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We're thinking of travelling down to London at the end of October to see my Uncle. I haven't been on a train for years and wondered what was the cheapest way to do it. 4 of us will be travelling from Halifax to Victoria Station, we'd like to get there for around 10am and home for about 10pm. Does anyone make regular train journeys down to London? Is it cheaper to drive these days?
Thanks
Linda
http://www.thetrainline.com/buytickets/?
Best way to find out is to visit the above and tailor your journey as you need. I do a fortnightly London trip, train is much less stressful, but for four people might add up.
What I do know, is that the earlier you book the cheaper it seems to be :thumbup:
Thanks Simon, I'll have a look at your link.
grand central have some decent deals at moment.
I don't know this particular route but it sometimes helps to look at the particualr train operator's own website - in this case Grand Central, I think. Try:
http://www.grandcentralrail.com/ticketing-and-fares
As well as booking as early as possible, check the price of a train or two either side of the one you first look at - prices can vary incredibly from one departure time to the next.
Its worth comparing the price of buying 2 singles instead of a return too because that often works out cheaper.
It won't be appropriate for a journey the length of the one you are doing but for longer journeys its always worth seeing if breaking the journey into chunks saves money. For example, in the past I've saved at least £40 on a single to Penzance from Leeds by buying the Leeds to London bit separately to the London to Penzance bit. It just requires a bit of fiddling around trying out options on the website.
its also worth comparing prices on trainline.com and nationalrail.co.uk
I've done that for loads of journeys and one will almost certainly be cheaper than the other, though not always the same one.
It's worth having a read through the stuff on this website too: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/tra...-train-tickets. I've managed a number of times to get much cheaper journeys by going via a 3rd point & buying two separate tickets. No idea whether that particular tip would help for Halifax to London though, but the website gives a number of valuable tips.
It will be far cheaper to drive!Quote:
Originally Posted by Mrs Stagger
From my infrequent train travel i found ticket prices most confusing. We wanted a day return from Lancaster to Carlisle but found it was cheaper to get a return from Lancaster to Glasgow then get off at Carlisle.
We did manage to get a day return for 2 adults and a 12 year old from Lancaster to London Euston for £37 for the 3 of us.
As Mike T said drive is the best option, it'll be far cheaper and you aren't tied in to exact travel times. After all if you miss your train you'll be charged over £100 for a one way journey.
I should probably promote the website that me employer has for rail travel.... But apparently this one is significantly cheaper,
http://www.raileasy.co.uk/
4 people? DRIVE! Much cheaper. Where are you going in London? Don't try to park in the middle. Park up somewhere around Brent Cross, and then bus/tube wherever you need to go but use an Oyster cards...get them at the tube station. Half price travel plus capped each day so if you are going to lots of places, travel becomes essentially free. Check out Tfl website. Even better, use Boris Bikes in the central area. Cycling in London is fun if you stay to bike routes and avoid the main roads.
Thanks to everyone who has offered their help and advice, I can't believe how expensive train travel is these days. We've decided to drive as we're going to the Royal Chelsea Hospital where my uncle is a Chelsea pensioner and he's offered us a room for the night too so no hideous parking charges either.
Thats great him being a CP and all. I presume there are parking spaces for visitors to the hoppytal?