Trina Baughn

O.K. After solidifying our plans to rent a car to tool around the U.K., my friend and I have decided to scratch them and attempt to use the rails instead. Here are my questions, any answers will be much appreciated: <BR> <BR>1. We'll be driving from Germany to Calais or Oostende, does anyone know where we can park our car for a week for as cheap as possible? <BR>2. How cheap is it to cross the channel (on foot) via ferry or chunnel? <BR>3. Are reservations a must for channel crossings? All info on the web makes it appear that seating is limited. <BR>4. Do many of the train stations have storage lockers? How much do they cost? <BR>5. How roomy, clean, crowded, and comfortable are the 2nd class trains? Is sleeping feasible? <BR>6. Hostels - what are your experiences? <BR>7. How long of a trip is it by train from London to the coasts of Cornwall? <BR>8. Anyone out there attempted this - backpacking around the U.K.? <BR> <BR>We'll also be visiting southern Scotland, open to any and all tips. Thanks! <BR> <BR> <BR>

jenny

hi Trina, will answer what i can. <BR> <BR>1. We'll be driving from Germany to Calais or Oostende, does anyone know where we can park our car for a week for as cheap as possible? <BR>pass <BR>2. How cheap is it to cross the channel (on foot) via ferry or chunnel? <BR>when i went 2 years ago, it was £69~$150 to get from London to Paris. That was a special rate. check out the eurostar website for fares. <BR>3. Are reservations a must for channel crossings? All info on the web makes it appear that seating is limited. <BR>i would reserve a seat to be sure i get a cheaper rate. buying at least 7 days in advance gets you a lower fare, generally. the sooner the better. you could also try to request seats around a table so that you'll have more legroom, etc. <BR>4. Do many of the train stations have storage lockers? How much do they cost? <BR>many london tube stations do. i know victoria station and kings cross does. i used victoria at £3 a day~$5 per piece of luggage. <BR>5. How roomy, clean, crowded, and comfortable are the 2nd class trains? Is sleeping feasible? <BR>long distance trains are cushy with a good amount of leg room if you get seat with a table (this requires a reservation). if not, it's pretty tight. i'm an average sized woman and i find it a little tight. clean, yes they are very clean. short distance trains have no cushions, dirtier, and are CROWDED the closer you are to the city center. sleeping? i wouldn't recommend it. very very bumpy and noisy. <BR>6. Hostels - what are your experiences? <BR>the best hostel in the uk is backpacker's mile, i think it's called, in edinburgh on the high street. it's in the let's go guide. since the uk tends to have the best hostels in the world (so i read somewhere), this must be the best hostel in the world...theoretically. shared one room with 9 other girls. good since it was city center and cheap. bad, because it's IN the city center with lots of pubs and when pubs let out, it's noisy. expect your roommates to be younger party people who will get in very very very late at night and sleep in all day. you don't have the comfort to do what you want. i didn't care for it. wouldn't do it again. no security for your things either. <BR>7. How long of a trip is it by train from London to the coasts of Cornwall? <BR>3 1/2 hours i think? go to www.virgintrains.co.uk and there's a timetable there. <BR>8. Anyone out there attempted this - backpacking around the U.K.? <BR>nope but i've done lots of other traveling in the uk. e-mail me specifics if you like. <BR> <BR>hope i could help! <BR> <BR>jenny

Trina Baughn

Thanks for the info Jenny - very helpful! Have you or anyone else out there ridden both Virgin and British Rail trains? If so, what are the big differences, i.e., price, schedules, destinations, etc? Come on and post! I need more details to all of my questions!

jenny

hi again trina <BR> <BR>hard to say about british rail because the rail system is not a national entity anymore but are run by private companies like virgin. virgin can have some excellent prices like £30 or $50 for a roundtrip ticket from glasgow to london whereas it costed me twice that much two years ago. i have not taken virgin but will let you know. i have a couple trips scheduled on virgin. in the next 2 months. will let you know. my experience on 'british rail' trains are pretty good. cramped seats but there hasn't been a time when i didn't get on and have a nice conversation with a local. schedule-wise, not much difference. check out the virgin website for a timetable www.virgintrains.co.uk there is also a telephone number on there where you can call and make enquiries about times, etc. i'm currently in the uk for the next 2 months. whatever you want me to find out for you, send me an e-mail and i'll do what i can. <BR> <BR>tootles! <BR> <BR>jenny

Marcia

I've done UK in bits and pieces by train and motor coach and local bus. From London to main cities, the train is great. From London to major sites (day trips, ) local bus lines work well too. But I have a feeling that the system is not so efficient when you are heading off in odd directions. That's no surprise - it's true of public transportation anywhere. <BR> <BR>For an amusing look at travel by rail and foot in Britain, read Bill Bryson's Notes from a Small Island. He experiences a fair number of dead ends once he gets off the beaten track - and eventually has to "cheat" and revert to autos on a couple of occasions. But for a week - how wrong can you go? It takes me a week to break myself away from London and environs - if I'm given that long! For those in teh neighborhood of 50 who can remember doing the student "thing" in Europe in the 1960's, Bryson's opening chapter reminiscing about his landing on English shores as a college student may be particularly amusing. <BR> <BR>RE: Chunnel - not cheap. Absolutely, positively not cheap ( have the tickets to prove it). Ferries and even hovercraft are apparently far more reasonable. But the chunnel is very efficient from what I can tell - breakfast in London, relax with your snack and the newspaper - et voila! You are in Paris for a little light sightseeing, a stroll and dinner. at least, we hope it works out that way! <BR> <BR>At least it will be an improvement over my first, heart-stopping channel crossing. 30-plus years ago. We went, not by ferry, but in a large student group by chartered plane. Took off from a small airport somewhere northwest of Paris and landed (without warning or explanation) on a grass airfield in the south of England. there was a kind of collective gasp - since 80 naive, young american college students had never seen grass airfields. It was kind of exciting as we gently slid towards the terminal! Of course, grass airfields were common in the early days of flying - and our thrify charter flight was staying thrifty by using one! It was even more exciting when we took off in the gathering dusk of a rainy August afternoon - on now very wet grass! <BR> <BR>Happy travels! <BR> <BR>

sue

if you plan to use britrail be prepared for delays or cancellations. we just returned most of the time it was great the cars in 2nd class are roomy, be sure to get there early to get seats. or try to make reservations for the next days trip at the train stations. it is much nicer to have reservation you have a seat and your not stuck seperated from your companions. they cost nothing and only take a few minutes. Don't try to sit in the B car it is for smoking. Have alternate routes planned if your train is cancelled. And be sure to allow extra time because they are not always on time.

sonia

Trina, just saw your post. When we were in England in June we had a great add-on deal with our Virgin plane tickets that gave us Eurostar tickets for $99 round trip. However, I think you can get on Eurostar (southbound) in London only, and Paris only (northbound). Check the Eurostar website for info. The chunnel autotrain between Dover and Calais is expensive, and probably booked ahead. <BR> <BR>So many ferries cross between Dover and Calais/Boulogne that foot passengers can buy a ticket and walk on, no problem. Service was at least hourly when we went 2 years ago -- lots of commercial traffic and trucks travel that way. For foot passengers it's cheap (about a pound). <BR> <BR>There was much criticism of Virgin trains in the UK press in June (not on time, not clean, etc). Mr. Branson is working on it, I guess. Folks were nostalgic for the good old days of British Rail. <BR> <BR>Second class trains in UK are fine if you're on a budget -- upholstered seats, no chickens or livestock(!!) First class is nice if you want peace and quiet and to be fairly lonely (and have money to spare). It ain't cheap... If you are travelling in July/August it's worth reserving a seat a couple of days ahead, whichever class you travel in. Trains get crowded in holiday season, and you don't want to stand! I would guess train time from London to Cornwall to be about 4 hours. <BR> <BR>Bon voyage...