We will be staying in London for a few days before departing on the QM2.

We will be 5 adults, one teen, and one child - what are the options to get to Southampton?

We will need to be in Southampton by 10:30 am to meet some people.

Fastest way?
Cheapest Way?
"Best" Way?

Thanks.

http://www.visit-southampton.co.uk/s...to-southampton

Fastest way?

Train from Waterloo - takes about an hour and a quarter - but it'll be expensive at that time.

Cheapest Way?

Coach from Victoria - cheap as chips.

"Best" Way? TRain by miles - but it all depends on how price sensitive you are. If you could go down the previous evening - buy a family railcard - it will pay for itself on just the one trip.

Actually, there are some cheap train fares on the London to Southampton route, but availability of those cheap fares varies both by month and day of the week. But - by way of example - for most days in the month of May, you can travel very cheaply on the 8.39 am train from London Waterloo to Southamption Central. That train gets into Southamption just after 10 am.

The one way fare per person varies between one pound and four pounds per person. You can only book these fares via the 'megatrain' website (at www.megatrain.co.uk). The same organisation also sells discounted bus tickets on the London to Southampton route.

I hope this assists you, and hope that you can find some reasonably priced tickets.
Nicky
editor / hidden europe magazine
www.hiddeneurope.co.uk

>>>>>
If you could go down the previous evening - buy a family railcard - it will pay for itself on just the one trip.
>>>>>>

i might be wrong but i don't think the family railcard can be used on the weekdays any more, regardless of the time of travel. if it's the weekend, the travel time won't matter and the railcard (£20) may be used. there is a temporary/trial family railcard on offer for free that you can find on the web (sorry i don't have the link and i don't know when the offer expires).

to clarify my post, the railcard is a discount card that allows significant train discounts during weekends and bank holidays...it is not your train ticket that would be £20.

The family railcard CAN be used weekdays - just not in peak hours from Waterloo

http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles...=6&id=2238

And before you ask, visitors to the UK can buy the card

http://www.family-railcard.co.uk/faq.htm#12

alan, you are right. i was confusing the £10 minimum fare (all day monday through friday) that was put in place when using discount railcards. this makes the card useless during the week for my more common journeys that are close in to london...probably not the case out to southampton though.

If someone is brave enough to drive on the 'wrong' side of the road, you could rent a minivan and drive down there.

I used to work for a company that had a mfg facility in Southhampton. It's a pretty drive, right by the Winchester Cathedral (it's bringing me down).

This may give you a bit more latitude as you as you could stay in one of the towns around Southhampton. I used to stay in Romsey at the White Horse. No one knew how old it was, but the hotel had been on its current site since 1500.