UK by rail?
 

My husband and I are planning a two week trip to the UK in mid October and we are thinking of using public transportation the entire time, trains, buses, etc ......starting in Edinburgh, to the highlands, castles, distilleries, Stonehenge, etc ending in London for 5 days What are your thoughts on the feasibility of this. Also, when it shows that it rains nearly everyday, is that all day everyday? Thank you for your assistance.

Its perfectly possible to travel around the UK by public transport. Though not always cheap, buses and trains reach most far flung areas.

City to city and town to town, fine. But for more remote areas of the Highlands, and visiting attractions in the countryside, then you need to plan, as it may not be as flexible or frequent as you wish.

A car gives you the flexibility of getting off the beaten track and ad hoc journeys. So it's trade-off between flexibility and accepting a greater degree of planning and restriction.

When you've worked out an itineray we can point you in the right direction for tracking down bus and train timetables.

Not sure where you've got "when it shows that it rains nearly everyday.." from. Sometimes it rains, but there's no monsoon season in the UK (excepting summer 2012). Chances are 2013 will be a heatwave and a drought. Or not.

Virtually everywhere worth visiting in Britain first attracted tourists arriving by train, though some journeys are now better done by bus or plane, and a few things are best seen after a couple of miles' walk

There are a few significant exceptions (like tours of garden or distilleries. Few castles are accessible by bus, though the very best are next to a station. The Highlands are about remote grandeur, which is incompatible with public transport, though a few better known bits are best seen by bus/train and substantial walking). The main problem is that lots of itineraries are more efficient if they involve a bit of hiring a car. Dealing with luggage en route can also be a nuisance without a car.

Work out what you want to see, then come back here for advice.

Most of England gets less rain than sodden hellholes like New York, Boston or Tel Aviv: we just don't go in for the kind of fatuous stereotyping about foreign cities the untravelled do. Days that show rain all day (the BBC forecasts by the hour) get rain more or less all day: days that forecast it just between 0900 and 1000 are unlikely to get any the other 23 hours.

Simple maths usually shows that, since it rains more often than less climatically favoured places but we get less rain, rainshowers here are typically light and gentle. There is no such thing in most of Britain as bad weather: just stupid clothing decisions.

It's practically impossible, though, to think of anything a sane tourist would want to do in October that depends on the weather. Except mountain walking, which can be lethal if you don't understand how our weather works.

The Highlands are best accessed by car, so rent one.

England generally can be navigated by public transportation alone. That is less true for Scotland (where public transport coverage can be spotty) and Wales (where public transport outside the cities can be S L O W).

Bit of a haul from Scotland to Stonehenge, which is more easily accessed from London.

Ignore Flanner's anti-American blather that belies his own statements: "Most of England gets less rain than sodden hellholes like New York, Boston or Tel Aviv: <b>we just don't go in for the kind of fatuous stereotyping about foreign cities the untravelled do.</b>"

marking for later comment.

British weather is not extreme - generally. It is however unpredictable - generally.

Last year Scotland had record high temperatures of over 20C in March - which as it turned out were some of the highest temperatures for the whole year. The following week however there was heavy snow in the same places.

Up until the end of March last year the UK had had lower than average rainfall in the previous 18 months. In the next 9 months England had record levels of rain and the record for the UK wasn't broken by a hairsbreath.

So the best advice is, like Boy Scouts, to be prepared.

Expect anything and everything - sometimes in the same day - and don't be surprised if something else happens

It might help to start with

www.transportdirect.info
www.nationalrail.co.uk

If doing as much rail travel as envisioned then investigate the various British railpasses which let you hop on any train anytime - fully flexible tickets that allow that are often really expensive.

If you want to lock your trains in stone weeks ahead of time then go to www.nationalrail.co.uk to score some deep discounted tickets that may well be however non-changeble nor refundable and are sold in limited numbers which can sell out weeks in advance at times.

But if you want flexibility then the pass will probably be a good deal. And consider going first class as I have done for decades now with a first-class pass - I have ridden trains around Europe since the Ice Ages and IME the difference between classes in Britain is greater than on the Continent (as befitting such a class conscious society!) - first class seats are way bigger than those in Standard class - some of the tiniest seats in all of Europe IME and there are always lots of empty seats in first class - in all my years of first-class travel on British trains I have never ever not found empty seats - you also get free snacks and beverages on many long-distance trains in first class and I believe Wii is free only in first class (not sure about that on all lines but has been on ones I've taken but I have not ridden British trains in recent months) - anyway for the trip of a lifetime consider first class and vs first class full fares the pass can be a real bargain as well.

Great sources of info on British trains - www.seat61.com (colick on this site;s commercial link to RailEurope to check curent railpass prices) and www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

British trains are frequent - very frequent so with a pass you can just show up at a station and find a train to your destination in a few minutes usually on mainlines.

If you decide to use public transportation, we highly recommend the scenic train from Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh, 80 miles of beautiful scenery. From K of L there are buses to the Isle of Skye. If you're interested in going to St. Andrews, there are good bus connections from Edinburgh. It's been over 15 years since we traveled by train in Scotland, and our itinerary was quite doable without a car. However, we did not visit any distilleries. When you complete your itinerary, you will be able to check rail schedules to determine if you can do all by public transport or if you need a car for part of your trip.

Yes the Kyle of Lochlash rail line in Scotland is ubiquitously listed as one of Europe's most scenic railways and without a car there are lots of buses on the Isle of Skye.

I did the Inverness to Kyle of Lochlash scenic train and took buses in Skye - including the one over the bridge from Kyle to the island and then left Skye on the south via a ferry to Mallaig and took another fantastically scenic train via Fort William to Glasgow, traversing the totally awesome Ranloch Moor - worth the trip in itself - but the train hugs the coast also much of the way to Fort William - ending in Glasgow.

A great rail route round Scotland - Edinburgh to Inverness to Skye by bus then ferry to Mallaig then dramatically scenic train to Glasgow.