Hello
I recieved lots of help planning my trip to London and Paris back in March from people on this board. My friends are going to England Ireland and Scotland in sepetember and are interested in doing a day in Bath. They do not want to take a tour there which is what i had to do due to limited time. The tour I did was stonhenge, lacock villiage and bath. It was ok and I felt I had enough time in stonhenge and lacock village but would have liked more time in Bath.

What is the bext way for them to go to from London to Bath and back in one day? Also is there a way the could stop in stonhenge first on the way or is that more complicated? he wants to go to stonhenge she does not so that is still up for discussion with them.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Hi rd,

>What is the bext way for them to go to from London to Bath and back in one day?<

It's about 1:30 hr by train.

See www.bahn.de

The reference library of a city near you may have the Thomas Cook European Rail timetable. Table 133 shows that your friend can leave London Paddington by buffet car train at 0700, 0730, and each half hour and take 90 minutes to Bath. He can buy a day return ticket valid after 0930 or any time at weekends, or pay more and buy a return ticket valid any time. I am afraid there s no way to break the journey and see Stonehenge, and the coach times do not allow or this either, so to see Stonehenge and Bath involves an expensive day tour with guide. The site http://www.londontoolkit.com/tours/a...ry_mystery.htm shows such a tour, including the Cotswolds, at 60 pounds.

Ben Haines, London
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<< I am afraid there s no way to break the journey and see Stonehenge >>

Unless you return from Bath via Salisbury which allows you to do Stonehenge, Avebury & Salisbury Cathedral, then back to London. This does require an overnight in Bath or a VERY early start

See www.nationalrail.co.uk (select "More journey planner search options&quot & www.wdbus.co.uk/htm/ta/sdo-stonehenge.asp

Check the type of ticket before booking as some of the cheapest don't allow you to break your journey

The easiest-to-use train schedule site on line is the German national railroad's:

http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

I'm just curious why you'd recommend going to a German rail website to check information on a British train, over local alternatives? Would you honestly check-out a Mexican website to get train times in Denver? I'd recommend the UK-based www.thetrainline.com.

I wouldn't recommend thetrainline.com because

a) you need to be registered to get prices
b) they charge a fee for using a CC.

Which is why I use www.nationalrail.co.uk to get pricies & then link from there to a rail company to do the booking none of which charge for a booking or CC usage

If the Mexican site had more accurate information and a better user interface, of course. Wouldn't you?

Question: How many Mexicans visit Bath via rail?

I use www.bahn.de for most trains in Europe. It's really fine for most purposes.

However, for UK trains, I use www.nationalrail.co.uk. Two main reasons:

1. Unlike most European countries, UK trains are run by various operators, not just one national ones. www.bahn.de doesn't not show who operates the train.

2. UK train fares vary highly depending on types of advance tickets. On www.nationalrail.co.uk, you can easily see all available fares. Not available on www.bahn.de.

I agree - nationalrail.co.uk is probably the best site for UK trains -- and bahn.de is best for most other European countries.

I'd suggest folk have a real wander around the nationalrail website, it contains a wealth of information about the Rail system in the UK - plus it has an obvious option to select the cheapest routing rather than the fastest route

Thanks for the information I will pass it on to my friends!

The information about going through or returning via salisbury is correct. For this they would return/leave by London waterloo, not paddington - and the journey, without stopping, takes approximately one hour longer than the line from paddington. (i live in bath and have gone both ways)

Check also half day trips to stonehenge - eg on visitbath website. They could get an early train from paddington and the one who wants to see stonehenge could then go on tour while the other sees bath - bit of backtracking but could be the easiest option if time is tight.

rd; why don't they rent a car. Then they can stop wherever they want, and be back in one day.

thanks for the tips! about the car rental the whole driving on the other side of the street scares them!

Take the tube to the Paddington station and buy a ticket to Bath on the First great Western Line. Get off the train at "Bath Spa" and you're there.

http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/

I just did and it was as easy as can be. At the Bath Spa station there's information on trips to Stonehenge...we didn't have enough to go.

The last sentence above should read, "We didn't have enough time to go" (to Stonehenge).