need advice for travel in the UK

G

greywolfretired

New member
I'm going to the UK next week, need advice on best way to travel on the train from Cheltenham to Northampton, then Northampton to Huddersfield, Huddersfield to Liverpool. do the trains run on time and are there direct routes.
Or is travelling by coach the better way.
Any advice would be appreciated.
 
Try http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ for advice on travelling around by Rail. Just put in the stations you want to travel between and it will do the rest, calculating fares*, journey lengths and where you need to change trains and who you will travel with.

They shouldn't be too bad for timekeeping although Cross Country and London Midland (who you'll probably be travelling with between Cheltenham Spa and Northampton) haven't had the greatest reputation in the past, the majority still run to time. Although from Cheltenham to Northampton it is roughly 30 minutes quicker by road, it's extremly unlikely there's a direct bus service between them.

*on long distance trains, you may find it cheaper to split tickets up, eg find a ticket from the station you're leaving to halve way to where you want to go, then buy a ticket from there to your destination, or check operators own offers.

Hope this helps
 
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Hi
Thanks, I have been looking on the natioanalrails web site .There seems to be quite a few places to get info. some connections appear to leave you only a couple of minutes to get from one train to another in the same staion, but not knowing the layout of the station can be it challenging to figure out what train to catch.
How long does it take to buy a ticket to go to the next staion. do they announce the next station before you get to it ,would not want to backtrack if you missed getting off.
So many questions, hopefully it will go well
 
greywolfretired said:
Hi
Thanks, I have been looking on the natioanalrails web site .There seems to be quite a few places to get info. some connections appear to leave you only a couple of minutes to get from one train to another in the same staion, but not knowing the layout of the station can be it challenging to figure out what train to catch.
How long does it take to buy a ticket to go to the next staion. do they announce the next station before you get to it ,would not want to backtrack if you missed getting off.
So many questions, hopefully it will go well
Click to expand...

I would say that the only ones that could cause a lot of problem where you're likely to be changing is Birmingham New Street (from Chelt to Northampton) and maybe Milton Keynes (from Northamp to Huddersfield) and maybe Manchester Piccadilly, but that can be avoided as some services run direct from Huddersfield to Liverpool (assuming that it is Liverpool Lime Street). If you have any problems just ask a member of station staff and they should be able to help.

From buying tickets, you can either buy in advance (from phone or web) or on the day from the station or train which will probably take a minute at most. Most of the stations you will be travelling too are major stations so they will be announced before you arrive. Also found this on National Rail that could be worth a look http://www.britrail.com/.

Hope this helps:)
 
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greywolfretired said:
I'm going to the UK next week, need advice on best way to travel on the train from Cheltenham to Northampton, then Northampton to Huddersfield, Huddersfield to Liverpool. do the trains run on time and are there direct routes.
Or is travelling by coach the better way.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

Have a look at getting a britrail pass, the first class ones aren't that expensive and the first class tends to be a bit quieter with comfier seats. If you miss a connection and have to buy another ticket for some reason beware the cost can be very high. Manchester to London 200 miles can be as high 131 quid one way, or 16 quid can buy you a return. Both prices are for second class travel.

The Britrail pass lets you change your mind, catch an earlier train if its late for some reason etc. Besides they often throw in a free coffee in first. You must buy before you leave Canada.

When you land at Heathrow the normal way into London is via the Heathrow express, but its 23 quid one way or $60 both ways. A four day senior Britrail first class pass is $260.

Cheerio John
 
Thanks guys, I did find some cheap fares on National express 30 pounds for 2 people standard fare ,85 for first class. I will have a few days in each of the places to go to the station and check things out.Flying to Birmingham and relatives picking us up at the airport and going to Cheltenham.
Coach is quite a bit cheaper, has anyone travelled by coach in the UK.
Should be an interesting trip anyway.
 
It's worth remembering that Britrail also do point-to-point tickets MUCH cheaper than you can buy them in the UK. The rail passes are also valid on Heathrow Express (or at least, they let me use one).

Paul
 
greywolfretired said:
Thanks guys, I did find some cheap fares on National express 30 pounds for 2 people standard fare ,85 for first class. I will have a few days in each of the places to go to the station and check things out.Flying to Birmingham and relatives picking us up at the airport and going to Cheltenham.
Coach is quite a bit cheaper, has anyone travelled by coach in the UK.
Should be an interesting trip anyway.
Click to expand...

When you've flown overnight for 6 or 7 hours and got no sleep trains are much more comfortable and quieter. I think they run double decker coaches these days in the UK, when I traveled by coach the big problem was traffic jams. It made coach travel a bit more unpredictable. Trains are much more predictable.

Cheerio John

Cheerio John
 
greywolfretiredgreywolfretired said:
Huddersfield to Liverpool. do the trains run on time and are there direct routes.
Or is travelling by coach the better way.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

:hehe::hehe::hehe: No they don't run on time, I live in Warrington, towards the Liverpool end of that line but you generally don't have to wait as long as for coaches. I takes nearly 6 hours to get from here to London by coach. The coaches are far far cheaper tho if you can handle a numb backside and stinky toilets that generally pack up before you get halfway.

This explains coach travel in the UK (and out national health system)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3NVPOedkEk

National Express website (UK national coaches)
http://www.nationalexpress.com/coach/index.cfm?utm_source=Gooppc&uTrainline=ppc

Trainline (Generally cheapest prices, if you book at least 2 weeks before you travel you get allot cheeper)
http://www.thetrainline.com/buytick...gaICFVlswodCPPckfPYgaICFVlsyYiEwwod4wod0yYiEw

There are a few things to remember with travel in this country and it is an "experience" don't expect to get a seat unless you book in advance our trains are between 2 and 5 coaches generally on the routes you'll travel on with hundreds of people on (think Japan but not as clean). Around 80% of our station staff are helpful the rest you'll want to kick around the station for half and hour. If your early for your train the train will be late, if your late for your train the train will have been on time. Travel in this country is either brilliant and a great laugh or totally mentally scaring there is no middle ground at all.

Have a great time with us limeies

:Y:

Andy
 
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when I was traversing the UK I had very little problem with connections and such. The only issue I did come up with is that I had one ticket agent tell me to take train X to Paddington (from Oxford) then transfer to another train to get to Salisbury; but then gave me a ticket to transfer earlier on the line (Paddington is the end) so just remember to check what your ticket says.
However I generally found station staff to be quite helpful and even will try and help you save a couple bucks. When I went from London (Euston) to Dublin I attempted to book tix to Hollyhead then planned on buying ferry tix to Dublin; the Ticket agent informed me that it was cheaper to book all the way to Dublin (Ferryport) then to buy separately (from ~GBP70+ferry to ~GBP30). So it definitely is advised to experiment around you may find that splitting (as mentioned) or combining segments may be cheaper.
I had no issues getting from platform to platform with the timing NatRail allotted me with my large backpack (trekking pack) and computer bag.

Overall traveling in the UK by rail (and the rest of Europe) I found to be very different than traveling by rail on Amtrak. I guess it was more similar to traveling on Metra (Chicago commuter.) Not having ridden on VIA I can't make much of a comparison; but I don't imagine VIA being much different than Amtrak (procedure wise).
 
Bassist118
The coaches,we call buses over here travel far greater distances with fewer stops. To travel to Calgary,Alberta, Canada from Vancouver BC is anywhere from 14 to 22 hrs.on the bus(coach) Calgary is the first stop on my trip and flying time is approx 1 1/2 hrs. Its not uncommon for someone to travel across the country on the bus and that takes up to a week.
So I would think that if I choose the coach to get from Cheltenham to Birmingham and then to Northampton it would not bother me at all. It would be a short hop.
Thanks again for the tips. Travel here in Canada is as you say, a lot different then in the UK.
 
greywolfretired said:
Bassist118
The coaches,we call buses over here travel far greater distances with fewer stops. To travel to Calgary,Alberta, Canada from Vancouver BC is anywhere from 14 to 22 hrs.on the bus(coach) Calgary is the first stop on my trip and flying time is approx 1 1/2 hrs. Its not uncommon for someone to travel across the country on the bus and that takes up to a week.
So I would think that if I choose the coach to get from Cheltenham to Birmingham and then to Northampton it would not bother me at all. It would be a short hop.
Thanks again for the tips. Travel here in Canada is as you say, a lot different then in the UK.
Click to expand...

I've travelled in Canada and the UK. The buses and trains are very different. When you travel you'll depart about 7 pm and arrive at 7 am but it will be about two o'clock in the morning to you. It's quite different flying for an hour and a half than doing the pond. You'll be dehydrated, very tired and have missed a nights sleep. You'll be jet lagged for roughly two weeks even if you don't think you are. Traveling first class rail means less hassle. You can keep going for about three days but on the third day you'll feel fairly exhausted.

The UK is crowded, think of the crowd at the biggest football or baseball game you've been to. Now imagine that every day, every where with hassle.

If you feel confident you can cope with the twenty percent of the UK who have a chip on their shoulder and avoid traveling on Saturday when the football fans are out you should be fine on the coach or bus but if it was me I'd go Britrail and just relax.

Anyway have fun. If you're near Birmingham the B'ham Rep is worth a visit.

Cheerio John
 
John, I know exactly what you mean. We are planning to break up the trip.Vancouver to calgary,visit relatives, Calgary to Toronto stay overnight, Toronto to Birmingham,relatives picking us up at airport and so on. I have done the jet lag thing etc so wife and I decided this time we will break it up as much as we can. Certainly looking at the rail pass.
 
Some of the replies that you have received make the UK sound quite horrific!
It is not! My country boasts some of the best scenery in the world, and only the major town and cities are overcrowded.

Enjoy yourselves!

Ian
 
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