Train travel in Britain
 

I will be going to Britain in late Sept. to visit my daughter in Cardiff, Wales. Thought I would get a train out of Heathrow and stop off in Bath, Avebury, then Cardiff for a few days. Then perhaps, up to the Lake District, the Midlands and back to Heathrow.
I am 69 yrs. old and will be traveling with my lover, who is 77. We aren't so great for long walks and we prefer train travel. Buses for a long time gets us in our backs. We are the sort who will look out the window, see a town we like the looks of. Get off the train and explore. So, I wondered, do we get a Brit Rail Pass here in the States, or just pay local fares from town to town?
As an aside, my lover has never been to Britain and really feels there is no need for him to go now! Anything you can suggest to make things a bit easier for him to "blend in" would be most helpful. He is really only going with me to meet my daughter and son-in-law and, deep-down, I think he might feel he will embarrass himself if he calls the car trunk a trunk (instead of a boot)and when he asks for the men's room, he might get lost.
His ancestry is Scotch-Irish, his ancestors were on about the 10th ship that came to Jamestown, VA in the late 1600's, and he loves Brit beer, so I think we might be OK!
Can you help me to calm him? As far as train connections, etc. We only met a year ago and yet he thinks I am so "sophisticated" Help me to keep that myth alive!!

Cheers, Minette

Since you're going to make a lot of stops and visit quite a few places, I like the idea of a railpass. It may not be the absolute cheapest way to travel by train, but you don't have to worry about getting tickets, all the fares availble (and their restriction), or how each train company is different from another, as you'll be taking trains from 4-5 different companies, broken up and privatised about a decade ago.

Go to raileurope.com and see which one fit you best. There are 3 main things you want to consider before making the purchase:

1. Britain or England. You will be going to Cardiff. But if that's the only destination you'll be visiting outside England, you may be better off with just a England-pass and save some money, and just pay extra for the part of travel in Wales.

2. Consecutive or "Flexi" pass. Flexi pass means you can break up your journey and not waste those travel days while you're staying in one town for longer.

3. 1st class or 2nd. Raileurope.com has some senior fares for 1st class travel. It's still more expensive than the regular 2nd class, but can add to the comfort level for not too much extra.

My first comment on your plan is to question the practicality of this <hop off and explore when the mood hits you> mode of train travel. You will not find luggage story facilities at any but the very largest stations, so unless you are backpacking, you will have a luggage problem. Also, there is no train service to Avebury.

A BritRail Pass (there is no England pass) will be more expensive than buying journey tickets, but do give a lot of flexiblity. As seniors, you are eligible to buy senior rail cards; cost is £18 each, they are good for a year, and you get about one-third off the price on most train tickets.

I don't think there are any arguments that would convince a 77 year old to do something new that he doesn't want to do. He'll go with you because he loves you or the sex is good or he is afraid you'll find someone else and dump him, or whatever. But you could do research on local beers in the various places you are stopping, Brains in Cardiff, for example.

To get him in the mood, you might look through some of the travel reports here (particularly the ones that link to pictures) and refer him to some that had particularly good times.

Keith

Thanks for all your help about train travel. Looks as if I might stay in one place like Bath or Cardiff and then take a day bus trip to Avebury and Salisbury. Then, get the train to a bigger city in the Midlands and the Lakes and travel out during the day to avoid the hauling about of luggage.