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UK travel

Welcome to our UK travel forum where you can get advice on everything from holidays to exotic destinations, to tips on London travel.

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Original poster

Advice about traveling to London please. (never been in my life)

24 replies

deenymcqueenygoreandguts · 30/12/2007 10:30

DH has booked us into a hotel in August, just overnight. It was a bargain.
However, we looked at train prices and for the 3 of us its looking like it will be over £400!!!!

I am thinking that some one is taking the piss with this price....surely.

What i was wondering is, if we drive down, is there some where we could park up then get a train into London? Is there such a facility?
Ive heard that you have to pay to park any where near the city, and even outside your houses.(how do you afford to live?!)
I have neve been to LOndon so need a bit of help with this if you dont mind please x

OP posts:

Mercy · 30/12/2007 10:35

£400

Where do you live and where is the hotel (approx)?

justjules · 30/12/2007 10:36

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

scrummymummy1965 · 30/12/2007 10:39

We travelled to London from York in August and for 4 of us it was only something like £138.

It is cheaper if you buy single tickets instead of return and specify which train you are getting on to go and come back. The only downside is you cannot miss the train and just get on another one otherwise you will have to pay again.

chiefcookandbottlewasher · 30/12/2007 10:43

hi I have to travel to London from Manchester quite a lot with work. I normally get a Saver Return ticket for around £60, booking up to the day before i travel. I'm sure that if you're booking further in advance it should be possible to get a bargain with a different ticket type, the only thing is that you usually need to specify which time trains you will be leaving and returning on. With the Saver Return, you do not have to specify train times, butyou are not allowed to travel at peak time. If you are quite flexible in when you can travel you should be able to get there and back for a lot less than £400! You should also be able to reserve seats so that you know you can all sit together. Try googling 'national rail enquiries' for times and prices, or if you ring up (not sure of the number, it should be on the site) they may be able to give you details of offers that are not available on the site?

I have also driven down in the past, but parking costs a fortune and to be honest if you want a nice relaxing weekend its probably not the best start!!

eandh · 30/12/2007 10:43

I met up with another mnetter in london for child free shopping day in October. She could only find ticket for £80 but I looked on national rail and if you book specific arrival and return tickets (ie you have to get the train at 9.53 or pay again) it was only £33 (£17 coming into london as before 9am and was £16 return)

Which station are you travelling from and to and what dates?

eandh · 30/12/2007 10:44

oh and I live 40minutes away from london and parking is £8 per day but you cannot leave the car in the car park overnight so would not be any use to you

Original poster

deenymcqueenygoreandguts · 30/12/2007 10:46

Will be travelling from Blackpool/Poulton. In August.
Its a Monday, not even a weekend!

OP posts:

sazzybeehomeforxmas · 30/12/2007 10:47

There are lots of places in London just outside the centre where you can park for free at the weekend.

I pay £90 a year to park outside my place

fordfiesta · 30/12/2007 10:48

if you book in advance and ring them you can get really good deals..... you are limited to set times and it might mean changing...... £400 sounds ridiculous to me.
Nat express is cheaper but i used to do it from north wales to london as a student and it took about 8 hours so not much of an option if time is of the essence. Or you could drive to one of the airports stick your car in a overnight car park and get one of the shuttles in.

WanderingHolly · 30/12/2007 10:52

Where is the hotel?
Does it have a car park?
You may have to pay for parking, but it might still be cheaper than the train fare.

Crunchie · 30/12/2007 10:53

The probem is that they relase the cheapest tickets 6 months in advance, and you are looking 8 months in advance. Also they have probably quoted you 'open returns' which are the most expensive tickets. Lastly Monday would not be cheaper than weekend as you will get business people using the trains.

I would advise you pop to the station and ask when they relase the cheap fares, also be prepared to travel after 9am and I am SURE you wouuld get far far cheaper. We have a family railcard which helps us (costs £20 but saves 1/3 on most things) we use this for long journeys, it pad for itself in one trip from Colchester to Bristol

bahKewcHumbug · 30/12/2007 10:57

Where I live in Kew (5 min walk to Kew Gradens tube) there is only residents parking on weekdays - weekends are clear. You are welcome to park here and get the tube in. Tube will cost you £2.50 single each - children free. I'm on the district line so depends where you hotel is how easy it is to get to.

bahKewcHumbug · 30/12/2007 10:59

OK if its a weekday - you will need a visitprs permit which I can give you but they only cost about £1.20 per day (and I could be persauded to wiave £2.40!)

newnamefornewyearbookwormmum · 30/12/2007 11:07

It might sound a bit odd but flying might be cheaper if you don't need a car whilst you're in London (I don't know if Blackpool has an airport nearby though?). All the aiports have v good transport links and children aged u-16 travel free on public transport in London areas. The flights won't be released until about the same time as the train fares though - 3-6 months in advance. You'll have to keep a close eye on the websites if you decide to do this. Or National Express coaches should be able to beat £400 with ample to spare.

Original poster

deenymcqueenygoreandguts · 30/12/2007 11:17

Blackpool airport have stopped doing flights to London.dagnamit.

im going to bob into the station and ask for advice i think.
dont mind waiting till 6 months in advance but i absolutely flat out refuse to pay £400 for an over night trip.

Thanks for your kind offer kew, havent a clue where kew is, going to google it now.... You are very kind for offering x

OP posts:

SueW · 30/12/2007 11:59

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at OP's request.

bahKewcHumbug · 30/12/2007 13:48

where is your hotel?

bahKewcHumbug · 30/12/2007 13:50

kew

bahKewcHumbug · 30/12/2007 13:51

sorry it doesn't bring up Kew for some reason, just type Kew into google maps.

Scramble · 03/01/2008 00:13

Preston to London Victoria Bus station, by bus £67 for 3 people return. Can't book further ahead than 17th Feb for now.

edam · 03/01/2008 00:16

Oh, so it's Nottingham folk who are causing the overcrowding on my train line, is it? Grrr. Tell 'em to drive on a bit further to St Albans.

Scramble · 03/01/2008 00:17

National Express Blackpool to london £87 return 3 adults.

Scramble · 03/01/2008 00:21

TheTrainline Only 3 months ahead saver return £67 each.

mymama · 03/01/2008 00:56

Have you got a family railcard? They save you 60% and only requirement is that one child is travelling with you. I have just travelled all through UK by train with dh and 3 kids. We found you had to buy your tickets before the day and ask the attendant for the cheapest tickets.

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