My family of 6 will be traveling from London to Newcastle University on July 3rd for a conference on July 4th. We would then like to go to Edinburgh for one day (the 5th). Then back to London either that night (can't find a train though) or the next morning. What is the most economical way of doing this? We will be in London from June 28th - July 9th with this excursion in the middle. We are traveling from America and have never been to England (with the exception of my eldest daughter). The transportation is very confusing. We are ages 74, 49, 51, 21, 18, 14. Can you help?
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
The BritRail pass for 3 days of travel within 2 months is a great value, especially with the group discount, and since a 14-year-old is free. With the travel-together group rate, there are no additional discounts for seniors or youths. Be sure to get the version within 2 months, not consecutive. Total price for the group of 6 is roughly $1,035 in 2nd class. Don't buy it today, because the shopping cart is giving me problems that I will report. The pass does not require you to lock in travel dates and times, but allows you to get free seat assignments at a station when you arrive in London.
Posted by
OP
4 posts
Awesome! Thanks. Can i purchase ahead (not today)? And can I choose our seats? I know my 74 year old mother is not going to want to be separated and I can't say as I blame her. (smiles). Thanks for your help.
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
With six people traveling together you can get group discount fares for point-to-point tickets. Also by booking NOW you can get advance purchase discount fares on top of the group discount. While at this relatively late date the cheapest discount fare tickets are gone for most departure times on your travel dates, as of a moment ago I found London to Newcastle as low as £165.30 for all six of you together, Newcastle to Edinburgh as low as £50.10, and Edinburgh to London as low as £222.
Book your tickets on the East Coast Trains site.
Posted by
OP
4 posts
Thanks for your help! I'm running into a bit of a snag though. I looked on the BritRail site for rail cards and found that for our needs, a 3 day flex pass to be used in 2 months will fit perfectly. And it's reasonably priced. However, I had trouble getting the payment to go through. When I attempted to call their toll free number it acted as if it were a discontinued phone number. That makes me nervous to use their site. Is is secure? Also, if we do buy this pass, how do we go about reserving our seats on the East Coast Line without actually "Paying" for them? I see that there is a place to enter "railcards" but it got very confusing. Am I making this harder than necessary?
Posted by
Bainbridge Island
3287 posts
If you want a Railpass you can buy it on this website ( Rick Steves) and it is very easy.
To make seat reservations with your Railpass, go to a rail station when you get to London and make them with the agent. The earlier you do this the better. Show your pass and the seat reservations are free. He will print out little cards that look like tickets but they are just reservations. If the train platform has turnstiles for entry or exit you will have to go to the manned one and show your passes to go through.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33840 posts
£437 is about $743 to get the tickets the way Tim outlined a few messages ago, back on Saturday, That's way cheaper than the passes.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33840 posts
If you want a pass it is different to a Railcard. A Railcard is used to obtain a discount on normal tickets and costs money to buy - such as a Young Persons Railcard (now known as the 16-25 Railcard), a Senior Railcard, a Two Together Railcard, etc. That doesn't appear to be what you are doing.
Posted by
OP
4 posts
Thanks, everyone! Purchased a BritRail pass for the 6 of us and was able to use a promo code to get a free oyster card for the 6 of us to start us out. This was definitely the way to go. Now, we just can't wait to get there!