Seeing Britain by Train
 

Looking at going to England and Scotland with my husband in the fall. He has never been and it's more than 40 years for me. Instead of driving, we'd like to travel by train. Looking for itinerary ideas. We will be there between 14 and 20 days. Liverpool is definitely one stop for us as my husband's father was born there and we are both Beatles fans. I know we could be there months and not see everything but want to give my husband a good introduction to Britain. Outside of London, what are the must see places that we could get to by train and are there some train routes that we must take for the scenery (Inverness is one I know). Thanks for any input and ideas!

Yes scenic trains - Inverness to Kyle of Lochlash
Mallaig to Fort William and towards Glasgow
Newcastle to Edinburgh
Carlisle-Settle

But with just 2-3 weeks you may just want to do a circular tour - fly into London
Train say to Bath - one of Britain's comeliest cities
Train to Liverpool
to Lake District
to Edinburgh
and back to London via York - also one of Britain's most whatever cities
or tour around Scotland and fly home from Edinburgh

For lots on British trains check National Rail Enquiries - Official source for UK train times and timetables - schedules and fares and you can book your own tickets online; www.seat61.com; BETS-European Rail Experts. If traveling lots by train look into BritRail Passes which lets you take any train anytime.

I am fairly familiar with train routes in the U.K. but you really need to give me more information in order to make suggestions.There are no must see places. It is your interests that should be the priority, so what besides Liverpool and the Beatles would you be interested in seeing and doing? The two most scenic train routes in Scotland ( and probably the U.K. ) are Glasgow to Mallaig and Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh.

>>(Inverness is one I know)<<

Inverness is not very scenic. There are very scenic rail journeys in Scotland but don't fixate on Inverness.

Strictly by rail would be a little more difficult, but a combo of trains and buses or trains and short, small group tours like Rabbies out of Edinburgh or Glasgow would be VERY doable.

>>between 14 and 20 days<<. The difference is really rather huge. The best option would be to book open jaw flights in to say London and home from Edinburgh or Glasgow (or vice versa). But 14 vs 20 days would really determine how much you could cover. With just 2 weeks one option would be something like a bit of London, Liverpool, York, Edinburgh and a few days for either a rail trip or Rabbies tour to see some of rural Scotland.

With 20 days you can cover more territory . . .

we were all posting at the same time . . . With just two weeks IMO one would really want to do more of a linear itinerary rather than a big loop.

And if the two weeks ends up being 14 days total -- then you'd have 11.5 days free on the ground. 20 days, will net you 17.5 free days so while nearly 3 weeks sounds like a long time, it really goes by fast so you need to be really selective where you go.

OP was not talking about Inverness being scenic but the train that went from it (Kyle of Lochlash line).

I’m a big fan of Rabbies so don’t know why I forgot to mention them. They have departures from Glasgow and Edinburgh with tours from one day to much longer.They’ll go where the train routes don’t so you’ll get a much better and more in depth view of Scotland than just using trains. www.rabbies.com

I have never been to Scotland (yes, I know, I must go), but we did a 2-week train trip around England last year by train (Exeter, Bristol, Bath, Oxford, Cornwall, Southampton, Isle of Wight...) and it was painless and inexpensive. We spent a lot of time planning the stops around visits to friends and a concert in Bristol, but it was really very simple. We flew in from Bergerac in France, though, and out as well, so that part was easy and cheap.

How much time will you spend in London? How much time to travel around Britain? I'd say 4-5 days in London with a day trip maybe to Oxford, Windsor, etc. that leave 10-15 days for travel - just 3-4 bases max - and pick Scotland or England or Wales and not try to do all.