jspen

We will be traveling to Winchester in July, where we'll be staying in an apartment for two weeks while my husband has work in the area. We plan to rent a car for at least part of our stay. My question is, should we rent a car when we arrive at Heathrow and drive to Winchester (which my husband is reluctant to do when jet-lagged), or take the train and rent the car somewhere near our destination? I've tried figuring out train fares vs. rental cost for a family of 4, and it seems like it may not be worth the cost to take even the one train trip. We were also hoping to day-trip into London by train, but now that I'm looking at local fares, I'm amazed at the cost. I know we don't want to take a car into London proper, but is there another way to keep costs down? Is there something like a commuter rail pass for locals we could try? Thanks!

PalenQ

Have you scoured all of the fares at www.nationalrail.co.uk and esp the day returns and restricted tickets - usually from a place like Winchester they can be what i would call rather cheap.

Or you could drive from Winchester to some London edge train station that also has car parking - many do and then take the shorter and cheaper train ride in. Slough for instance.

And why not just rent at Heathrow and do the rather easy drive from there to Winchester? Going west and south from Heathrow puts you well into the countryside quickly.

And look into a day pass offered on trains that serve Winchester - they can be really cheap - esp if you can go off-peak (after 9:30am Mon-Fri generally i think)

jspen

Thanks, PalenQ--I'm trying to convince my husband that he can handle the driving, even on little sleep. (Or maybe I'll have to drive!) I do think it will save us money to pick up the car and keep it for the two weeks, rather than trying to do some train travel and some by car. I like the flexibility of having a car, so we can get to smaller towns, and we'll have to do things like grocery shopping as well, since we're staying in a flat.

I do appreciate the advice on driving closer in to London before hopping on a train--that may work well, assuming the traffic isn't an issue and parking isn't too expensive at the station. I did look on the Nat'l. Rail site to price tickets, but maybe I'm just not looking at the right thing--I'll look at the day pass you mention. I think I was looking at a family pass, but you had to pay upfront for something that's good for a year, which doesn't do us much good for our short visit! Thanks for your input.

PalenQ

keep topping (ttt) your post if it fades as there are several Brits here who are more knowledgeable about the day passes on various train lines. I would think Southwest trains may serve Winchester and i've heard of a 10 pound or so day pass. Maybe just Googling southwesttrains.com will get their site. (Not sure Southwest trains to Winchester but check nationalrail.co.uk site.)

You do not want to drive into London central or you have to pay that expensive Traffic Calming Fee to enter.

TimS

It's slower than the train, but you can take a National Express coach (highway bus) between London and Winchester. The standard fare is £14.10. Booked well in advance at www.nationalexpress.com, you can get a fun fare of £6.

If you want to travel by train and your children are young enough to qualify for half price, buying BritRail London Plus railpasses might be a good way to go. See here: http://www.ricksteves.com/rail/greatbritain.htm.

jspen

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm not opposed to the coach/bus, so that's helpful--I just had the train in mind, but it's good to look at other options, so I'll look into that. I did look at train fares on the Rick Steeves site, but again, maybe I'm just looking at the wrong things. I'll check out the London Plus pass you mention.

One last question on the car rental: I was looking at Auto Europe, since we'll also be renting on the continent later in our trip. But are there other good inexpensive options in the UK? I looked into leasing a car and keeping it for the whole trip, but then we'd have a right-hand drive car for the continent, which would really mess my husband up! (Plus there's a HUGE one-way drop-off charge.) So our current plan is to rent in the UK for 2 weeks, dropping the car off either in Dover or London, and then rent a different car once we cross the Channel. If anyone has any great suggestions for doing this more cheaply, I'd love to know. Thanks!

PalenQ

The London Plus Pass also includes transfers from Heathrow to London on the Heathrow Express but since you are not needing airport transport by that train you'd have to be doing at least two day trips to London to make the London Plus Pass pay off - but still check it out. Total flexibility is the key with the pass - any train anytime - just hop on. fully flexible fares can be very expensive.

flanneruk

The options for travelling by train round the South East - and Winchester's really remarkably well served both with direct train connections and with connections to just about anywhere at Reading or Southampton are:

- for a handful of routes, if booked in advance, Megatrain. www.megatrain.com/uk. This is actually the normal Bournemouth-Winchester-London, or Bournemouth-Winchester-Manchester train, but with VERY onerous booking restrictions and on a a small number of departures, in return for which you get really, really silly prices

- the Network Card (www.railcard.co.uk/network) For £20 in total, you get a third off offpeak adult fares, PLUS 65% off child fares, which means the kids practically travel free.

Except on the routes Megatrain serves, there's no need for advance booking to destinations within 100 or so of London (essentially, those stations the Network Card covers. Just ask the chap at the ticket office for the cheapest fares, but make sure you understand which trains they're valid on

Both these systems qualify you for 2 for 1 admission to most paid-for sites in London (www.daysoutguide.co.uk.)

I'd be gobsmacked if these London Passes or the things PalQ's always touting worked out cheaper than Megatrain or ordinary trains bought on a Network Card. Remember: admission to many of London's major attractions is free.

nona1

Family & Friends Railcard As long as you have at least one child travelling with you, you'll qualify for Family & Friends Railcard discounts. A Family & Friends Railcard costs just £24 and you save 1/3 off adult fares, and 60% off kid's fares on travel throughout Great Britain. Up to four adults and four children can travel on one card.

jspen

Thanks, flanneruk--sounds helpful. I saw a "groupfare" on the Southwest Trains site (recommended by PalenQ) that might work, but will also check out the megatrains. I think the Network card may be the same as the family rail pass I was looking into earlier, but will see. I wasn't sure if the discounts would pan out if we have to pay upfront for the card? I'll have to crunch the numbers... But the 2for1 admissions deal sounds like it might be useful. I know the kids want to see the Tower of London, though I'm not sure what else yet. Some other things on their list are free, I think (like the British Museum?). My 11-year-old son is interested in Harry Potter sites, the observatory at Greenwich, and castles, mostly. My 7-year-old daughter will probably just be happy tagging along.
Thanks!

PalenQ

Flanneur: If you had read my take on the London Plus pass you would have read that in this case, with no airport transfers needed, i did not think it was a good deal. For folks taking the Stansted, Heathrow or Gatwick Expresses the pass provides a round trip transfer outside the bounds of the pass validity - and then if doing a few day trips and not wishing to hassle with various restrictions and conditions it could be a good deal - esp if just wanting to show up at the station and hop the next train.

Wonder what the charges for dogs are?

TheFlannerpooch

We travel free, at all times, of course.

This sometimes means the ticket inspector pulls his bloody mobile out and shows the Boss photos of dogs he's got the cheek to call 'his'. Really sad gits show me the pictures too and expect me to go gaa gaa as if I was some damnfool human.

Worth it on some lines though if the carpet's impregnated with lots of detritus from food takeaways. And the other passengers usually give me the attention the Boss and Mrs B are too bloody self-centred to realise I deserve.

Not at Winchester, BTW. There's a horrible fat slag cow at the ticket barrier there who keeps on moaning about me. Says I run round too much.

If she ran as much as I do, she'd be a lot less fat.

flanneruk

"I wasn't sure if the discounts would pan out if we have to pay upfront for the card"

Of course they do. The cheapest offpeak weekday return for 2 adults and 2 children from Winchester to London is £82 (if you're seeing anything pricier, you're leaving Winchester too early). With a Network, or F&F, card it's £49.

Remember both the Network, and F&F, cards cover the whole party. One £24 card gives discounts for all the adults and children in the party.

THe F&F card works throughout Britain, but there always has to be a child in the party. The Network card works only within 100 miles or so of London (excluding, for example, Peterborough, Bath and Bristol) but the nominated adult can use it for travelling alone.

jspen

Ok, thanks. I guess I meant that I wasn't sure if the discounts would pan out because we might only use the card for one or two trips. But it sounds like that might still save us money...
I appreciate the help. Thanks!

Cholmondley_Warner

You've had good advice re travel to God's own City.

I'm only posting to mention that there are a couple of us on here that are natives of Winchester if you want more detailed local knowledge.

willit

I live not far from Winchester.

When I go up to London, I tend to drive to Richmond (drive up the M3 and keep going) park there (There is a huge car park on your right, just after the large bridge across the Thames - about £7 a day). From the car park it is a short walk to Richmond station from where I get a zone 4 travel pass. There are frequent trains into Waterloo, and it is also on the district line.

jspen

Thanks so much for the Winchester-centric advice! Of course, I would love more local knowledge... Willit, what would be the approximate cost of the trip from Richmond into town for 2 adults, 2 kids? I'm thinking that if we day-trip into London only a couple of times, something like that may make sense cost-wise. If I look on-line, what train line would I look for? I was looking at the information on Southwest trains (on PalenQ's advice), and there did seem to be some pretty decent group/family fares--is that the right site? Or would it be on Nat'l. Rail?

And thanks, Cholmondley-Warner: Our plan is to use Winchester as a home-base and mostly use a rental car to get around. So any advice on things to do in the area would be welcome--maybe I should do a separate Winchester-area post on that? Thanks!

Cholmondley_Warner

It depends what you like really.

There's loads to do in the surrounding area if you like history. Less so if you like having it large in nightclubs.

PalenQ

I am not a Winchester expert but will add my two pence on how fantastic i thought Winchester was the few times i have been there.

And don't stick to town and the gorgeous cathedral and close but take the footpaths along a stream to the south and into really bucolic surroundings.

And in town there is also one of England's tony stiff-upper-lipped pubic (meaning private in England) schools - one of the Eton feeders i believe where pampered rich kids board and do un-speakable unsavoury type things. But the school is neat looking and i think i remember a swell church there as well.

But i do think Winchester is one of England's finest old towns - the cathedral itself is worth the trip and the town even more so.

Do not let the fact that willit lives nearby deter you from staying in Winchester - it's actually a pretty decent place.

jspen

"Living it large in nightclubs" is definitely NOT on my list!! Haven't done that since I had kids (if ever, really...)

See my new post/query on what to do around Winchester, but I'd say we're more interested in history (especially my 11-year-old son), country walks (that footpath sounds lovely!), and literary history (me, primarily). My 7-year-old daughter would love anything to do with castles or animals.
Thanks!