I am going to London is about 3 months and I have everything in place except the train travel and I am stressing about that. I want to travel from London to Warwick for a day trip. I want to travel from London to Windsor for a day trip and I want to travel from London to Northampton for a day trip. Do I need to make advance reservations for the train, or just show up at the station and buy my ticket, get on the train and be on my way?

Betty<BR>you will be able to just go to station and buy the tickets. Try to avoid the rush hours and you will be ok. Be sure to ask for a "return" ticket, Britspeak for roundtrip. It will be much cheaper than buying two one ways. Show up, buy the ticket, and go to the poper platform and get on. Simple and no hassles to speak of

Betty - no need to stress, this is the easiest thing in the world. Just go to the train station and buy your ticket..it's no big deal. For day trips ask for "cheap day return". We got to London every year and do this each time. For Warwick, when you are at Marylebone Station you can get a combo rail and castle admission at the same time, it saves a pound or two off doing it separately. Really, you need not stress, it's all very simple and hundreds of people do it every day.

Thank you! I feel MUCH better - now if I can get some cheap tickets to Paris and back..........

I think you are right to stress, Betty. <BR>We have very complicated fare patterns here. Generally, booking ahead is better, but this is only for longer journeys. <BR>In this case, London- Warwick cheapest return is just a tad over &pound;23. On a Saturday and Sundayit is cheaper. London to Northampton is about &pound;15 and you can travel on that fare even before 0930. <BR>Windsor is even cheaper, but once here, ring 08457 484950 for details and fares. Since that is a commuter route, they might have cheaper fares after 0930. You can go to Windsor from two London stations.

You have reasons to stress re the bi-annual BIG train accident and the daily HUGE delays.

Windsor hint...If you are staying in west London (Hammersmith, Chiswick, etc.) just take the tube to Richmond and switch to the train there.

Message Nigel: So you agree with Curt and Lori that just going to Windsor and Warwick is not necessary to book in advance?

I want to expand on "rush hour" Curt mentioned. I had to wait 30 minutes to buy same day tickets at Paddington. Now others have said, this can not be since there are many ticket windows at stations. Yes there were many ticket windows at Paddington, but still there was still only one 30 minutes long waiting queue serving these many thicket windows.

When I was in London last year, I didn't go to the ticket windows; I used an automatic ticket machine that took credit cards (and cash, I think). It was very easy, just follow the directions on the screen. <BR><BR>But that was the easy part...the actual trip (to Alton, only about an hour south of London) was an adventure and education on the much-aligned British rail system. There was a delay, an unscheduled change of trains, then a bus trip to my final destination because the train was not scheduled to complete the journey! But I took the train 6 times during my whole trip to England, so I figured I was due for a snag.

oops, meant to say "much-maligned" instead of "much-aligned"!

Mia,<BR> I think there would be fewer d-rails if they could be much-aligned!

Betty - Yes, it is fine to turn up and go to all three destinations. I must admit, I was surprised that that was the case. Go to www.thetrainline.com, as I advised, and you will get the information. You can prebook and have them delivered to your hotel to save queueing time. And you can always buy them ahead of your trip once you are here, stressing the time and date of travel when you buy. <BR><BR>

Message: Nigel - Yes, buying them in advance (after I come to London and before my traveling day) is a good idea. The trip to Northampton is leaving from Euston on the Silverlink and I can buy them on the web. The trip to Warwick and Windsor will be leaving from Waterloo (closet station to my Hotel) and I will buy them the day I arrive in London. I have 3 more months and I can't wait !!!!!