you have seen enough horses in the awful weather (not usually in Stamford, it is in one of the driest places in the country, but I've had to be there in wellies before) or you can stay as long as you like and mooch around Stamford after exhausting all the stalls at Burghley (you must be younger and more fit than I am). Both tickets, and of course you need both rather than just the one through ticket each way, are valid on all trains all day.

Lola,

yes my wife and I have been going to Eventing and Show Jumping for at least 35 years. Some teeny tiny and some the creme de la creme. We love it. Most big ones which we have been unable to get to we watch on TV or the interwebs.

There is an even cheaper day return fare of £32.40 but this is restricted out of London to using only Thameslink or Great Northern. I mention it only as something to avoid

This has to be the best community on the web. Thank you ever so much for the brilliant, clear and practical help. . So so so appreciated! You are all wonderful!!

I didn't mention it, Marco, because it adds so much extra time. Thameslink and GN not so on top of their game just at the moment either, as you allude.

I just wanted to thank everyone again for their help... I have successfully booked my train ticket and there is no way I could have navigated that site without your help!!!

And now, just to be paranoid... I have booked this service: Off peak day return. This is correct isn't it, in order to choose the train I return to London on.

For Saturday - yup.

Thank you Nigel!