London to Bath by train

If you book well in advance at www.eastcoast.co.uk, you can get discount fares as low as £9.50 each way. The cheapest fare for departures before 08:30 is £22.00. The discount fares are posted about 60 days in advance. If you book farther ahead than that, you will have to pay full fare.

Tim is right on. We travelled to Bath in September and. booking ahead, paid 9.50 GBP each way. This means you have to book an exact departure and catch it - the price is only good for that particular train. But what you lose in flexibility you gain in savings...

When you book ahead (I've used thetrainine.com, and there are other sites) you will get an emailed confirmation that contains a number referencing that reservation. Then, later, at the station, you'll located one of the machines used to retrieve prepurchased tickets. (They're labeled and easy to find.) the credit card used to buy the tickets. The machine will ask you to key in the reference number. Then it prints out the tickets. If you are given a chance to book specific seats during the booking process, I recommend doing that just to be on the safe side. I've never been on a train in the UK that didn't have open seats somewhere, but I have been on one or two that were very, very crowded. Bath makes for a great day trip. The station is just off the town center and an easy walk to where you'll want to be.

Thanks, The posts help a lot. I've read about these less expensive fares and I don't want to purchase until I can get something much more reasonable. I'll keep checking in. By the way, we're going in mid March of this year. I don't know how fast the trains fill up with pre-purchased tickets so I was a bit concerned about that too. Hopefully it will be safe to wait until February, about a month ahead to purchase. Joyce

Joyce, the discount fares go VERY quickly. I'd book as soon as they are released. So start watching for them in early to mid Jaunary, then snap them up. You proprably won't be able to get them in Feb.

How many different trains go from London to Bath? I have been looking at Great Western. Apparently there is East Coast also but it doesn't appear to be one of their main destinations. So I should wait to book in January? About 60 days before our trip? And are seats generally selected? I don't want to have to scramble to have all three of us seated together once we get on. And while I'm at it, we'd like to spend at least six hours in Bath; arrive before noon and leave around 5 pm. Would that be sufficient? Thanks

Great Western operates all the trains from London Paddington to Bath Spa, but all UK train companies sell tickets for all trains. The reason to book your tickets at eastcoast.co.uk is to take advantage of the discount fares they offer. Start checking the site about 60 days out and book as soon as the discount fares appear.

There is only one train to Bath from Paddington, and those discount fares sound great to me! I usually pay at least £58 , super off peak (not commuter hours), for my family of 5. There is a "group saver fare" for groups of 4 or more. But if I just pay at the station, it costs £98 for a round trip to London for all of us. I rarely know how long I will spend at a destination, so don't usually book in advance. Definitely reserve a seat, if you have that option. I have stood in the aisles all the way to London on more than one occasion. And I am biased, but 6 hrs doesn't seem long enough to me in Bath. I would stretch your trip into the evening and stay for dinner!

Joyce: I agree with Heidi that 6 hours in Bath isn't enough. For one thing, if you like Indian food, the Rajput in Bath not far from the train station has superb food, really almost worth the trip alone. The free walking tour (leaves I think at 10 am) takes a couple of hours and is a wonderful way to see Bath's architectural gems. The Roman Baths could take several hours if you find ancient history interesting, as I do, and the Abbey has fan vaulting worth at least 30 minutes. The Costume Museum was interesting to me and fascinating to my wife. Plus shopping...well, if all you can do is 6 hours it will be jam-packed with activity and a great day. Just be sure to plan your time carefully...and if you can't stay for dinner, think about afternoon tea in one of the places RS recommends. (We loved the Jane Austen Ctr). Fresh scones with West Country clotted cream and local jam....wow.

Thanks for all the advice again. I've noticed that ticket prices have already gone down considerably. We can get round trip for about $38.00 each US right now so I've booked. That's quite reasonable.

Heidi, thanks for the additional information. We are all history buffs; my husband especially. We should have a full eight hours with the tickets I booked. I can't wait!