Day Trip to Bath suggestions
 

Hello Fodor's family,

I have researched quite a bit about a day trip from London to Bath. I've compared tour companies vs. "go-it-alone" train ticket options. From what I can tell we will want to spend our entire day there. I was initially excited when I found out the tours offered a pit-stop at Stonehenge mostly because if you're that close to another landmark "why not?"; however the large majority of visitors seemed let-down by the site and suggested a full day in Bath instead. We have a weeks worth of accommodations already paid for in London, so staying overnight in Bath is out. My dilemma is that the cost of a train ticket to and from London is about the same as a tour ticket. At least with the tour you get free information, but the longest tour I've found is only 3-hours in Bath. Has anyone taken a day-trip that they'd recommend. Tour bus, train, or even car hire?

The distances involved preclude longer than a few hours in Bath on any tour. The straight drive takes 2.5 to 3.5 hours depending on traffic.

If you want most of the day in Bath you will have to take the train (less than 90 minutes each way) and do-it-yourself.

(Even if you have pre-paid accommodations - you could always 'eat' a night, leave you luggage there and take an overnight bag to Bath. It would mean double paying for one night -- but is an option depending on 1) how much time you want to spend in Bath and 2 your budget.)

have you looked at the cheap train tickets available if you book as soon as they are released? - about 90 days in advance.

for example, I was able to book a dummy journey from Paddington to Bath and return on Saturday 9.1.16 [that's 9th January, not 1st September, BTW] leaving P'ton at 7.30, arriving 9am, and returning on the 19.43 which gets into P'ton at about 21.15.

here's the link:

http://www.thetrainline.com/farefind...7&rtn=20160107

the fare is £32 each way, or £64 return.

How does that compare with what you've found?

[sorry about having to post in 2 parts]

You may want to look at the Days Out of London pass where you can get 2 or more days of unlimited travel on trains - just show up and hop on as well as a return transfer by airport express trains from either Gatwick or Heathrow - if doing another day trip especially that may be nice - problem with discounted tickets I think is that they are train-specific and can't be changed - with a fully flexible ticket like the pass you can spend as long as you want in Bath then hop the next train back to London. anyway check it out - not sure what it costs.

For lots of great info on English trains and the pass check out www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

You can easily do another day trip by train to Stonehenge - train to Salisbury then bus from the station to the stones and look around Salisbury one fine fine city with a fine fine cathedral.

Bath's main sights are in a rather compact area - walking around is great - to me the town itself is the real attraction - a great harmony of style- Georgian I think everywhere - to me Bath is England's finest looking city. Of course there is the Roman Baths to visit but otherwise just stroll around.

Check the Tourist Information Centre as they have walking tour maps and also offer guided walks with locals.

Bookmarking

rtwin80days: Just a (hopefully) helpful hint . . . instead of 'bookmarking'/topping all these threads, see the little orange plus sign <B><orange>+</B></orange> up top ? If you click that you can email them to yourself.

Otherwise you may be topping a boat load of threads . . .

Is that why people respond with "Bookmarking"? I've always wondered why there are so many people who reply that way. I thought it might be for the lack of a "Like" button.

Can't they just bookmark and not tell us?

Yes -- they can, using either the favorites link or e-mailing it to themselves. That way the thread isn't topped. Sometimes you can open an old thread thinking the OP has returned to tell us how things worked out, only to find 'bookmarking' or 'ttt' - sort of like a dog or cat marking their territory ;)

I've always found the best way is to include relative information from this forum for an upcoming trip is to email the post to yourself, then create a folder for your trip which you can easily refer to when necessary.

Bookmarking is a cumbersome way to retain important/ relevant information.

Bookmarking

pig >)