I am in the planning stages of a timeshare I got on the Isle of Wight. Do I need to pre book a train ticket. How do I do this. Any information on trains & schedules would be a great help. Thanks in advance Chris

There is no train from LHR to Lymington.

Trains for Lymington Pier leave from Waterloo station (w/a change at Brockenhurst) - so you'd Have to take an expensive train to Paddington and then the tube or an expensive taxi to Waterloo - OR - the tube w/ transfers from LHR to Waterloo.

You would likely be better off booking a car service from LHR to Lymington.

Or depending on you over all plans . . . you could go into London and spend a day or more sightseeing before taking a train from Waterloo.

Bus from Heathrow to Woking, then train, changing at Brockenhurst. Yes, it pays to get tickets in advance.
www.transportdirect.info
www.nationalrail.co.uk

There is a direct bus service from Heathrow to Southampton, from where there are ferries to Cowes on the Isle of Wight:
http://www.redfunnel.co.uk/travel-co...ndon-heathrow/

<i>Yes, it pays to get tickets in advance.</i>

But you can't book "trains" (which include connecting coaches) from Heathrow to Lymington as Heathrow has nowhere to pick up train tickets, so you have to book from Woking and collect there, paying for Heathrow to Woking separately

" Do I need to pre book a train ticket."

Absolutely not. In your case, it's probably a foolish mistake to do so.

The most straightforward way to do this is bus to Woking, then train changing at Brockenhurst or Southampton (for other ferries). Whichever ferry you take, from Lyminmgton, Portsmouth or Southampton, the principle is the same: seat booking on the train is impossible, but you can book a discounted advance ticket which usually saves you half the normal offpeak price (£13 vs £27).

But that advance booking is valid only on the train you've booked for: miss it, or try getting an earlier one, and you've got to throw the ticket away and buy a new one. Stagecoach, the operator, is notorious for having no truck with any silly notions of being gracious to its customers, whatever their excuse for being on the wrong train: you agreed to get train x, and if you get train y, tough.

You've got no way of predicting with any kind of accuracy when your plane will land or how long it'll take you to disembark or get through immigration to collect your bags. Hanging round Woking station for two hours strikes me (as it'll strike you if you do it) as one of the doziest things it's possible to do to save ten quid.

Use the URLs you've been given to plan your journey. Then buy the tickets when you arrive.

Or you could get the Rail-Air coach from Heathrow to Reading and get the train to Southampton/Brockenhurst there.

Oh my-this all sounds so confusing. Since we'd be exhausted from a long flight from the West Coast I think spending the night in Waterloo would be the best. I'll research hotels there.Then the next day take the train to Lymington.(The time share is a 10 min walk from Lymington Ferry.
You mentioned book a car service-how do you go about doing that? Any reccomondations? We have friends we met years ago in Crete that are from Plymouth that are going to join us.
Thanks so much for info.
I posted a question on Serbia site as we are going there next but no responses so far.

OK keep calm

Heathrow to Woking Railway Station:

this is the link for bus number 701 from Heathrow to Woking rail station. As you can see it's a frequent service. No need to book ahead just buy your ticket on board. Journey takes about 35 mins.

http://www.surreycc.gov.uk/?a=169555

Woking Railway Station to Lymington Pier

At Woking station buy another ticket to Lymington Pier

Buy your ticket at the station. Journey takes about 90 mins with an easy change of train at Brockenhurst.

you can use this link to plan the train journey http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/
You really don't need or want to go to Waterloo book a hotel then travel the next day

"exhausted from a long flight from the West Coast", the last thing on earth I'd do would be to spend over an hour hassling into London (the opposite direction from Lymington) when there's a nice timeshare waiting for me with a view over the Solent.

Sofarsogood is bang to rights.

I assume you mean Elmer's Court-right? A really lovely place.I've stayed there twice.

My question is . . . what are you going to do there for a week w/o a car? Sure - you can go over to the IoW as a foot passenger and tour around the island by bus.

But most of your time will be spent on the 'mainland' touring the New Forest, Beaulieu, Bucklars Hard, Winchester/Salisbury/the Hampshire and Dorset coasts, etc. You'll really need a car.

Will your friends from Portsmouth be staying the full week and drive you around?

Sorry if I confused you a bit (I always forget about the bus to Woking options). But no matter how you get there it will be a bit of a hassle. Easy if you are used to the buses/trains/etc but maybe too much in a jet lagged fog. I also fly in from the west coast and coach/economy is not the very good for sleeping.

The two easiest options could be to <B>1)</B> have your Portsmouth friends meet you at Brockenhurst station. Then you won't have to get on another train or walk w/ your bags to Elmers Court. Believe me, w/ luggage it will be more than a 10 minute walk.

or <B>2)</B> hire a car service. It would be more expensive but be door-to-door w/ no hassle at all

Thank you a million times. I have noted all your ideas. I think all hinges what time our flight arrives in Heathrow. I like the train idea & I'm sure our friends in Plymouth won't mind picking us up at Brokenhurst station.We met them in Crete & they have joined us in Rome-Maderia-|& Las Vegas. I hve heard good things about Elmers Court from other RCI friends.
Do you have any information on the door to door-Thanks heaps
PS I have enough BA miles to upgrade my ticket to Business so that helps a lot
Also I priced hotels in Waterloo area-OUCH

Here are a couple of car services/taxis that go to Hampshire you can get quotes from (plan on probably £75-£100)

http://www.british-airport-transfers.co.uk/heathrow/

http://www.unitedairportscars.co.uk/

http://www.appleairportcars.com/index.htm

When they ask for a post code - Elmers Court's is SO41 5ZB

(Not all hotels near Waterloo are expensive - not by London standards anyway. There is a Premier Inn and others that are pretty reasonable. But in London 'reasonable' can be pretty high. What sorts of "OUCH" rates did you find?)

Are you in Benicia? Drove through there on Wed.