We are stayig in London for a week and want to travel out to Bath for a day. We are a family of 5, relying on public transport. What's the best and cheapest way to do this?

Best: First class train from Paddington, leaving early enough in the day to see the town properly

Cheapest: Megatrain from Waterloo, which normally allows you insufficient time to see things unless you overnight in Bath

Neither are particularly sensible. The sanest option is to book a Standard Class fare in advance from Paddington for a Saturday or Sunday trip. Weekday fares are relatively pricey before departures around 0930, which limit your visiting time.

Play with options at www.nationalrail.co.uk

ok thank you, flanneruk!

Cheap tickets for that route become available a maximum of 12 weeks before date of travel.

Whilst Saturday & Sunday may be the easiest days to get cheap tickets, they are also the busiest days in Bath so the additional cost of travelling early may outweigh the longer queues for everything in Bath.

You can also get trains back as late as 10:47pm so it's possible to have dinner in Bath and still return to London

Oh thank you alan for that! Do you know what site I can get them from?Is it the same one flanneruk said?

Yup...same site as above

I actually looked at first great western site from another bath thread on fodors.Getting great price of 91 pounds for all of us on train. It asks if we want bus to spa?Is the station in heart of town or is it quite a walk? Please excuse my ignorance.

I don't recognise the sales message you're describing - but FGW's parent company also operates some buses in Bath, so you're likely to be seeing a simple piece of cross-promotion.

Unless you've got mobility problems, there's no need to use a bus between Bath station and any of its attractions. There are a few things some might want to see outside Bath, and it's possible that the First Group's "Plusbus" deal, which bundles a bus pass with a railway ticket, might meet those people's needs more cost-effectively than buying bus tickets separately. But it's very, very unlikely: few need to venture more than a mile or so from the station.

The Thermae Bath Spa absolutely isn't an attraction there's any need to get a bus to. It's scarcely any further from the station than the end of the queue to get on the bus for it

Also the Bath train station is named Bath Spa. And, yes, it's central, so easy walking from there.

ok thanks! Down at left hand corner after you choose fares you want, it asks if you want to book bus to spa for 12.00 pounds to add to your train tickets. That's why I thought it must be a distance away.Glad we don't need it!