azzure

I am trying to put some details into a trip I am planning that involves a lot of train travel.

My tentative route is as follows:

London to Cotswolds, rent a car: What would be the most practical station to arrive at in the Cotswolds? Moreton-in-Marsh? Or should I go to Stratford-upon-Avon for easier car rental potential?

Cotswolds to N. Wales, rent a car: I know there is a EuropCar rental place near Conwy (in Colwyn Bay) so I am thinking of going to the Llandudno Junction station. But maybe Bangor would be better?

N. Wales to Lake District, rent a car: I'm thinking the station would be Keswick?

Lake District to Edinburgh, Edinburgh to York, York to London - this part is pretty straightforward.

I have spent some time investigating the National Rail site, but can't figure out how to plan the details of this journey...they want me to plug in dates in order to get train arrival/departure times, but I don't have any dates yet, would just like to know what my options are. I know there are rail experts here; can anyone help?

GeoffHamer

If you want just a general idea of railway timetables, just pick a date in the next week. Timetables are generally the same on weekdays (Mondays to Fridays), but are reduced at weekends, especially Sundays. On lines used by summer holidaymakers, extra trains may run in summer. At weekends, especially in winter, services may be disrupted by work on the track, with trains diverted or replaced by buses.
There is no railway to Keswick - the nearest station is Penrith. For the southern Lake District, there is a branch line from Oxenholme to Windermere.

rogeruktm

First thing is to print out a Brit Rail map. Some good and not so good ones on the web, check out a few. Next, if you haven't, check out the various BritRail passes. Again a search will show lots, I have used Rick Steves site to good effect.

Then, as suggested, use the National rail site using current dates and time. I make a list of times, rail company and the next train in the event of missing one.

isplumm

Hi,

For the Lakes, I would change at Oxenholme (on the main London - Edingburgh line) & either hire a car from there or catch the train to Kendal & hire a car from there. Then do your touring of the Lakes, finishing in Keswick. Then drive to Penrith (30 minutes or so), then drive down the M6 back to Kendal to drop off car (about 30-45 minute drive). It will save quite a bit, as you will be dropping the car back in the same place.

Oxenholme is about 15 minutes off the M6, J36, along the A65, so is easy to get to .... if you are feeling energetic & the weather is good, you could even nip up the Helm, takes 15-20 minutes to get to the top, but gives great views of the Lake District, the Howgills & Morecambe Bay (which is why you need a decent day).

Not sure if you can hire car from Oxenholme, but sure you could get one in Kendal - which is a 10 minute taxi ride or train ride. I know Enterprise rent from Station Yard in Kendal (which I think is next to the railway station).

Hope that helps.

Mark

azzure

Thanks to all - I found two maps on the National Rail site; a schematic which I can print and is legible (but only shows principal routes), and the more comprehensive National Rail timetable map, which seems to show all the stations but prints up too small to read. If anyone has any ideas about better maps, I'd appreciate it.


Thanks also for all the Lake District rail advice. I dug out my AA road atlas and your routing makes sense. It also looks as though it might be advisable to just rent a car in Penrith and do a loop from there (?).

janisj

I'd re-think your plan just a bit. 1 and 2 day car rentals are VERY expensive. Usually 3 days of car rentals costs more than a full week's rental.

If it were me - unless the main point of your trip is to ride trains (then definitely confer w/ rogeruktm) - I'd rent a car in either London or Oxford and use it to travel through the Cotswolds, North Wales, the Lakes and on to Edinburgh. Drop the car there and use trains from Edinburgh to York to London. A full week by car will cost you less than a series of shorter rentals and let you explore a bit farther off the beaten paths.

azzure

Well, maybe we won't be renting cars in all those places. I think we definitely want to rent a car for the Cotswolds, but I believe we can use buses for the places we want to go in Wales, and I haven't researched the Lake District enough yet to know if it's practical/possible to do that without a car. We'd just prefer to use trains for the long(ish) hauls.

flanneruk

It's not a question of "good" maps. Britain's railway network is too big to be comprehensively printed out on a sheet of A4.

The National Rail schematic map (which WILL print on A4) gives you most of the detail you need for strategic planning. Its one real deficiency is its vagueness about the most important single line: the one through the Cotswolds, merely shown on the schematic as Oxford-Hereford.
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/tocs_m...icMapLarge.pdf

So download the detailed schematic. Use the zoom feature in Acrobat to get it to a point that'll print: but if you need fine detail, zoom in on your computer.
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/tocs_m...icMapLarge.pdf

It's very unlikely you'll need the fine details printed. Your plans just don't look as if they involve those parts of the country that DO need a printed, detailed railway map. The only part of the country most visitors need a detailed railway map for is the rural overground metro system in Kent, East Sussex and the central south coast.

isplumm1

Hi,

It doesn't matter whether you get off at Oxenholme or Penrith, they are both on the same line.

But of course Penrith is North Lakes, whereas Oxenholme is South Lakes. So it really depends on which area you are interested in?

But flanneruk's suggestion to rent car for week / two seems good idea - you could stop over some where like Malverns or Peak District ... or drive straight there - up M40 / M6 - 4-6 hours depending on traffic.

Mark