We will be going to England in July w/ family of 4. We are flying in to London (4 nights) then Bath (3 Nights), York (2 nights) and Edinburgh (3 nights and flying home). We are planning on using the BritRail FlexiPass (4 days in 2 months). Several questions:
1) Any helpful advice?
2) Can we use one of the days for Gatwick Express (or other rail) from GTW to London?
3) 3 days will be London-Bath, Bath-York and York-Edinburgh. Any ideas for 4th day in can't use from GTW?
Thanks.
Richard, we did a similar trip and also got britrail passes instead of buying tickets ahead because I wanted flexibility. You could use the extra day to do a day trip from london to either Windsor or Hampton Court. I don't think it works for the Gatwick Express, but I'm not positive.
Yes, a Britrail pass is good for the Gatwick Express and other trains that serve the airport. However, if you can commit to specific departure dates and times and book well in advance, you'll be better off buying point-to-point tickets. While walk-up fares for long distance trains in the UK are very expensive, advance purchase fares can be very cheap. For example, York-Edinburgh walk-up fares can be over £100, but the cheapest advance fare is only £11.50. Those tickets are non-refundable and non-exchangeable so they won't work if you need flexibility in your travel plans.
Book all your routes at www.nationalexpresseastcoast.com. The site accepts North American credit cards. The discount fares usually are posted about 60-90 days in advance. You'll find the farthest out booking date on the right-hand side of the home page. Book ASAP to have the best chance of getting a discount fare.
For the GEX you can get an up-to-4-for-the-price-of-2 special (no advance purchase necessary).
Thanks Tim. I will have to look at the point-to-point tickets and costs when they become available. With the BritRail pass, our 2 kids can go free, so we can do all of our train for $658, the cost of two adults. I assumed that would be cheaper, and we would have some flexibility. However, if P2P's are much cheaper...I love to save $.
Thanks.
