UK Domestic Travel in December

[rlarosa]

Hi All,

We're off the the UK in December, and at some point I'll need to travel from Southampton to Manchester to see some family. I'm weighing up wether to fly or get the train and thought I'd see what some of you guys think!

The price for each is comparable so I can fly direct from Southampton to Manchester, or there's a train I can get that bypasses London. The main thing is I don't want to be stuck anywhere because of bad weather and I know the trains are notorious for stopping due to 'leaves on the tracks'! That being said, the thought of lazily watching the world go by for a few hours out a train window is more appealing than a poorly rated budget airline.

Any ideas/thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[Princess Fiona]

I actually think the trains in the UK are pretty good. In fact we have decided to travel from Glasgow to London with our family next month by train ( everyone is a bit over air travel by the time we have flown from SYD). We looked at two options for tickets, Family and Friends Railcard and Britrail passes. For us and our travel arrangements the Britrail passes were cheaper. I have travelled fairly extensively on the Virgin network and found the service to be clean, comfortable and fast.
Happy Travels

 

[ButFli]

I would suggest the the train. It is a very nice way to travel and probably won't take that much longer by the time you take trips to and from the airport and check in into account.

Whatever you do, make sure you get reserved seats. I have recently been on a train from Manchester to Edinburgh where people had to sit or stand in the aisle for the entire trip. Luckily I had a reserved seat but they obviously didn't.

 

[Geegeela]

You could go by car, which is quite a pleasant trip with a nice pub or two on the way for some tucker or a drink.

One way for a compact will cost about 80 quid and easy to do on-line from Australia with Hertz just to name one.

BTW the car heaters are more than adequate.


regards