coastieexpat

Hi,

I have booked a 15 day, ( consecutive ) first class Britail pass for mid August.

Has anybody ever used a railpass before ? I will be based in Manchester and I am planning on traveling to .

Faversham, kent.

Cardiff, Wales.

Glasgow Scotland.

That leaves me about 7 days to roam ?

Any Ideas ?

Thanks.

Bob

Been donkeys since I used one, and before tickets went stupidly expensive...so I just showed up to the ticket booth, showed them the rail pass and trotted onto the train.

Know idea if you can do that these days though...but the rail pass was awesome.

Kittenheels66

I work in travel so may be able to help you, what ideas are yoou looking for? where else to travel too???

kimilseung

Go North from Glasgow on the West Highland Line to Mallaig. This journey is the dogs proverbials.

One stop is rail only, no public road (Corrour) great if you like camping, get off the train, put up your tent (5 minute walk so you are out of view of habitation) several Munro within easy reach

coastieexpat

Well I am thinking about the scottish isles and perhaps a few full day trips, ( or overnight ) out from Manchester.

Kittenheels66

If you can do it i would suggest visiting Cornwall, depending on where you go its roughly 4-7 1/2hrs on the train to Plymouth, St Austell, Newquay with Penzance being the furthest point.

Anian

The obvious question is: What are you into? Cathedrals, museums, nature, hiking, etc?

I'm guessing that Faversham is a family connection, can't think of anything there apart from the brewery.

penguinbar

I've used them several times. I usually by a non consecutive one. It's saved me loads on train fares. I see you mention the Scottish Isles. Don't bother with the Isle of Mull. We took a ferry from Oban to Mull and when we got there we went into a local shop because there was really nothing around there. We asked the man in the shop what we should do. He suggested we take a ferry to the Isle of Iona!
My last trip in 2007 with the pass I was visiting friends .
I went from Asford-London
London-Tamworth
Tamworth- Birmingham
Birmingham- Lake District
Lake District- Glasgow
Glasgow-Edinburgh
Edinburgh -London
London-Ashford.

The pass cost me just over $300. If I did this seperately it would have been so much more!

coastieexpat

Actually , I will be based in Manchester I have friends down in Faversham.

I enjoy History, so Museums and Cathedrals are high on the list, I am really looking forward to train hopping so perhaps I will just go where my whim takes me.

Penguinbar ? Did you enjoy Iona ? I'll give Mull a miss

coastieexpat

Good Idea ! I think I will be able to fit this in, thanks.

Englishmum

Take a look at this award-winning website:

http://www.seat61.com/

It is a non-profit site operated as a hobby by an 'anorak' (train-spotter guy) whose favourite seat on the Eurostar is seat 61.

It has lots of ideas, photos and up-to-date timetables for train journeys in the UK and all over the world.

for example:

http://www.seat61.com/UK-train-travel.htm (a lot to read through and this is just one of the many pages about taking trains in the UK!)

coastieexpat

Thanks Englishmum, that's a good site.

It took me ages to decide which pass to get, or whether to even get one at all. Now I am quite excited about it

Brit3964

Yes. I used one, a 4 day pass in 2002. Was London based, went to Stoke-on-Trent (family) and on to Newcastle and back to London. One long weekend trip for about $200. I think the ticket to Stoke alone would have been $160 or some crazy figure.

Sometimes you can get good deals on Eurostar to Paris. Did that in 2006 with my mom. Train travel and 3 nights in a hotel near Gard Du Nord all for about $300. Just a thought if you want to go continental.

coastieexpat

Thanks ! I was considering that, but as I have a , " consecutive pass ", and I can only travel within Great Britain it may not work out on this trip, next time though !

I have been looking at some of the really special train lines in the UK so I think I am going to spend some time trying these out.

I so rarely get to the UK in August, I would really like to see more of the country, with reasonable weather, ( I hope ) and the added bonus of long daylight hours ......

CAdreaming

fraid im a bit useless at suggesting places to go Coastie apart from the obvious such as York Catherderal or Sailsbury? Just wanted to wish you a great trip!!