We should like to go from London to Bath on Wednesday June 11 and then on to Gatwick on Saturday the 14th (flight out on Sunday the 15th)
Do we need to get tickets for trains way ahead of time or are they readily available on short notice?
Thanks- we are novices when it comes to England
Craig
Tickets are available on the day, but can be considerably cheaper if bought in advance. For example an on the day off peak single London to Bath is £42.00 but can be as cheap as £11.10 if bought as an advance ticket, tying you to a particular train. Similarly Bath to Gatwick via Reading is £54 on the day compared with £9.80 for the cheapest Advance
Book at fgw.co.UK for additional 10% off the advance fares, although it may be a bit early yet.
Thanks for the advice- would a month in advance suffice?
Craig
The earlier the better, as the tickets get dearer as the quota for each price level is reached. FGW currently selling tickets for travel up to 11 June, so your first leg just makes it. Typically they are available for roughly 12 weeks before travel.
Marco is spot on. Train fares here work similarly to airlines fares in the States. It is cheaper if you book early, and the closer to the day of travel you get, the higher the fare gets.
Enjoy your trip!
From London, you would go to Paddington Station and get a train direct to Bath--note the station is called Bath Spa.
For Gatwick, the best thing is to avoid central London entirely as you can go from Bath to Reading and then from Reading to Gatwick--you would change platforms but not stations unlike in London where you would have to get from Paddington to Victoria.
Bookings can be handled with First Great Western at http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk and should be done straight away to save money if you are not on a rail pass. If so, no worries about seat reservations--just find a seat that does not have a reservation for the sectors you need and you are all set. First Great Western can also give you schedule information. Reading is dealing with a major multiyear construction project on the station so platform information is subject to change--consult monitors!
If you were to proceed back into London, it would be a headache to have to get from Paddington to Victoria in terms of stairs.
I would also take a look at www.nationalrail.co.uk as well to get station plans for Paddington, Bath and at Gatwick. Trains at Gatwick come into next to the South Terminal and you would have to transfer if your airline happens to be in the North Terminal.
