OK now I need your advice. I am not used to planning on the fly like this. The Britrail flexi pass for 4 days will be $570. Two days will be used to get back and forth from Edinburg to Dundee. That only leaves 2 days to travel. One day will be to the water wheel. If we have to buy a one way ticket back to Edinburg to fly home that will be an additional $132 for a total of $702. An 8 consecutive day Britrail pass would be $638. All costs are for two of us. Here's where I need your input. We will probably need more than the 1 unaccounted for day of travel, right? We really have no set plan or ideas except that we are very excited to be doing this. The 8 consecutive days will give us the flexibility to do whatever and we will need exactly 8 days from June 28 to July 5.
Is this the best deal or is there another option I have not considered? We will probably remain just in Scotland but the Scotland Freedom Pass restricts travel to after 9:15 and we will certainly leave earlier at least one day. Thank you far any advice.
Posted by
New York City, NY, USA
5678 posts
I'm not sure I understand your plan. Are you staying in Dundee? Then obviously, you would incur the cost of a round trip Edinburgh/Dundee for each of you. Then a round trip to Lanark to see the wheel. That takes up three days of your four days leaving only one more day to go somewhere. I think that if you're staying in Dundee you're going to want to take the train to additional places on more than one day. (How did you come to decide on basing yourselves in Dundee, BTW?) Go to the Scotrail site and calculate the point-to-point costs of the tickets. That will tell you if you should get the the 8-day pass. BTW if one of the places you want to go to is St. Andrew's, I am pretty sure that the best way to get there from Dundee is by bus. Have I got the issues right? Pam
Posted by
Genesee, ID
1840 posts
Fred, We have used trains in Scotland a number ot times. I am pretty sure you can travel more economically by buying point to point tickets as you go. We are oldsters and are able to buy discounted tickets sometimes. I know the rail tickets are handy and we use them in Europe, but we always use point to point tickets in Scotland. On some of the regular routes, Glasgow to Edinburgh for instance with several stops along the way, the ticket price goes down after rush hour, i.e. after 9AM and after 6PM (or so). We also use busses often. I don't know where the bus station in Edinburgh is but I think it is in New Town and is probably a ten or fifteen minute walk to Waverly Station. There is a tourist infromation office at ground level, in the plaza, above Waverly. People there gave us excellent help in how to find the bus to the Royal Botanic Garden. Looking at the prices you have quoted I wouldn't hesitate to say you can save money buying point to point tickets and it doesn't sound like there is anything you need reservations for unless you want to travel on the fancy trains.
Posted by
OP
New York
4 posts
We are in Dundee on University business. I will try the point to point charges and we are also eligable for the reduced rates. Is there any difference between online pricing and purchasing tickets at the station?
Posted by
Genesee, ID
1840 posts
Point to point tickets, as far as our experience, are always bought at the station. You will be eleigible for senior discounts if you ask for them at that time. Always ask. We have never been disappointed. You should have no trouble on local, short haul trains. The only tickets we had to buy a day ahead were those from Glasgow to Inverness by bus.
Posted by
New York City, NY, USA
5678 posts
I too have bought my point-to-point tickets in the station. I've also bought some ahead of time online. You can get better prices online at times. But the disadvantage is that you're often restricted to a time frame. If your accommodations are near the train station, get your tickets the day before. Have a great trip! Pam
Posted by
OP
New York
4 posts
Pam,
Am I correct that you need a pass for seniors to take advantage of the senior fare. On the web page it does indicate a pass is required.
Posted by
Bromley, Kent,, UK
1829 posts
Fred - yes you do need to buy a Senior Rail card. It will cost £28 for a year (minimum period) so you need to do the maths. My OH has one and gets significant savings especially on the advance fares which can be cheap anyway. Walk up fares are very expensive in the UK so where available ie on longer journeys, buy advance fares whenever you can. If not you may find the card soon pays for itself. Read the exclusion clauses carefully.