Our flight gets in 7am and we are taking the train to Bath, but will arrive too early to get into the room.
What places can we stop at on the way to Bath that is near the train line? This is Rick Steve's 14 days England Trip in July.
Thanks
Posted by
41 posts
Bristol is about 15 minutes by train from Bath. Book the train to Bristol, have a look around the city then get train to Bath.
Posted by
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, USA
15406 posts
Will this be the day your tour starts in Bath or are you going ahead of time?
There is also plenty to see in Bath that you don’t see on the best of England tour.
You didn’t ask but I’ll add that you can take a National Express coach from Heathrow to Bath without having to go in to London. The long distance buses in England are nothing like the long distance buses in many parts of the US.
Posted by
Lake District, England
9259 posts
The obvious solution is to go straight to Bath, leave your luggage at the front desk (or at the Stasher at the Premier Inn) and extra time to explore Bath.
En route (on the GWR train route) I might stop at Reading (for Reading Abbey), Didcot (for the Didcot Railway Centre) or Chippenham- a rather underrated town IMO.
I might be inclined to get off at Swindon, cross the street to the Bus Station, get one of the every 20 minutes buses to Chippenham, time in Chippenham to explore, then the 3x per hour bus to Bath.
The other possible route is often overlooked. Take the rail air bus to Woking or Basingstoke. Then the train to Salisbury. Time in Salisbury- for the Cathedral etc then the train to Bath.
If you live in a part of the US where there is infrequent transit you will be surprised both how frequent transit often is here, and also the quality of the vehicles vis a vis at home.
Each of those buses Swindon to Chippenham/Chippenham to Bath costs £3 this year.
The rail air bus to Basingstoke (a 90 minute ride, hourly) is £5.
If I wanted to kill time between Basingstoke and Salisbury I would take the every 30 minutes bus to Andover, then the every 20 minutes bus to Salisbury (two lovely rides through the English countryside).
Posted by
Bristol, UK
1638 posts
I’d just go to straight to Bath and store your luggage at the hotel. All hotels allow you to drop bags off before check in time.
I’d also contact the hotel and ask about the possibility of an early check in. This will depend on the day of the week and how busy they are.