to think it shouldn't cost a thousand just to visit family

[number5namechange]

a few hrs away on the train?

So both me and dh don't drive due to medical issues/lack of confidence.So use public transport.

We are going to visit his family in a few weeks ( monday to Wednesday) with a grand cost of one thousand pounds!!!
That includes train fare for 2 adults and 3 kids. Premier inn with breakfast. We also have to pay for our own food when there. Some spending money ( 200)

It definitely is cheaper, especially if there are multiple people involved.

I've not read through the pages of replies but I'm sure someone's already mentioned splitting train tickets - it's saved me £££

www.splitmyfare.co.uk/

And people wonder why we don't use public transport more often.

I've had the same op, wanted to take my dh and dd away for the weekend, the train fair alone was over £200, add car park (at the station), hotel, food etc and I couldn't afford it.

£300 for two nights in a premier inn for a family room sounds about right.
we often go to visit family in Yorkshire from the south east and that’s about the average price we pay. Don’t forget if they’ve declared all 3 children that would take them into two room territory.
even fuel costs now. For us would be two tanks of fuel so almost £200. It cost me £97 to fill my car from a tank that said 55 miles left. (Diesel) so twice that’s £200 already.

as much as I feel it’s important to take the dc to visit grandparents they never feed us so that's every meal and snack having to be brought.

I do think as public transport rail fares should be cheaper. I would use rail a lot more of it was more affordable.

Did you have to book two rooms at the Premier Inn because there are five of you?

We just had two nights at the Premier Inn, two adults and two kids, cost about £210.00 for two nights in the room, dinner and breakfast both days (we got the meal deal).

Train fares are expensive these days, the coach would have been cheaper and you wouldn't have the hassle with the luggage, once it's in the boot of the coach you don't need to worry about it. You get regular stops for toilet breaks.

You’re going on a mini break though. You aren’t nipping on a coach to sleep at someone’s house.

The cost of train travel in this country is insane. We are constantly ripped off for travel and it’s disproportionate to other countries. However you could have split fares, booked in advance or used a rail card. Alternatively a coach probably would have been cheaper.

Could you have booked a family room at a youth hostel instead of premier inn? Cheaper and kitchen facilities available.

Another one where the OP isn't coming back

Trains are ludicrously expensive, over the past few years and since covid they really are out of reach for some people- I expect that's why many don't give a fuck about the train strikes as its not something they can use anyway.

Anyway I agree with others to look into some sort of coach service.

I would be tempted to use buses where possible. If you live in Scotland then 22 years and under can travel on the bus free of charge. That will lower the cost.

Trains are ridiculously expensive. Without family and rail cards it was going to cost us £150 to go from Fife to Glasgow and back on off peak day return (same day). Madness.

The trains here are also increasingly unreliable. Services get cancelled frequently.

For the destination sleuths, a Premier Inn narrows it down considerably

So, Thurso. Which is £108 return for 2 adults plus 3 'kids for a quid' with a Two Together railcard. How many miles further are you travelling where taxi fares are another £250 on top?

£300 on top for food and spending money is easily halved - big train picnic on the way up, at least one meal at the family's hose, big breakfasts mean much lighter lunches - what exactly are you anticipating 'spending money' will be buying in 2 days?

Better planning, specific train bought in advance, no wasting massive sums on 'spending money' - you're planning on £20 per person per day for 'spending' money op - buy a colouring book and some kids magazines for the journey!

I agree. And they have been so unreliable anyway notwithstanding strike action.

You're a family of five though

Sounds reasonable

Reminds me of a thread last week where the OP was in a long distance relationship.
She stated she lived "in north of UK".
People were insisting that was same as "up north" and could definitely include Manchester and Newcastle 🤷🏼‍♀️

For those doubting the premier inn costs, the Scottish school summer holidays start next week if they haven’t done already. Supply and demand.

Your not wrong. I wanted to visit my mother’s grave on the first anniversary of her death. Train was about £200 for me and DH with a railcard.

Similarly, we needed to go to Manchester for a wedding. There were no cheapo flights available from our area so train was again about 200 for two people with railcard.

Both were from south coast to up North.

This might sound reasonable to some people but you can get flights abroad from less (or you could pre pandemic anyway)

Probably travelling at a peak time, could have saved a lot say by going an hour later or earlier.

>You'd think people would look at a map before embarrassing themselves with their lack of knowledge about their own country.

Surprising no of people dont know that the midlands isn't and that half way down the uk is actually somewhere around newcastle.

My local premier inn, zone 4 London, is £146 for 2 people this Saturday night.

That is expensive for the train tickets (presuming taxi isn't much) Have you looked at different ways of doing it like different tickets for different parts of the journey? Also advanced tickets? I always spend a long time finding the cheapest fare and you can save a lot. I always get the hotel close to the train station so no taxi needed.

That's a lot for the Premier Inn too. If you book well in advance you can get them cheaper and using the cheapest price (non flex one). I only paid £100 for 3 nights when we went away last summer.

You don't need £100 for a food shop for a few days. And you don't need £200 for spending either. You could adjust those if you want to make the trip cheaper.

Ticket splitting on the trains is a good idea used to do it many many years ago when going home from uni and it meant I could get tickets at a fraction of the costs.

also even though OP has rail cards it might be cheaper to not book using them and do a group ticket as they often are a lot cheaper.

Edinburgh is 'up north' so I assume you are going from Edinburgh to the Highlands?
@number5namechange What struck me was the 'lack of confidence' about one of you re. driving. If it's you, why not try to overcome that with some booster driving sessions? Being unable to drive because of a lack of confidence means you lose your independence.

Apart from holidays, surely this is also an issue getting your kids around, day to day, or doing anything that requires travelling? Unless you rely on buses or trains.

Premier inn is not always the cheap option. Quoting prices in London doesn't help OP.
In tourist areas in Scotland eg. Fort William, the prices are high all summer. Its supply and demand.
I'm also assuming OP had to book 2 rooms.
Would probably be cheaper in Airbnb apartment for 2 nights

Why can’t you get the coach? The train isn’t comparable to driving, the coach is.

Yes it feels like rather convenient timing for some anti-train sentiment...

Struggling to see how you need £200 spending money when you are only there for 1 full day (Tuesday) and travelling on the other days.
P Inn does kids eat free for breakfast, don't they?

How would you spend £70 on each of 3 days unless that's your meals-out budget.