We have traveled in England with a car in the past but are thinking about avoiding the anxiety of driving on our next trip. We are considering southwest England including Bath, parts of Cornwall, some gardens and the coast for about 5 days. In Italy we have enjoyed the luxury of a hired driver for locations that did not have train or bus transportation and are open to this option. We are fine with any form of transportation. Our planning is in its early stages so we have nothing set in stone. Any suggestions welcome!
Posted by
Seattle, WA
16287 posts
We have given up driving on the left and have happily traveled around the UK (England, Scotland and Wales) by train. We find it easy and enjoyable, and quite economical with a Two Together Railcard. Cornwall has just one train line down the middle of the peninsula, but where the train does not go, you will find buses (except on Sundays) and local taxis. You can “google” the name of the town and find a taxi service to call (we like to pre-book from arrival at the train station).
I use the National rail.uk website to find routes and schedules, and to book the trains in advance to get the best prices (called Advance fares). We find it easier to navigate and use than Trenitalia andthe Italy train system (where on occasion we have found that the carriage designated for our reserved seat does not exist).
Where on the coast and when are you planning to go?
Posted by
Lynnwood, Washington
8383 posts
I only ever use public transport in the UK and it has worked great.
Posted by
7668 posts
We have rented a car in the UK twice, once for four days and another for four weeks. As the driver, I adjusted to driving on the left with the help of my wife to remind me to "stay on the left." We found British drivers to be polite and not aggressive.
Visiting more remote and scenic places is best done with a car. Of course, parking is an issue, but I always book lodging that provides parking.
Traffic is heavy in Southern England, particularly anywhere near London. The north of England was great, we loved York, Durham, Hadrian's Wall and the Lake District.
I understand not wanting to drive in the UK, but you will spend a lot of time working around public transport and trains.
Posted by
Washington DC
27122 posts
I traveled from southern England to Cornwall by public transportation in 2017, using public transportation. Once you get to Cornwall, especially, travel times will be longer than you expect, so do research those as you work on your itinerary. Five days isn't much time to try to cover that amount of ground. You don't want to spend all your time sitting on trains an buses or waiting for them.
I enjoyed several gardens during that trip; these are listed from east to west:
Dorset
- Poole: Compton Acres (but I didn't care for the town of Poole). Some in-town walking required.
- Weymouth: Abbotsbury Sub-tropical Garden. A bus took me part of the way, but I think I had to do considerable walking to reach this one.
Cornwall
- Mevagissey: Lost Gardens of Heligan. I missed the bus so I don't know how close it gets to the entry to the garden. I don't recommend walking; it's a considerable distance and can be very, very muddy.
- St. Austell: The Eden Project (visited from Mevagissey). This required a bus connection, probably in St. Austell.
I also enjoyed the museums and artsy shops in St. Ives, an attractive town on the northern Cornish coast. It is very touristy, however. Inland Truro is larger and felt less touristy. It's an attractive town with rail service.
In addition to limited availability and high rates for lodging (book early if yours will be a summer trip!), you should be aware that demand for restaurant table exceeds supply. If you want a sit-down dinner you should make a reservation. I don't know how tight things are at lunch, but at dinner you may be limited to food from a fish-and-chips truck or a supermarket it you have no reservation.
Posted by
Stratford upon Avon
470 posts
You should have a look at the National Rail website under Special Offers then Great Western for details of various tickets that may be of interest
Posted by
Los Angeles
220 posts
Yeah if you don't like driving in the UK, def DO NOT drive in Cornwall, while I found it "an adventure" of sorts driving all over Penzance and Newquay (newkey) and various strange places like Roskilly's farm, its very different than other parts of England. There are extremely high narrow hedges and you honestly can't tell except from your GPS and the position of the sun what direction your car is facing or where you are at. Particularly in Dartmoor (hilarious driving experience--- 2" from nailing a rockwall on one side, then oh HI VAN being polite and backing up like 200 feet because we look like sad tourists lol). Lots of blind turns too. It was interesting.
Busses run fairly frequently (but do check). Its slower down there in Cornwall, but a very lovely place.
Posted by
The Heartland USA
8447 posts
We enjoyed visiting some Cotswold villages and Stonehenge/Avebury from Bath using Mad Max Tours (a small bus tour). Im sure there are others. That worked well for us, and Bath was a convenient hub as well as being pleasant in itself. You can take a coach from Heathrow directly to Bath, if thats where you're coming from.
Posted by
South Yorkshire, UK; formerly St. Louis, MO, USA
317 posts
Much prefer the train. Much. Its more relaxed, you can stretch out, you arent worried about traffic, you arent worried about road works (construction), can enjoy a beverage. WIth a Two Together railcard, you can save quite a bit. If you do a bit of advanced planning, you can save some money on point-to-point tickets.
Check out: https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/
Further, you can try a coach (bus): https://www.nationalexpress.com/en
Bath is easy to get to via train from London. Once there, if you are looking to go to places not covered by the train, local buses are generally pretty good.