Travel Advice

I'm thinking if you're not open to driving part of the route, you don't have time. Any reason why you're trying such a long journey in only four days?

I would take a train from Edinburgh to Birmingham, car to Ludlow and from there drive to Bampton, then leave the car in Oxford and take the train to London. But others may have a better idea.

Highclere Castle is an easy daytrip from London (Paddington to Newbury). You can take a taxi from the station to Highclere Castle and back. Make sure you either make a note of the taxi company numbers or download the taxi app so you can call one to take you back to the station.

For rail card advice and many tips about rail travel, www.seat61.com

You are trying to visit widely dispersed places in only 4 days. You will spend most of your time travelling. Don't hire a car in Birmingham and drive to Ludlow - congested city followed by slow country roads.

Take train from Edinburgh to Crewe where you switch to another train to Ludlow. Total journey time is around 4 hours 30 minutes and you can buy advance fares for the entire trip for around £43 BUT split the tickets at Crewe as to buy EDB to LUD is far more expensive.

Tiverton Parkway is the nearest station to Bampton and it will take around 3 hours 20 minutes by train from Ludlow to Tiv Parkway. Then you would really need a car as Bampton is remote. That being so, probably best to get off train at Taunton in order to hire a car.
It is cheaper to split tickets at Newport (change trains) & Bristol Temple Meads.

You want to go to Highclere Castle - nearest station is Newbury. Train journey from Tiverton Parkway to Newbury is 1 hour 43 minutes on fastest service. Cost buying in advance would be about £34. Probably best to keep car that you may have hired in Taunton and drive from Bampton to Highclere and turn car in at Newbury or Reading.

You are travelling too far in time available and missing many places of interest in between.

This site will tell you about the split train tickets:>https://www.traintickets.com/?/
Also https://www.thetrainline.com
and https://www.traintickets.com/?/

Note that these sites charge a commission for finding the splits.

For proper advice on railcards we need to know the number and ages of people in your party. For adults just if any are under 30 or over 60.

Do you have any time in Edinburgh before the 4 days? You could easily spend them all there. Even if you will have seen Edinburgh already it is a very rushed trip. It will take several hours from there to Ludlow but you will need to move on the following day.

Why Highclere? It’s a pretty dull stately home by British standards. If it is the Downton Abbey connection bear in mind that it was only really the outside of Highclere that featured. Nearly all the indoor filming was in studios.

Sorry this is unrealistic for four days. Something will have to go!

With only four days, you are trying to cover wat too much ground. With your time constraints, suggest you settle on only two places.

Are you saying you have four days to travel between Edinburgh and London?

We are starting in Edinburgh because a tour we are on ends there. I wanted to visit Ludlow, Highclere ( we are DA fans), then Bampton, then on to London. This is our side vacation. We will have already been on a 11 day of Ireland and Scotland. If driving is better, I may think about it.

If you exclude Bampton, then it can all be done by train - providing you can get transport for the relatively short distance between Newbury & Highclere Castle. Why Bampton? Why do you skip the most scenic part of England = The Lake District?

Note that the trains are relatively fast with the Edinburgh to Crewe leg up to 125 mph and the Crewe to Ludlow leg up to 90 mph. It’s the same for the southern legs, so those timings are not because the trains are particularly slow.
You can see a train drivers’ video of the Edinburgh to Carlisle leg on You Tube.

If you want to drive - take a look at the roads on Google Maps & zoom down to Streetview.

Johnew52, thanks for the filming info about Highclere---I was thinking about adding it our trip list, but perhaps will spend time otherwise.

Even with a car throughout you are not going to be saving time over train travel. The distances are just too great.

There is a bus service from Taunton Railway station to Bampton every couple of hours (but not from Tiverton station, just from Tiverton town).

Presumably Bampton is for genealogical reasons.

Is there even car hire at Taunton, at least in proximity to the railway station?-or would that lose you a lot of time.

You don't have to change twice from Ludlow to Taunton or Tiverton. Change once at Newport.

If you are going to buy split tickets buy them direct from the train companies, rather than through profiteering third parties- that way you don't pay their commission.

If you are going to do this get going early each day to maximise your time-
Day 1 EDI 0652 Ludlow arrive 1109 (you couldn't do it in that time driving, and the 0652 or the 0852 is £10 cheaper than quoted above.

Day 2 Ludlow 0643 Taunton arrive 0955 (ONE change at Newport) and hourly thereafter STAY IN TAUNTON.

That 0955 arrival connects straight into a bus to Bampton, arriving at 1103, with buses back at 1429 and 1714.

Day 3 Taunton 0715 Newbury arrive 0818, breakfast at Newbury Wharf, then Taxi to Highclere for opening time, then very frequent trains to London Paddington afterwards. After the 0715 from Taunton the next direct train is at 1006, arrive 1123 (or there is an 0823, change at Hungerford (on the same line) arrive Newbury 1014, but the 0715 is the best train).

PS- There is also a Bampton in the Lake District- in one of those corners which tourists almost always neglect to visit (because guide books don't mention that corner), near Shap. There is also one in Oxfordshire.