We just took our kids on their first big, international trip to Iceland and they actually did quite well!
Now they have passports...might as well use them again, right?
I've got my eye on a trip to Scotland and England in 2022 or 23, but I am wondering what more experienced travelers than I might suggest for transportation. I'd love to not have to haul carseat around, are train tickets discounted for children? Paying full price would probably put me solidly in the "don't bring them" camp.
We've got 3 kids (baby, 4, and 7) so add a year or two and that's how old they'll be at the time of the trip.
I've got family in London we'd be staying with and then probably flying or taking the train to Edinburgh and then perhaps staying some nights in Aberdeen or another similar area.
I'm just in the beginning phase of thinking about this, so any and all thoughts are appreciated.
Posted by
Lincolnshire, UK
1827 posts
You can buy a family rail card whioch gives discounted tracvel for adults and even better discounts for children!
Also if you buy your tickets on the internet in advance you can get considerable savings on the priceof teh same ticket bought at the station on the day. The best priced tickets are usually released a couple of months in advance but you will still get savings if booked a few days in advance. (You pay by credit card and are given a code to use to collect your tickets at a special machine on the station, and need to insert the same credit card to prove you are the person who paid for the ticket. There are usually staff around to help if you have problems). Also the time you travel can make a substantial difference too, by avoiding peak times.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
16167 posts
The kids will love traveling by train, and you can get some great discounts.
Basically, kids 5-15 are 50% off, and kids 5 under 5 are free.
https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/46494.aspx
You can get even more discount with a Family And Friends Railcard, which gives 30% off the adult fares (up to 4 adults) and 60% off kids 5-15.
https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/National-Railcards.aspx
Next comes the best part: the Family and Friends discount even applies to the heavily-discounted Advance fares, which you can get by buying ahead (how much ahead varies by route and time of year; I start looking 90 days ahead, or at least I did in the old days).
So, looking at tickets from London to Edinburgh for Sept. 1 (2 months from now), I see an Advance fare for all 5 of you of 129 GBP, which becomes 73 GBP with the use of one Family and Friends Railcard.