Trains
 

We will be coming to London several times a year for the next few years since we have family living there.

On our next trip in spring we would like to go from London to Bath by train during the week for a few days. we are having difficulty getting a clear idea of how to do this.

one web site we looked at had train prices at over $100 each way - so $400 + for the 2 of us round trip Then some people talk about buying tickets last minute.

Any advice or web sites we can be directed to would be helpful. A search on fodors did not seem to be that helpful

I have no answer, but this message seemed odd, since it had -1 postings listed. Huh?! Fodors has been really acting up recently.

Joanel, I don't know the answer to your question but since you have family in London would they not be able to get the information you need?

No, since they just moved there recently and have a car!

But, but, but, if they live in London, even recently having moved there and even though they have a car, couldn't they get the most complete info for you?

Don't understand. But maybe there is something I am missing.

I moved to the city I am in 4 years ago, and I have always had a car. But in one week I had all the public transportion info. Oh well, guess there is something that is going over my head. Have a good trip.

Joanel, I hope you don't mind me passing along a tip. You will get more response if you use a more descriptive heading for your posts - for example "Train from London to Bath" or something similar.
"Trains" is apt to be ignored as it is too general.
Were you looking at the National Rail site? (nationalrail.co.uk). I don't think you can book more than 3 months in advance but you should be able to get an idea of what the fares would be. I don't think there is much need to buy too far in advance. Certainly I have just shown up on the day and bought a ticket to various destinations in the UK. I just use the website to get an idea of the fares, frequency and times of the trains.

British train prices can vary wildly: all our operating companies offer a huge range of different fares, just like airlines.

Even so, you have to try very hard to find a way of spending £120 for a return ticket from London to Bath, and if you really have found a web site that claims this is the only fare, it's talking nonsense and you should mistrust everything else it says: it's quoting the unrestricted first class fare, which no-one with an IQ of more than 1 would bother buying.

Incidentally, there's no information your family can access in Britain about this that you can't access yourself on the Web wherever you live.

The basic, turn up at the ticket office anytime you like, fare for this journey is £34 return. To qualify for that fare, you must travel from London after 0930, you must return within a month and you mustn't travel on a summer Saturday. There's no nonsense about having to book at the last minute, or ahead of time: just buy the ticket when you're about to get on the train, preferably from the ticket machines, since queues at the ticket office at Paddington station can be long (hint: if you're in trouble, there are other ticket offices opposite platform 10 which usually have shorter queues). If you're risk averse, you can book a specific seat on a specific train for free, but there's rarely any need.

For schedule details, go to www.nationalrail.co.uk. Click on the "check fares" button on the screen that shows you your train times and you'll see the walk-up fares, and the conditions that apply to them.

If you're seriously short of things to do, you might just find that by hanging out perpetually on the First Great Western site, there might be a deal offering a few pounds off this price if you travel at three in the morning and commit to precise travel times six months in advance.

But to be honest, it's unlikely.

thanks for the info. what is the story with first class, second class and reserving seats? or doesn't that apply on a trip this short?

The trip is no longer than an hour and a half. You get on the train and decide where you want to sit. No first class required. It's not that big a deal.