Brighton to Liverpool and back in a day with 10yo DD

[WyrdByrd]

We're planning to go next Monday and see the Andy Warhol exhibition at Tate as we both love pop art, but it's a bit of a trek - just over 4 hours each way, assuming no train problems .

Logistics mean the dates we can go are limited so doing it on an INSET day and we'll both have to be in work/school the next day (DD is pretty resilient and can doze on the train).

My mum is 75 and having kittens - nothing unusual and I'd normally take very little notice, but Dad and DH also telling me I'm bonkers.

I'm torn now - we did a longish train journey last year which was absolutely horrific but we survived and it's not likely to happen again, is it?

WWYD? I feel like a prat for even worrying about it tbh, but an starting to wonder if they all have a point.

We'd leave at 10am and get back about 11.30pm btw, all going well.

Oh don't listen to them. Yes, DD will be tired the next day but 11.30 isn't that late.

Go & enjoy it - how lovely for you that you have that thing to share with your DD.

You are giving her a lovely memory of special time spent with Mum.

Can't you go up the night before and stay somewhere cheap and cheerful like a Travel Lodge?

If that's impossible, if I were you I'd opt for an earlier start and an earlier return given that you have school and work the next day.

I know...I've already bought the tickets and my mum is always a terrible worrier, but when my normally laid back DH & DDad join in, I start to question myself.

I'd do it if she's able to doze on the train. But any chance of an earlier start?

That was my original plan...but between travel logistics and costs it didn't pan out.

Bloody exhibition started just after Oct half term & finishes a couple of weeks before Feb half term.

I missed the one at Tate Modern a few years ago due to heavy snow & train cancellations so didn't want to risk waiting until January.

Earlier start means horrendous ticket prices though, cheap rate kicks in around 10am.
Next time, go up the day before. Is it a through train or are you tackling London?

Changing times would cost a fortune - I'd love to do an earlier start otherwise & I could then time our return through London to coincide with The Hobbit premiere in Leicester Square that night !

And snore through it?
Pace yourself women!

Home station to Victoria - Euston - Liverpool.

Coming back via Watford & Clapham Junctions.

We go to London a lot and DD is a bit of a tube ninja so no worries there .

If it did go horrifically wrong somewhere en route I have friends & family in London, the Midlands & Chester & an emergency credit card that could stand a Travelodge.

I wish they'd treat me like an adult and realise I don't do these things on a whim to wind them up!

@ Dustin

I'd only be going for a quick ogle of Thorin Oakenshield on the red carpet!

We went to the Lake District in half term and were travelling back to S Wales on the Sunday, the day before school.

As Blackpool was 'on the way' (20 mins off the motorway) we stopped off for a look. The kids loved it and we ended up spending the day, went to Madame Tussauds, the Blackpool tower, the piers, donkey rides. Time kept slipping away and we didn't leave until 7pm, still with a 4 hour drive ahead of us.

We got home about 11.30 and dc aged 6 and 4 were in school the next day, and dh and I in work. We were all tired on the Monday morning but it was worth it as a one off.

The kids are still talking about the donkey rides and the pier, the memory of the tiredness of the day after is already gone.

That sounds great Sunday.

I think we'll be fine .

Unfortunately I've inherited my dad's adventurous streak but married my mother .

I think it's bonkers but equally your decision and its not as if there is anything major that can go wrong. So yanbu.

Apart from being trapped on a snowbound train with an Ebola carrying suicide bomber...as far as my mum's concerned!

YANBU. The very worst that can happen is a bit of tiredness, it's not like you're taking her to the arctic.

I take my DC on similar journeys every now and then. It's always been totally fine.

I insist they carry their own rucksacks with drawing stuff and raincoats, I take snacks and water just in case of getting stuck on broken trains and we always wear comfy shoes.

Tbh I find great adventures easier than normal days. Take them to sainsburys and they are pests. Take them long distance and they're good as gold.

I live not far from Brighton and I would not go to Liverpool for the day. Just saying .

Oh yes, we always travel with a survival kit heavy on snacks and water.

haha no snow yet

Well it does sound like a bit of a trek, but I don't see anything to get anxious about. It's a train journey. Some people do a 3 hour commute each day and manage fine! Take snacks, water, plenty of things to do and something warm to snuggle into. It will be fine.

Wyrdbyrd you sound just like me and my DP always thinks I am mad because he hasn't got a spontaneous bone in his body! Go for it and have fun

giraffe we're actually a few miles outside Brighton too.

I will be taking a well equipped rucksack!

sand he's happy enough to be spontaneous if it's something that interests him, otherwise, not so much