Train travel in Britain questions

[Innisfree]

 

Dd20 is studying in Rome this semester, and trying to arrange her spring break in London and Wales. She has never been to Britain, so has no experience with trains there, and I have none within the last twenty years. Any help would be much appreciated.

Her arrival has been sorted out, but she’s having trouble figuring out the best way to manage getting back to London (probably Gatwick) from Llandudno.

It sounds like rail strikes may happen while she’s there. Is buying a ticket now the best plan, or would it be better to wait and see what’s happening at the time, rather than committing to a particular schedule?

She says the schedules for the return trip involve connections, with only five minute transfer time at Chester, and thirteen minutes transfer time at Crewe. Is it safe to plan on making a tight connection like that? 

How long should she allow to travel between London’s Euston station and her flight from Gatwick? It looks like about an hour’s train ride. I’m assuming that, like here, she should get to Gatwick several hours before her flight?

Any other advice anyone feels would be useful will also be very welcome. I’m feeling incredibly incompetent as a travel agent. 

Edited March 19, 2023 by Innisfree

[FreyaO]

It's been a few years since I left Britain, so take that with a grain of salt.

- Buying train tickets in advance could make a huge difference in price. I would at least check the prices asap.

- Do NOT take the Gatwick express. Again huge difference in price, minimal in time.

- You do not need several hours for a European flight. 

- Is she going straight to airport on her return from Wales? I'm trying to say: the transfers are probably doable, she won't be the only one making them and she can ask for help in advance from an employee or fellow passenger, but if she is risking her return flight... it makes sense to be a bit cautious.

[Innisfree]

6 minutes ago, FreyaO said:

It's been a few years since I left Britain, so take that with a grain of salt.

- Buying train tickets in advance could make a huge difference in price. I would at least check the prices asap.

- Do NOT take the Gatwick express. Again huge difference in price, minimal in time.

- You do not need several hours for a European flight. 

- Is she going straight to airport on her return from Wales? I'm trying to say: the transfers are probably doable, she won't be the only one making them and she can ask for help in advance from an employee or fellow passenger, but if she is risking her return flight... it makes sense to be a bit cautious.

Thank you!

So, buying sooner would mean lower prices, right?

Whether she’s going straight to the airport on her return from Wales depends on timing, I guess, but essentially yes. If there’s an extra couple of hours she might try to see something, but she isn’t currently planning to go back to London days before her flight. So, how cautious would you advise? I was wondering if she *should* go back a day before her flight. 

[Laura Corin]

42 minutes ago, Innisfree said:

 

Dd20 is studying in Rome this semester, and trying to arrange her spring break in London and Wales. She has never been to Britain, so has no experience with trains there, and I have none within the last twenty years. Any help would be much appreciated.

Her arrival has been sorted out, but she’s having trouble figuring out the best way to manage getting back to London (probably Gatwick) from Llandudno.

It sounds like rail strikes may happen while she’s there. Is buying a ticket now the best plan, or would it be better to wait and see what’s happening at the time, rather than committing to a particular schedule?

She says the schedules for the return trip involve connections, with only five minute transfer time at Chester, and thirteen minutes transfer time at Crewe. Is it safe to plan on making a tight connection like that? 

 

Trains don't usually wait for connecting services if there are delays. Five minutes would be too tight - especially if she is buying a cheap ticket that requires a particular train to be caught.

A railcard might be worthwhile on that many trains https://www.16-25railcard.co.uk/

 

 

[Laura Corin]

48 minutes ago, Laura Corin said:

Trains don't usually wait for connecting services if there are delays. Five minutes would be too tight - especially if she is buying a cheap ticket that requires a particular train to be caught.

A railcard might be worthwhile on that many trains https://www.16-25railcard.co.uk/

 

 

@Innisfree Another option is an interrail pass https://www.myinterrail.co.uk/interrail-passes/one-country-pass/great-britain/

Edited March 19, 2023 by Laura Corin

[Eilonwy]

I was there about 10 years ago and I used the trains a lot then (almost daily for several years). I’m not sure about the rail strike situation but it wouldn’t change things for the better.  The 5 min connection is very tight and the 13 min could also go wrong if there are any delays.  She’ll quite possibly have to change platforms, so that requires quickly figuring out where she needs to get to for the next train in an unfamiliar station.  If there is a chance to give herself a little more time, I would recommend she take it.  If there are substitute busses when there’s a rail strike, she’d still be able to get through, but I don’t know how they are handling this. If there aren’t rail replacement busses (and a quick search makes it look like there probably aren’t), leaving for London a day early may be wise.
One possibility would be to rearrange the Wales itinerary to end in a place with easier rail service to London, or to be able to make it shorter if the strikes are going to affect it. 

Edited March 20, 2023 by Eilonwy

[FreyaO]

4 hours ago, Innisfree said:

Thank you!

So, buying sooner would mean lower prices, right?

Whether she’s going straight to the airport on her return from Wales depends on timing, I guess, but essentially yes. If there’s an extra couple of hours she might try to see something, but she isn’t currently planning to go back to London days before her flight. So, how cautious would you advise? I was wondering if she *should* go back a day before her flight. 

Yes, the sooner the cheaper. 

It depends how used to traveling around she is and how comfortable she feels. 

I was visiting a small town once and started chatting with a fellow student and we missed our transfer to the train back to London. Got off in the middle of nowhere, by which time it was pitch dark, took the next train back to where we should have transferred and asked politely to take the last train to London - although we had the cheap tickets, the conductor just waved us in. 

It looks like Chester station has 7 platforms, she will probably have to go down some stairs and up the next, she can ask ahead which one she needs to find. For someone who has used public transport extensively across Europe is doable - but I am also someone who took public transport in Brazil and Peru. 

If there are strikes, she will have a few days to make alternative plans. But I like the idea to change itinerary if possible to end up her Wales trip in a well connected place. 

[Bootsie]

I was in Cardiff this past summer and then returning to the London area to fly out of Heathrow back to the US.  I was there during the record heat and the trains schedules were very disrupted.  I took a train the night before from Cardiff and stayed in a hotel near Heathrow (but I had an early morning flight).  DD was leaving Cardiff at the same time to go to Edinburgh; along the route the train stopped because the tracks were too hot and she was told to come back the next day--every hotel it town was booked; she ended up meeting someone else who was travelling to Edinburgh whose parents happened to live in town.  So five of the travelers ended up camping in the back yard of the fellow traveler's parents.  She also had trouble in a previous trip to London in that there was flooding and train routes were cancelled out of London; so she missed part of her trip that she had arranged.  So, my experience is that train travel in England can be unpredictable.  

We did not find that booking ahead of time made much of a difference in price, but making a slight variation in route or leaving at a different time of day could make a significant difference.  

Is she traveling by herself?  DD and I were surprised that we could book a taxi from Southampton to Cardiff for not much more than the train ride for two people was.  

[Innisfree]

26 minutes ago, FreyaO said:

But I like the idea to change itinerary if possible to end up her Wales trip in a well connected place. 

We’re looking into having her spend a night in Chester, instead of just trying to make the connection there. There’s plenty to occupy her there for a day, and it would eliminate the need to make a quick transfer from one train to another. Maybe even another day, farther along. She has a bit more time available than I had realized to get back to Rome, so maybe she just needs to plan to slow the trip down, spend another night along the way, and not have to worry about getting the whole trip done in a day. The flight back isn’t booked yet, so she can change plans at this point.

6 minutes ago, Bootsie said:

Is she traveling by herself?

Yes, and outside of this semester in Italy, mostly with a group, she doesn’t have much travel experience. I’m sure she can manage; I did at her age. She’s just got to figure out how to avoid missing her flight back to Rome. The possibility of strikes adds uncertainty. As you point out, things can and do go wrong. 

[Bootsie]

Has she checked out RometoRio (https://www.rome2rio.com/)?  DD studied abroad in Rome and now lives in Austria.  She uses RometoRio to compare various travel itineraries.  Would traveling flying out of Manchester or Liverpool be an option rather than traveling back to the London area?  

I hope she is having a great time!

[Innisfree]

1 minute ago, Bootsie said:

Has she checked out RometoRio (https://www.rome2rio.com/)?  DD studied abroad in Rome and now lives in Austria.  She uses RometoRio to compare various travel itineraries.  Would traveling flying out of Manchester or Liverpool be an option rather than traveling back to the London area?  

I hope she is having a great time!

I just sent her a link to RometoRio earlier today. I’ll mention that it’s good for sorting out itineraries beyond the one I sent her. 

Flying out of another city might be a great option! Somehow that hadn’t occurred to either of us.

She’s loving Italy, and looking forward to seeing other places in the next couple of weeks. 

[Eilonwy]

8 hours ago, Innisfree said:

Flying out of another city might be a great option! Somehow that hadn’t occurred to either of us.

It looks like Llandudno may have better connections to Manchester Airport.  That would be far closer than Gatwick, at the opposite end of the country to North Wales. 

Edited March 20, 2023 by Eilonwy

[Eilonwy]

8 hours ago, Innisfree said:

We’re looking into having her spend a night in Chester, instead of just trying to make the connection there.

Chester is well worth a stopover/visit, it’s a very beautiful and interesting city.

[Laura Corin]

1 hour ago, Eilonwy said:

It looks like Llandudno may have better connections to Manchester Airport.  That would be far closer than Gatwick, at the opposite end of the country to North Wales. 

@Innisfree Manchester might be a good option. Other places to check for rail links might be Birmingham,  Bristol or Cardiff. 

[Innisfree]

3 hours ago, Eilonwy said:

It looks like Llandudno may have better connections to Manchester Airport.  That would be far closer than Gatwick, at the opposite end of the country to North Wales. 

 

3 hours ago, Eilonwy said:

Chester is well worth a stopover/visit, it’s a very beautiful and interesting city.

 

2 hours ago, Laura Corin said:

@Innisfree Manchester might be a good option. Other places to check for rail links might be Birmingham,  Bristol or Cardiff. 

Thank you very much. I’ve just passed the suggestion on to her to consider other cities, especially Manchester, for her flight to Rome. That sounds like a much easier plan than trying to get back to London.

 I‘ve also reiterated that Chester is a great place to visit, and sent her B&B information there. I know she’d love to see it, if that works out.

 

 

[Eilonwy]

Wales is gorgeous too, I hope she has an amazing time!