the riddle of rail tickets
 

I'm off to England again in September, staying in Windsor and taking trips by public transport each day...mostly by train.
What kind of rail ticket should I buy...some trip examples...Windsor to Marlow,Windsor to Cliveden, Windsor to Oxford, Windsor to London, windsor to Hampton Court.
Thanks.

moonrise

some folks prefer the Oggsford to London buses over the train - depending on where you are going in London perhaps and a flat fare pretty much that is often much cheaper than the train.

Go to www.nationalrail.co.uk for a look at fares and possible discounts with restrictions.

If these (ie, within 100 miles of London) are all you're doing, the likelihood is that the easiest thing is to buy tickets on the spot. Apart from Oxford, and that possibly not from Windsor, none of your proposed destinations are worth buying tickets for in advance, unless you're determined to travel before 0930.

If your journeys add up to £75 or more, though, but'll be worth buying a Network Railcard before you buy your first ticket, since it costs £25 and gives you a third off almost all tickets within that 100 miles. "Before" because trying to buy a labour-intensive product at a surburban railway station during the morning rush hour is legally recognised as justification for murder.

If you're 60 or over, the Senior Railcard gives you the same discount and costs the same, but on a wider range of fares (and destinations) and, if you've got an Oystercard for travelling in London, offers a third off the daily cap if you get it linked to your Senior Railcard.

There is a Britrail product that I believe handles trips in the SE only, and involves (I think) no peak-time restrictions. Look very carefully at what it costs.

This is probably the leats confusing type of ticket;-

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/b...-201102243578/

No one prefers travelling from Windsor to Oxford by bus, because there isn't one.

Thanks for these replies.
moonrise

About the Days Out of London railpass flanner mentions - for what I see you are doing it would not be cost effective but if you were wanting to also go to Stratford, Bath, Salisbury, etc then it may well - especially the longer 7 day pass which does have the nice aspect of just letting your show up and hop on any train anytime - including airport trains. To check out this pass check out these really sweet sites that are loaded with great info on British trains, passes, etc - www.seat61.com - click on his link to RailEurope on his home page (was there not long ago but have not checked lately) as RE has all the various British passes and also check out www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com - may favorite three sites for rail travel info in any European country.

Thanks for these links!I've had a quick look and they seem so informative.Great.
moonrise

No one prefers travelling from Windsor to Oxford by bus, because there isn't one.>

And who said anyone prefered traveling from Windsor to Oggsford by bus? A rare non-sequitor from an usually erudite flanner?

And keep in mind that you can ALWAYS get tickets for these trains IME once in the U.K. - most likely righr up until the train departs and there are so so many trains - like zillions every hour it seems between Oggsford and London; London and Windsor - via two routes via Slough (may have to change trains there at times) or via Wimbledon - a much more scenic route thru leafy suburbs and at times along a tranquil Thames - at Wimbledon you have London Tube connections to all over London.

You just need Off-Peak Return fares from Windsor to each of these destinations for same-day return trips.

Travel at any time weekends, after about 09:30 weekdays, for an Off-Peak ticket, otherwise you'll pay peak fares are almost twice the price.

Check times and fares at www.nationalrail.co.uk

thanks everyone. I've copied down all your suggestions.I'm 60+ so senior ticket may be the way to go...but I'll check out all the routes you've suggested. Big thanks.
moonrise

But if doing several days of such trips then be sure to check out the Days Out of London pass as the more days you buy the cheaper per day they become. Some British railpasses even have a senior rate but not sure about this one. Factor the cost of the Senior Pass as if it is significant it may cost more than you'll save? Not sure of the price myself.

More details of the railcards are on www.railcard.co.uk. If you're 60 or over, the senior railcard is the best because it has fewer restrictions than the network railcard. The network railcard is cheaper because you need only one card for up to four people, but on Mondays to Fridays, the minimum fare is £13 so you don't get a discount on short journeys.

so the card itself costs about $40 so factor that cost into your plans - can be a great deal if taking several trains but not if taking just a few perhaps short trips.

Pal - where the f.... is Oggsford? why would the OP want to go there, even to catch a bus?

i used to live and work in the SE and I've never heard of it.

have you been at the paint stripper again?

moonrise - I'd stick to the trains.

Thanks everyone.Perhaps the off-peak returns might do from windsor for short trips.I'll click into all the links you've given me.
moonrise

annhig - 'Oggsford' is a play on the word Oxford that I have seen Americans use fairly often.

where's the play? just seems silly to me. perhaps I'll start talking about New Yuk.

anyways back to the around London train pass - I called Days of Out of London but the name has changed to something like London and Beyound - anyway a 7-day out of 15 day pass in standard class (2nd) class costs $235 or about $33 a day for unlimited hop on any train anytime in a very very wide radius of London, extending way out to Bath, up to Stratford, over to Salisbury and all of Kent to Dover, and of course Oggsford and Cambridge, winchester, etc.

This comes to about 20 pounds a day - good for a few profiles really like the OP who is planning to take several days of trains in a short period - and if just doing Windsor to London and back no worth it perhaps but if wanting to also go to Bath, Stratford, Salisbury, Cambridge, etc. it can be a great great deal - especially for folks who want to leave before 9:30am on longish day trips (lots of discounted tickets are off-peak, can't leave before 9:30am I believe.

And of course not having to buy a ticket, etc and just hopping on any train is a plus - also good on airport express trains so if going from say Heathrow to Windsor you could hop the express train to Paddington and go back out via Slough to Windsor (the Heathrow Express being a much more spiffy train than Heathrow Connect which you could also take to Slough and not go to Paddington, etc.