Cheap train Glasgow to London

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I'm trying to get me and dh a return to London in a couple of weeks, we don't have a railcard but I'd probably get the 2 together one. That's £30. I've been trying to figure out what days and times are cheapest. We'd probably stay in an airbnb for 2 nights. I'm really trying to find the best deal. I don't want to go by bus, i have nightmares of this when i was younger. We have driven before but it takes ages...

Can anyone give me advice of what days or times might be cheaper to go, we can go on any day.

Thanks

You will be very lucky to find cheap fares for 2 weeks time tbh. There are only a certain amount of advance tickets sold for each journey and for peak summertime they will probably already be sold. There are no certain times/days it's juts a matter of looking at the website and seeing what's available. You may be lucky and find advance fares will available, if not the anytime cost is going to be a lot. Have you considered flying down? It can often work out cheaper although not particularly faster when you factor in airport times and getting into London.

For accommodation it's going to be expensive in July, the best thing you can do is look at accommodation and train tickets and try to find the cheapest 'match' if you are flexible with dates

Also if you travel into Glasgow central by train it will often be cheaper to book that journey separately but you won't be covered for delays if you miss the next train so give yourself plenty time and a back up plan

You would probably be cheaper flying at this stage, easyjet. Cheap train tickets are realesed 3 months in advance.

I know I've left it late. Tbh we wanted to holiday here but the weather's rubbish the week we are off so we thought of London. We might drive but its such a trek.

Agree, you have to book far in Advance. You can look on the Trainline website to flick between different days or times

Oh, and consider split tickets so Glasgow - Lancaster, Lancaster - London or whatever all on the same train.

Or try the lomo train from Edinburgh, I've had £180 family return with them.

Try red spotted hanky website. I think it will give you all the price options around the time frame you are looking to travel so it's easier to find the cheapest option.

On the other hand if you are just looking for a nice city break with loads to see and do, I'd really recommend Liverpool.

Last time I went by train to london it was way cheaper to go from Edinburgh. £65 return each vs £250 from Glasgow. That's with a 2 together railcard.

Bit more hassle but worth it.

Agree about Liverpool. York too.

I was going to suggest the 2 together rail card also. DH and I went to Edinburgh from London return and this trip savings alone paid for the cost of the card- plus they are valid for 12mths.

For accommodation- often its cheaper to stay a Sunday and Monday night or midweek. Is there a particular part of London you want to stay in? What is it you are coming to see/do? We might have suggestions for accomodation nearby.

Have a look on trainsplit.com

It's probably your only chance to find a cheap option at this short notice. Advance fares are likely all sold out but you never know so it's worth a look.

Yes, I would try this instead - Avanti West Coast is awful and often expensive (I have to use them a lot unfortunately).
Re booking in advance - quite often with Avanti you can’t book in advance as the tickets have not been released. Several times in the past year I’ve only been able to book a few days before. Not sure what’s going on, but it’s crap!

Railcards have 20% off at the moment so it’s a great time to buy one.
If you do get a split ticket make sure the train you take stops at all the stations on your split tickets otherwise your ticket isn’t valid and you will have to buy a new ticket on the train

Trsinline.com will show you spilt prices as well.

some good advice here.
you'll struggle to find accom in London last min that isn't ££££ sadly.
(I had to travel shortnotice many times last spring & it cost a fortune)
Hope you get a nice break away x

@Washyourfaceinmysink I had the same experience with the tickets only being released very last minute too. Makes it so difficult to plan.

A subject close to my heart as Ds is a student in Glasgow and always leaves buying train tickets to the last minute.

Use the train line app and it will show split ticket options. . Make sure you search from glasgow (Any) not just Glasgow central. It's often cheaper to split ticket it and come down via Edinburgh and the down through york/Peterborough. Good luck

I use train pal app. Have saved almost £50 going Manchester to Bath using their split ticket system. These are for specific times and the journey is a bit longer, but that doesn't bother me.

I got a railcard for 'free' using my Tesco Club card vouchers. Accommodation is extortionate in centre of London but quite a bit less if you stay in the outskirts.
Plenty of fun things to do for free in London but the days of cheap breaks there are long gone.

LNER from Edinburgh is much nicer than Avanti. Dh uses that to go to London to visit family and has had some real bargains but he does look as far in advance as possible - but have a look at LNER website.

Thanks all. I'll need to think about it ...

Look at changing at Crewe. Nearly everything seems to go through Crewe.

https://www.splitsaving.co.uk/ maybe this website will help you

Easyjet are showing flights to Gatwick for around £50 next week with some antisocial hours earlier.