My husband and I would like to travel by train (Britrail) from London, through Newcastle to Edinburgh, Glasgow, Ayr, Liverpool and then Manchester. There are so many ticket options that I am a little confused. I have read here on the Traveler's Helpline of great discounts when booking early. I know there are flex passes, point to point passes, etc... Is there a Rick Steves book that is specific about train travel?
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33848 posts
Cindy You may have said in a previous post, but if so I forget. When are you going? Can you predict the date and time of these train trips in advance or do you want the flexibility of just turning up and getting on? You say you are traveling by Britrail. Britrail do not run any trains, they sell passes to foreigners. The British railway is broken up into 26 or so independent players who each run over certain parts of the country, sometimes overlapping. What I see for you in companies is: London to Newcastle - East Coast or Virgin Newcastle to Edinburgh - East Coast Edinburgh to Glasgow - First Scotrail to and from Ayr - First Scotrail Glasgow to Liverpool - Cross Country or Virgin
Liverpool to Manchester - Northern Rail or First TransPennine Express, depending on which of 3 main Manchester station and time of day. So, the first question is the one above...
Posted by
Kansas
1175 posts
Cindy,
Go to www.seat61.com and follow his advice. We've done much the same trip London to Inverness and booked tickets 90 days prior to travel for the best prices. Sometimes you can score a first class ticket for less than a coach bought on day of travel. There's really no reason for 1st class on any short hops though. Get on several rail company websites and you might find better deals. You can also go to www.tripadvisor.com and search the London forum for rail advice in Britain. Train travel is easy and very relaxing.
Posted by
chicago, il
113 posts
I did a lot of rail travel last year and found it handy to have a first class pass as it frequently is less crowded than the standard class areas and at meals on longer routes a meal of some sort is included in first class.
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
Advance purchase discount fares are available for many longer routes, but not for short ones. Just buy tickets for those routes as you go. No matter which train company offers service on your longer routes, you can book all your tickets on the East Coast site. Discount fares (when offered) are posted 8-12 weeks in advance. If you try to book beyond that range, all you will see are standard full-fare tickets. Go to the East Coast site, enter a date within the next 10 weeks, and check all possible fares for each of your routes.
Posted by
Spring, Texas
635 posts
On the prepaid tickets, they are totally non-refundable. My father-in-law passed away on the morning we had planned to leave for Great Britain. We had a few days of warning that his health was gong downhill fast so I attempted to cancel everything a few days before we were to leave. East Coast made no replies to any emails to even acknowledge the cancellation or reiterate their no refund policy. Everyone else was very nice and cancelled without charge except one B&B which charged for the first night.