I am going to be traveling by train from London to Edinburgh, Edinburgh to Inverness and Inverness back to Edinburgh. Also possibly a day trip or two from Inverness by rail or bus. I am wondering, is this a situation in which a rail pass of some sort would be cheapest, or would it cost less to buy individual point to point tickets?
I haven't looked into the passes much; I've found individual tickets for apx $56 from London-Edinburgh and $70 for the round-trip from Edinburgh-Inverness/Inverness-Edinburgh
Posted by
525 posts
I just saw a question on the First Great Western Train site that is you were going to take more than 2 trains, it may be cheaper to get the rail pass. You may want to look at their site. www.fgw.co.uk or google, first great western.... You have to register on this site. I'm registered, just can't get the payment to go through.
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
Last minute walk up tickets for long distance trains in the UK are very expensive. For example, a 2nd class ticket for London-Edinburgh can cost as much as £126. So if you need flexibility, then a pass can be a good deal. However, if you book far enough in advance (60-90 days), you can get very cheap fares. Day routes booked at www.nationalexpresseastcoast.com can be as low as £14. Berths on the Caldedonian Sleeper operated by First ScotRail can be as low as £19. See here: http://tinyurl.com/g9ehd.
Posted by
OP
Seattle
89 posts
Thanks for the replies.
To be more clear, I would be booking point to point tickets as far ahead of time as possible--my trip is in September. However, day trips will probably not be decided on until a few days before, so those would most likely be purchased day of. The fares I've found are conjecture based on what's for sale at the moment. Flexibility is not a requirement; I'm going for what's the least expensive.