lincasanova

fodorite travel experts..

i MAY need to go to a meeting in cambridge, sunday feb. 10th.

I have been told stansted is the closest/easiest airport for that, with a train directly from there to cambridge.

however, i have found a very inexpensive flight to heathrow in the morning, arriving at 10 am, carry-on bag only, which would give me time to go into town to a matinee, I hope, and then proceed to cambridge.

Would I be buying one way fares all the way on the train, or is there some special sunday travel ticket i could use for this purpose?
what is my cheapest option?

Thanks for taking the time.

Dukey

Topping for you...

GeoffHamer

I'd buy a one-day travelcard for zones 1-6, then a one-way ticket from the boundary of zone 6 to Cambridge (you can't get this from a ticket machine, but you can by showing your travelcard at the ticket office at Kings Cross when buying the ticket to Cambridge).

lincasanova

thanks, geoff hamer.
approx. prices on this by any chance?

janisj

What matinee are you planning to see on a Sunday? There are a few shows on sundays - but most theatres are dark. And shows like The Lion King that do have sun. matinees - curtain is not until 3 p.m. so you would not get out until nearly 6 p.m.

lincasanova

really?

i would not be going to lion king, but had hoped there was something around 1pm.

might have to rethink this!

Nonconformist

You also ought to bear in mind that Sundays are the worst day to travel by train in the UK (except that you don't have to worry about peak time travel if you have a cheap ticket). Trains are less freqwuent in any case - I think Kings Cross to Cambridge fast trains are normally twice an hour, but only one an hour on Sundays. But also, and particularly worth noting if you have to get to the conference by a certain time, Sundays are when the train companies do all the track maintenance, which can mean delays, detours and replacement buses. This is advertised in advance, but could be tricky for you to work out coming from overseas.

I agree a lot of shows don't have a Sunday matinee, and those that do will usually start at 3ish. Could you arrive on the Saturday instead and stay an extra night in Cambridge?

alanRow

It's a direct Tube service from Heathrow to Covent Garden - though thee can be restrictions at CG which mean you'd have to get off at Leicester Square instead (it's a walk of a couple hundred yards between the two)

From Covent Garden / Leicester Square you can get another direct Tube to Kings Cross for the trip to Cambridge or if there are problems on that route, you can walk up to Holborn and get a Tube to Liverpool Street for a train to Cambridge. though it might be cheaper to get the Tube to Tottenham Hale (change at Finsbury Park) then train to Cambridge

see www.nationalrail.co.uk for details, don't bother buying in advance as you won't save any money

alanRow

BTW The British Museum is close to Holborn so you might want to go there especially as it's on the route to Kings Cross / Tottenham Hale

lincasanova

thanks for the advice. the meeting is monday morning, but there is a dinner sunday.

hopefully i can squeeze something in, otherwise, i think i will reverse my order.. and do theater tuesday before flying out tuesday night!

p.s. only flying in from spain. canīt go sat. night.

are we talking about an hour from london to cambridge by train?

Nonconformist

The fast trains are 45 minutes assuming you don't get delays, which as I said are extra specially likely on Sundays, but TBH you can get any time). There are also slow trains which are 1 hour 20 mins-ish. Check out the website alanRow sugests - you can check specific timings for your travel date very easily there, although I'm not sure if it will indicate any special arrangements for that weekend yet.

GeoffHamer

Single tube fare: £4
London Kings Cross - Cambridge: £18.40
Travelcard zones 1-6: £7
Hadley Wood (last station in zone 6) - Cambridge £15.80.

Therefore, tube straight to Kings Cross plus train to Cambridge = £22.40;
unlimited tube and bus travel plus train to Cambridge = £22.80.

alanRow

<<< Hadley Wood (last station in zone 6) - Cambridge £15.80. >>>

No direct trains to Cambridge, it's £2.80 MORE expensive than getting the direct train from Tottenham Hale (£13) and it takes 45 minutes longer from Holborn

lincasanova

thank you very much.

logistics!!

GeoffHamer

Hadley Wood is the last station in Greater London on the direct route from Kings Cross to Cambridge. If you have a travelcard for zones 1-6 with a ticket from Hadley Wood to Cambridge, you can travel on the direct non-stop train from Kings Cross to Cambridge.

alanRow

But do Cambridge bound trains from KX stop at Hadley Wood?

AFAIK trains for Hadley Wood go from Old Street via Finsbury Park

GeoffHamer

In my previous message, I said "If you have a travelcard for zones 1-6 with a ticket from Hadley Wood to Cambridge, you can travel on the direct non-stop train from Kings Cross to Cambridge".
With a travelcard for zones 1-6, buy a ticket at Kings Cross for the journey from Hadley Wood to Cambridge. You can then get on the non-stop train or any other train to Cambridge. Your travelcard covers the journey from London to Hadley Wood, and the ticket to Cambridge covers the rest of the journey. The train will probably whizz through Hadley Wood at 80 mph so you won't even notice it.

alanRow

On the UK train system when you use split tickets, it's normally a requirement that the train has to stop at the station where the split occurs

So if you wanted to go from Newcastle to London but found that tickets for Newcastle to Peterborough & Peterborough to London were cheaper overall then the train you get had to actually stop at Peterborough

alanRow

In any case the fare from Hadley Wood to Cambridge is HIGHER than the fare from Tottenham Hale so it makes no sense to buy a ticket from Hadley Wood to Cambridge

GeoffHamer

From London to anywhere in the old Network SouthEast area (which includes Cambridge), you can buy tickets from the zone boundary. If, for example, you have a travelcard for zones 1 and 2 and you want to go to Windsor & Eton Riverside, you only need to buy a ticket from the zone boundary (Putney in this case) to Windsor & Eton Riverside; you do not need to buy a ticket for London-Putney because the travelcard covers this.
Hadley Wood, as far as I can see, is the last station in Greater London passed by trains going from London Kings Cross to Cambridge.
It's best to show your travelcard at the ticket office and ask for a ticket to your destination: the booking clerk should know which route the trains take, and will issue a ticket from the zone boundary to your destination.
I have followed this procedure many times and it does work. If you are using a travelcard in London and then travelling outside London, it saves money.