Linda

My traveling companion and I decided last night to jump on a pretty good fly and stay deal for London the beginning of January. I love London, but that's the only place she's visited in England so I thought I'd like to take her on a few day trips. One place I'd like to take her is York. I know that the normal train trip takes about 2 hours from Kings Cross, as I've taken that train to/from near Peterborough before. But can anybody tell me approximate fare for a day trip return? Is one day cheaper than another? I know--we really should stay the night, so please don't tell me that, but with all that London has to offer, plus another day trip we want to take, all we can afford is a day. Plus the hotel will already be paid for.

Sha

it will cost a fortune, will take about 3 hours and will probably have hopeless times for doing a day trip. Sorry to be so negative, but our train system really is pitiful. I do hope it works out for you, but would hate your holiday to be characterised by memories of dreadful trains.

Nigel Doran

Go to www.gner.co.uk and book a Daypex Ticket. The train will most likely be a Eurostar that has been loaned from that company by the U K train firm to allow for more capacity on that route. It should cost about £25 return for a Daypex ticket. <BR> <BR>You can have them send it to your hotel or you can collect it when you arrive from Kings Cross station with a special i d number. <BR> <BR>Or go to www.thetrainline.com to see if you can get a ticket there. <BR> <BR>York in January will be lovely. Crisp and cold, but with fewer tourists than at other times. Go early and come back late. If you got a train at 0700 you should be there for 0900 and then you can leave at 2000 to get you back to the station by 2200. Tubes don;t stop till around midnight and it is safe to travel on them till then. <BR>Don't just hop on the train early morning in London. You will pay an unearthly amount! If it is a Friday and you go for a walk-on fare, it will be 1/3 more expensive again. <BR> <BR>F Y I, you might not be able to book tickets this far ahead. Try and call G N E R from the number on the website and check.

janis

Linda: Sha doesn't have a clue. York is an easy day trip even in January. Leave Kings Cross before 8 AM and you can have 8 to 10 hours in York and still be back in London at a reasonable hour. <BR> <BR>You don't have to stay late in York - unless you just want to walk around seeing the bldgs illuminated. The city is very small and you can see a lot in just a few hours (Yes, staying overnight is better - but if you can't stay, you can still see most of York)

Sha

I don't mean to be argumentative, I really don't, but its a journey I do every couple of weeks due to work, and more often than not the service is dreadful, lots of unexpected delays sat on the track at Retford. I even sometimes drive instead and I hate driving that far. Sorry, other than this I really am capable of not being miserable

Shelley

In June, my family group of six took the train from Kings Cross to York. We bought our tickets off www.thetrainline and the round trip (staying over night) cost us 30 pounds each. It was our first experience with the train system and we loved it! The trains ran on time, they were well kept, the scenery was beautiful, and we sat by Brits who were so friendly and informative. The highlight of the stay in York was taking one of the tours in the evening given by a local gentleman who was 85 years old. He was so full of information about the walls around York, etc. Well worth doing, if you can take the time. And, if you like Indian food, Rick Steves recommended a wonderful restaurant. You might consider staying the night there.

Linda

Thank you for all your help, though I've spent a lot of time in York already. I know it's a wonderful city. That's why I chose it for a day trip; I want my friend to experience something other than London and I can't think of a better place within a few hours. But a day trip is really all we'll have this time. Our hotel in London will already be paid for with our fly/stay deal and, since this is a real budget trip, we don't want to pay for 2 hotels for one night. Also, there are so many places on the London portion of our itinerary, I hesitate to take another day away from London. <BR> <BR>What I'm reading, though, is that it's cheaper to get my tickets before we get to London. Correct? I'm quite familiar with train travel in England, but, since I was living there, I always bought my tickets at the station. (I have, though, thru this thread, learned NOT to plan my travel for a Friday, so won't. Thank you, Nigel.)

Lori

Linda, <BR>When we took a day trip to York from London last year I bought the tickets in advance (Daypex fare) via a phone call to GNER Railways. We picked the tickets up at Kings Cross the a.m. of our visit - no hassle, no bother!! We were able to reserve seats on the phone as well. The tickets were 52 pounds per person r/t (26 pounds each way. I just went to look at my old ticket stubs to make sure of that. GNER has a web site and phone numbers. Enjoy your trip.

Pete

You can easily do york in a day. The train takes 2 hrs out of King's Cross. Keep watching the GNER website for specials, and defintely check the Trainline.com site. GNER was recently running a special York for 30GBP return, Edinburgh for 36GBP. York is a great city for a day sightseeing, the minster and shambles area are a lot of fun. Also, keep an eye on the Virgin Trains (you'll see their fares at www.virgin.com (click on "trains"), and on the trainline.com. They run up the west side of country but have really deep discounts on their "virgin values" fares.