We will be traveling exclusively by train May 4 to June 14th Amsterdam- Brussels- London- Edinburgh- Stirling- Oban- Glasgow- Keswick- York - Chester - Bath - London. How soon should I, can I, start booking tickets? Would Brussels to London and London to Edinburgh be a priority to book early? We typically travel business class.
Posted by
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, USA
14759 posts
A quick look at the Eurostar website shows that they are currently booking thru May 17. These tickets are like airline tickets in that they only go up in price. I might wait until next weekend to see if there is any kind of Black Friday sale even though that's not a big thing in Europe, lol. Some companies throw us a bone with some fare sales.
I'm assuming you are staying over at least one night in Brussels? Otherwise you'd book that whole ticket Amsterdam to London
Posted by
Lake District, England
7935 posts
AMS to London you can book now. It is still a change at Brussels by that date with a 45 minute connection typically. You may want to check if it is any cheaper to book AMS-BRU, BRU-St Pancras separately and with a longer connection time.
LON- Edinburgh is normally open about 4 months before travel.
EDI to Stirling is turn up and go (most trains 2nd class only), Glasgow to Oban is 2nd class only; Oban to Keswick - book as 2 tickets- Oban to Glasgow and Glasgow to Penrith (for Keswick).
All the other tickets after Edinburgh should be available 12 weeks before travel except Penrith to York and York to Chester which are 8 weeks before travel if using Northern Rail routes or 12 weeks otherwise.
For Penrith to York in 1st class travel on TransPennine Penrith to Manchester and Manchester to York. Other routes do not have 1st class.
York to Chester on most routes does not have 1st class. For 1st class use Transpennine to Manchester, then Transport for Wales Manchester to Chester (using the Standard plus upgrade on TfW- see below)
Chester to Bath does not have 1st class (*), but has standard plus on many trains- upgrade on the train (for the Chester to Newport section)
* The 0716 is the premier train of the day and conveys a 1st class car with restaurant which serves a full chef cooked Welsh breakfast (at extra cost). This is usually cheapest booked as 2 tickets- Chester to Newport (Gwent) and Newport to Bath.
Other trains with 1st class involve going to Crewe then the 0910, 1110, 1510 or 1710 to Newport (Gwent) which serve breakfast, lunch or dinner respectively.
Posted by
Innsbruck, Austria
1 posts
Most train tickets are bookable about 3 months in advance.
You should get best prices for advanced bookings about 6 weeks in advance. (your dates aren't any special holidays that I know of).
The Eurostar should be booked early as you get a decent discount and the routes are often busy. I would think London-Edinburgh is similar but I am not a UK expert.
Generally though the shorter journeys aren't as important to book in advance.
Posted by
OP
Portland, OR, USA
283 posts
Thanks everyone! We ARE staying in Brussels for a few days.
Posted by
Duluth 🛶
8039 posts
Definitely follow Stuart's (isn31c) advice when it comes to trains. He was wonderful and really steered me in the right path when I was planning my travels to England this year. He is also how I found out that in many cases it is cheaper and more convenient to buy 2 separate train tickets rather than one "through" ticket to get places.s