We are traveling from Gatwick to Broadway in Cotswolds. I have been reading posts and found out about the Gatwick Express going to Victoria Station.

What is the best way to get to Broadway in Cotswolds via rail? Any suggestions on a particular website to use to purchase advance tickets or should we just get them upon arrival? Arriving on a Wednesday and staying for a few days before going back to London. We will be traveling with an elderly person - not wheelchair bound - but a very long walk might prove difficult.

Thanks so much for any help/advice. I've never done this before.

There isn't train service to Broadway. I think, but not sure, that Morton-upon-Marsh might be the closest station. Next, you would take the train to Victoria station in London, tube to Paddington, then train to Morton-upon -Marsh. Also, a quick check indicated you could take the train to Reading and then transfer onto Morton-upon-Marsh. Perhaps others can give you better advice. Good luck.

It would be a lot easier (cost, hassle & stress) to take a train from Gatwick to Reading then train to Morton.

See www.nationalrail.co.uk. Where available cheap tickets are available from about 4 weeks before the date of travel

Thanks for the quick response. I checked out the site and need to look on a map for the Reading Station. Looking for minimal changes in trains, but 1 should be ok.

It was suggested I get off Honeybourne Station to reach Broadway. Need to find that as well.

I was looking at britrail website and was coming up with such high rates and various day combinations. This is confusing - can anyone explain this?

Thanks again. Any further input is greatly appreciated.

Just use the national rail link rather than Britrail or Raileurope who are well known for have expensive tickets.

Typical price for a one way ticket is £37, a return ticket £42

You don't need to know where the stations are - you just need to know which train to get on & when to get off it - which is provided by the national rail link

Have you thought of asking the place you are staying in Broadway the best way to get there?

As the others say, there is no straightforward rail/bus routing to Broadway - but you can get there in a few hours.

But I do have to ask this -- what do you plan after you finally do get to Broadway? There is no rail service, and pretty bleak bus service. How long are you staying in the village, and what other places are you planning to visit?

You may want to investigate the LondonPlus pass that gives you 2, 4 or 7 days of unlimted rail travel in about a 100 mile radius of London, including Gatwick trains and i believe Cotswolds stations.

Though you can get online specials and restricted tickets the pass can be used on any train so at Gatwick you just hop the next convenient train to Reading, head from there on the next convenient train to Oggsford then from there on the next possible train to stations on the Cotswolds line.

The flexibility to take any train anytime is a great part of the pass.

For more on this pass i recommend BETS (800-441-2387; www.budgeteuropetravel.com) who i always recommend for their competence and service and they would not charge RailEurope's $15-18 mailing fee. I think the pass costs about $75 for two unlimited days through sougtheast England - in fact the pass was formerly called the Southeast England pass before changed to Days Out of London pass and now morphed into LondonPlus pass. Anyway could be good for you - especially folks landing at Gatwick and going such a long way to Cotswolds by rail. Not sold in UK to my knowledge except perhaps at BTA office in central London - not sure but think you could pick one up there - but then you couldn't use it from Gatwick, a key part to make it economic. There could be a senior fare on this pass, which also comes in first class which i would HIGHLY recommend for anyone elderly and somewhat frail as you indicate.

Oh - I just noticed you <u>did</u> say you wil be there a few days.

You will need transport of some sort.

Thanks for all the advice. I check a few times a day now.

We are actually going to the area to meet daughter/husband/baby grandaugher for 3-4 days to visit. He has friends in this area that they will visit after we leave - hence why this area was picked.

janisj, you say minimal bus service - is there a way to get to Oxford should we decide to get there?

This all happened so quickly - we actually leave Tuesday and need to figure out what train tix to buy. My husband wants to wait until we arrive due to any delay issues.
Thoughts on that? Thanks.

For UK public transport information, try www.transportdirect.info. That should give connections to and from Broadway.

My husband wants to wait until we arrive due to any delay issues.

well that's the beauty of the LondonPlus pass - any train any time - if you wait and pay walk up fares you could pay dearly as walk up fares are often much much more expensive. I don't know on the Gatwick-Reading-Oxford-Cotswolds lines but most are.

I did a brief check for the London Plus pass. If I read the rules correctly it is not good on the Reading connection. Don't take this a the final fact, but rather, do take the time to ensure the area of use,

It may not as though the pass covers most train companies it specifically does not cover trains from Paddington to Reading and may not cover Virgin Trains which may operate the Gatwick-Reading route at times. If in U.S. call BETS (800-441-2387) and ask if considering this pass and that line for a definitive answer IMExperience.

Consider renting a car. It's the easiest way to get to the Cotswolds and to get around, especially when based in Broadway. But don't drive after an overnight, multiple-time-zone flight. So maybe stay overnight near Gatwick and pick up the car the next morning or stay a night in London (reached by the Gatwick Express train) and pick up a car on fringes of London.

Thanks for all the information!

I checked out the website transportdirect.info and it's really helpful! Thanks so much.

Also, I will be calling BETS today to check on exact trains etc. If anyone can think of anything else we should know, I'm listening.

Looking at the LondonPlus rail map and lines it covers at www.raileurope.com it shows trains on the two lines doing the bulk of the Gatwick-Reading service as honoring the pass - ditto Reading to Oxford and the Cotswolds line to Worcester. So all is covered.

But the few Virgin Trains running the Gatwick-Reading routes do not participate.

I think you should double check as the raileurope website does say

&quot;Railpass not valid to Bath or on other services via Reading operated by Great Western Trains out of Paddington Station.&quot;

Thus it may not only be Virgin trains that are not included.