Getting Around In The UK

[RB]

We ( wife & I ) land in Heathrow May 2009. On previous os holidays we have relied on public transport to get around and enjoy the independence. Planning to look at England, Scotland and Wales during 5 week trip. Don't intend to use organised tours of any kind. From your experiences any suggestions of best way to get around? If using car do you suggest booking from Aust or wait until landing, hire or short term lease, best companies to deal with etc.
Thanks RB

 

[2muchplastic]

We ( wife & I ) land in Heathrow May 2009. On previous os holidays we have relied on public transport to get around and enjoy the independence. Planning to look at England, Scotland and Wales during 5 week trip. Don't intend to use organised tours of any kind. From your experiences any suggestions of best way to get around? If using car do you suggest booking from Aust or wait until landing, hire or short term lease, best companies to deal with etc.
Thanks RB

I found most of the public transport hideously expensive there (talking as someone who spent the first thirty-odd years of their life living there... up until last year in fact!), trains in particular are horribly priced unless you book 14 days in advance. Buses are cheaper, some of the long distance coach services such as National Express are a reasonable price, and quite a good way of getting from say, London to Glasgow, but their routes are quite limited. Because of deregulation, the public transport system lacks cohesion, there is not a single public transport authority that you could book all of your train/bus/ferry fares with.

You haven't stated specifically where you want to visit, but some of the more picturesque parts of the UK (such as Scotland and Wales outside of the main cities and larger towns) are poorly served by public transport, and to visit them you would need a car or you would end up taking a silly number of connections.

I always found Europcar pretty reasonable in terms of car hire rates, and they have a pretty good spread of depots too. If you're used to driving Aussie-type distances, then even the most extreme drive you can do in the UK (Land's End to John O'Groats) would hardly tax you at all.
There are quite a few low-cost carriers that serve the various airports if you wanted to limit your long distance driving.

If you want to know any specifics, feel free to drop me a PM.

 

[Mal]

If it suits, have a look at Megatrain. They are a 'virtual' train service utilising excess capacity on other trains and the fares tend to be pretty low if booking early.

low cost inter city travel

They also run in conjunction with Megabus (a low cost bus service).

I havn't used either, but was extensively discussed here: http://www.theage.com.au/travel/slow-road-to-sterling-savings-20081124-6fo5.html

 

[Mr_Gimlet]

I have family in the UK and often visit at my expense (work pays the airfares).

Heathrow: most of the hire care companies are on Heathrow with a free shuttle, but a couple of the cheaper ones are a bus or taxi ride away so needs to factored into the cost. I normally go to the consolidators like holidayautos, though last time I used Alamo. Lots of people recommend easycar but I have never been lucky with the price and availability.

A couple of things to factor in. The last trip I had I was just set loose in an area containing cars of my 'class' and it was pick a car, any car. Rememebr that fuel is really expensive and getting a diesel is going to pay you back on a long touring trip.

The couple of times I would recommend public transport would be to get to the middle of a town or city with poor/ expensive parking, London being the extreme example but maybe Bath, Chester and York from my experience. Look a for park and ride on major arterials though: this is the ebst of both worlds, in Chester it's a dream.

 

[2muchplastic]

.......The couple of times I would recommend public transport would be to get to the middle of a town or city with poor/ expensive parking, London being the extreme example but maybe Bath, Chester and York from my experience. Look a for park and ride on major arterials though: this is the ebst of both worlds, in Chester it's a dream.

Can't argue with that at all, though I would add Oxford to that list.

 

[turtlemichael]

I found most of the public transport hideously expensive there (talking as someone who spent the first thirty-odd years of their life living there... up until last year in fact!), trains in particular are horribly priced unless you book 14 days in advance.

If you have the luxury of planning your trip well in advance, then trains can be very cheap.

Check out: National Rail Enquiries - Official source for UK train times and timetables

Earlier this year I booked several long distance rail trips at the booking limit (I think 12 weeks) and came up with standard fares of about 12 pounds for say Leeds-Kings Cross. Not too bad for a two+ hour 280 km trip, certainly beating horrendous motorway driving if you need to get to several places at distance around the country. I did 4 stress free trips (London-Leeds-Newcastle-Edinburgh-London) for under 60 pounds. I rented cars in Newcastle and Leeds for local touring. Of course, these were inflexible fares but I knew what I wanted to do.

Check out the possibilites on the National Rail site. A combination of rail and car may suit you.

 

[2muchplastic]

If you have the luxury of planning your trip well in advance, then trains can be very cheap.

Check out: National Rail Enquiries - Official source for UK train times and timetables......

Taking an example of London-Edinburgh return, booked in advance the cost is £58 ($130 approx), but a standard fare is £202 ($450 approx)!

It's fine if you want your 5 weeks tied to an itinerary, but if you just want decide where to go on the day, it's a bit trickier.

With some of the longer distance fares, if you haven't booked far in advance, then it frequently works out cheaper to fly.

 

[simongr]

I would certainly use a hire car. The distances are not vast so no real long drives and you get so much more flexibility. The only place I would use public transport is London - to avoid the congestion charge.

Don't forget to factor valet parking into your hotel costs as well.

Note I am English so have some familiarity with travelling around England.

We did 7 cities in 6 days in the UK in July and the car was invaluable - even though I got screwed by Hertz and got a POS...

 

[Dave Noble]

I would use the trains quite happily; it is quite possible to get v expensive fares but also quite easy to get reasonably priced fares; just like flying

As a visitor to the UK, a great value ticket imo is the BritRail pass. There are 2 versions, the Consecutive pass and the flexipass

The consecutive pass allows for 4,8,15,22 or 1 month of consecutive days travel
The flexipass allows for any 4,8 or 15 days travel within a 2 month period. You validate the pass, the 1st day you use it and then the 2 months time period starts

A one month consecutive pass costs USD 1259 in 1st class and USD839 in Standard class

A 15 days in 2 months flexipass costs USD1075 in 1st class and USD725 in Standard class

On a per day basis, in GBP, that works out GBP28/GBP19 a day for a consecutive pass or GBP48/GBP33 for a flexi pass

The Britrail tickets have virtually no restrictions; they are usable on all National Rail train train services ( including Heathrow Express ) ; there is no need to book in advance , just turn up and go; can traval any distance within the network as desired any day. If using the 1st class ticket, then can also use the 1st class lounges at the major train stations

They are not restricted to off peak services, so if wanting to take the peak hour services, there is no issue there

Dave

 

[medhead]

I'd certainly back using a railpass. These are very cheap and will get you anywhere without the hassle of having to find parking got a car.

 

[SFSC]

We used 4 day BritRail passes on our last couple of trips to the UK. They really come into their own if you are doing a series of day trips from a central location.

If you are travelling in this mode, there is an "England only" pass available which is slightly cheaper. Buy 14 day advance tickets for point-to-point relocations as these can be planned ahead.

We had 2nd class (standard) passes the first time but if a bank holiday weekend falls when you are going to travel, consider getting 1st passes to minimise the possibly of having to stand during part or all of your journey.

If you are 60+ years of age, the BritRail passes are slightly cheaper. Also you can purchase a Seniors discount card which allows you to to purchase train tickets at a discount.

 

[Moody]

IF you are travelling on your own AND an advanced purchase railpass will fulfill 90% of your transport needs THEN by all means buy one.

IF there are 2 or more of you AND you want to be flexible or go off the beaten track THEN a hire car is by far the better option.

As has been mentioned you should ditch the car before entering London (this can be done cheaply at Stansted and then bus/train it in from there, or if you time your arrival right to avoid the CC you can use places like Marble Arch), and also you need to use park & ride at places like Oxford, York, etc. unless you are lucky enough to get parking with your accommodation.

Also be aware that manual transmission cars are much cheaper than automatics and if you want to gamble you can hire a cheap compact/economy car and hope for an upgrade when you pick up (happens about half the time in my experience).

All-in-all I have never visited the UK without hiring a car (in fact I used 4 last time plus another in France) and have never regretted it.

 

[Dave Noble]

IF you are travelling on your own AND an advanced purchase railpass will fulfill 90% of your transport needs THEN by all means buy one.

IF there are 2 or more of you AND you want to be flexible or go off the beaten track THEN a hire car is by far the better option.

conversely , to me, a railpass ( although they are purchased in advance, they are fully flexible tickets ) is v useful and good value and great to use for long journeys; I would tend to use that plus hire occasional cars when necessary

With the price of hire cars plus the cost of petrol in the UK being an average of 90p a litre at the moment ( approx $1.98 ) long distance trips can pretty expensive

 

[serfty]

It's a bit like the airport trains/buses:

• With one traveller they can be very cost effective
• With two travellers, generally still cheaper than other modes
• With three or more travellers, Taxis and hire cars start to have significant advantages

 

[simongr]

OK - I will need to research this. I just booked flights to the UK for when babysimpending arrives and will be touring again so I think a car might be the go...

 

[medhead]

Babies and young children (< 3 or 4) can travel free. On eurail pass, might be worth checking this is the same for Britrail. The limitation is that the child has to sit on your lap if there is no seat. But if you get first class passes this is no problem as very few people will travel in first class and there are always spare seats. However, I did buy a pass for an eligible free child, this was very handy because our suitcases got a seat and if anyone wanted to take the last seat in our cabin then the child would be on a lap.

Again Eurail gives discount for 2 or more people travelling together over the single person price. Dave Noble mentioned this look at the saver fare. But you both have to always travel together.

The economics in the UK might be different with shorter distances but we got a group of 3 adults and 2 kids on FRA-paris-bordeaux-madrid-barcelona-nice-rome-salzburg-FRA for about A$3000. IMO Much better value that a car. In fact, the only flights I could find from Rome to Salzburg were as much as the whole pass and only saved about 2 or 3 hours.

 

[RB]

Thanks for the thoughts. Guess we need to spend more time working on specific places to visit in UK or Europe. Seems the little Aussie battler is holding up better against the pound than the euro (so far). We have always appreciated the freedom of making our own way & having being able to have a tipple with lunch has meant public transport scores highly while on holidays.

Will take up your offer when more organised 2muchplastic!
Thanks again RB

 

[turtlemichael]

For anyone who has not driven in the UK, it is worth doing your homework. The plus of course is they drive on the correct side of the road. But that's about where similarities with driving on vacation in Australia end.

There are few places in the western world where the cities and towns are as congested, where parking is as expensive and difficult to find, where fuel is as expensive, where the motorways are as nightmarish at busy times (ie most of the day and night) with heavy traffic and where the drivers are so discourteous. Just kidding on the last one - I made that up!

However driving down verdant country lanes and stopping at wayside pubs for a lovely ploughman's lunch and a pint, parking in the centre of town to wander around the farmers' market and looking over the local castle and generally having a relaxing holiday behind the wheel is largely a myth. It can occur in the extremes of Britain but not in most of it.

Don't expect driving in the UK to be anything like most of Australia or indeed much of Europe. The plus of a car is that you may be able to get to some places more easily but that will come at a price and a relaxing holiday will be part of the price. You need to love driving to enjoy it in Britain. The other factor you have to cope with is the weather and May, when I think you are going, can be extremely fickle, particularly in the north. Of course, YMMV.

 

[Mal]

There are few places in the western world where the cities and towns are as congested, where parking is as expensive and difficult to find, where fuel is as expensive, where the motorways are as nightmarish at busy times (ie most of the day and night) with heavy traffic and where the drivers are so discourteous. Just kidding on the last one - I made that up!

Don't forget the omnipresent speed (and similar enforcement) cameras that make Victoria look like a camera free zone!

 

[tuapekastar]

Don't forget the omnipresent speed (and similar enforcement) cameras that make Victoria look like a camera free zone!

Did I not read that they at least clearly warn you when approaching one? Much more civilised than the parasitic revenue-raisers down here!

I've always rented a car in UK, both when solo and with a group. I can see the value in well planned rail travel, and would not hesitate to use it in the right situation (I quite enjoy train travel), but have found a car does let me/us get easily to places a little off the beaten track. If with multiple people, then shared costs certainly makes it affordable.

Yep, as turtlemichael states there are drawbacks. Motorways seem to be very congested even out of the main cities. I find UK drivers a little, err, daring when it comes to overtaking (have had a couple of reasonably close calls) on normal (non divided) roads.

One thing they do do well is not tolerate brainless twerps who toddle along in the right hand lane ("I'm doing the speed limit so I can sit here all day"). Woe betide anyone who does so - you'll get 'monstered'! And rightly so.