help with itinerary!

Hi,

I have some questions to plan my itinerary using all public transportation for the first part of my trip from London to Ediburgh. I am having trouble putting it all together by using public transport and to get a variety of experiences and I would appreciate any info you can give me or changes of any sort. Thank you!!.

Arrive London, 8:30 AM, Heathrow--- Cotswolds, 3 nights.

(Are there buses that go directly to this area from Heathrow? Or, would it be better to take the train to Paddington and then on to Moreton-in-Marsh)? I would like to do some easy walks. I read of one out of Moreton.., another from Bourton..and one in Broadway. Hidcote Gardens. Any comments? Best base of operations--Moreton...because of transportation?

Cotswolds-----northern Wales, 4 nights.

(How best to get to this area, train from Moreton.. or)? I would like to see Snowdonia via Welsh Highland Railway out of Caernafon, getting off in Beddgelert to do easy? walk to Aberglaslyn Gorge. I am also interested in the Slate Caverns in Blaenau.. and the Nat'l Slate Museum in Llanberis. If I do Welsh Highland Railway, would that give me a good taste of Snowdonia, or would the Snowdon Mtn. Rail with another walk be better? I would also like to see Conwy for castle and Plas Mawr. Beaumaris? Harlech castle? Suggestions for best base(s) of operation to do this?

northern Wales-----York, 4 nights

(With my schedule above, where would be the best place to catch the train to York?) In York, I would like to see some museums, church and Castle Howard. I am also thinking of going to Pickering and taking the North Yorkshire Moors Railway to Whitby for a night instead of 4 nights in York to see abbey, museum, Robin Hood's Bay? Cook Museum? Other ideas, Fountains Abbey? Leeds for Royal Armouries Museum?

York area----Edinburgh

(Again, with schedule above, is it best to leave from York to get to Edin..or???)

Thank you so much!!

There isn't a single rail company for the whole of the UK, unlike other countries in Europe. Different (private) companies cover different routes and one of these sites will give you information about destinations and tickets.

http://www.thetrainline.com

http://www.redspottedhanky.com

This link might help if you are looking for a bargain.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-train-tickets

It can be difficult to compare prices between different companies and get a good deal but I've found redspottedhanky offers cheaper tickets. Also bear in mind you will get a cheaper ticket if you book in advance instead of buying at the station on the day.

A quick google for heathrow airport gives you the transport options that leave from there.

http://www.heathrowairport.com/transport-and-directions/buses-and-coaches

If you need information about local buses and trains google the name of the city + bus or train.

Also bear in mind there is a national coach company, National Express. Its worth checking to see if they're more convenient than the train and they are usually cheaper, if a bit slower.

I don't understand your last question, is it best to leave from York to get to Edin..or???

The east coast main line passes through York to Edinburgh and the journey takes three hours but there are lots of other train and coach options for getting there from places other than York.

The hardest part is going to be getting from the Cotswolds to Caernarvon (which isn't on the national rail network). It would be better to get the train to Bangor and then take a bus from there (you can get to Caernarvon, Llanberis and various other places in Snowdonia fairly regularly). Conwy is an easy train ride from Bangor. But even getting to Bangor is going to be a chore - websites are coming up with ± 5:30 journey with 2 or 3 changes.

Have you thought about hiring a car. This itinerary looks pretty complicated to do just on trains and the bus.

The UK aint the easiest place to tour by public transport (nor is most of Western Europe) and trains tend to connect cities and most seem to head for London!.

Are you aware of the cost of train tickets and also the cheaper rates aren't available until after 09.30 singles are especially costly.

Your post does bring up some queries - why 3 days in the Cotswolds - are you rambling?

Welsh Wales is quite delightful but difficult by train.

I suggest you carry on googling your itinerary using bus connections and aslo dont avoid day coach trips from the lerger towns, often good value, particularly for locations like the Welsh coast but you are best arranging that when you get there.
I feel that I cant sensibly advise as your trip seems to be a disjointed jaunt - will be good fun but hard to arrange in advance.

Hi

I run walking days in North Wales I could take you out for a guided walk in and around Snowdon, we also run Inspirational Journeys which focus on creating art from the inspiring Welsh wilderness.

Inspirational Journeys

regards
Nick

e:nick@glanfor.com

How much will you charge her for the guided walk and the inspirational journey?

Dear OP and Gianfor..

You may not realise that Gianfor's post is not permitted on this site as is considered as spam directly touting for commercial gain.

I would suggest that OP communicates directly by email before Gianfor is considered png.

trying to discard message. Please ignore this

Edited by: ambarush

Thanks to everyone for their great advice. I realize now that I will need to scale way down on how much I will be able to see in each place due to time schedules to get the best prices.

I'm now looking at Rail/Air connection from Heathrow to Moreton-in-Marsh. 2 nights taking local buses to a few places to do walks (any suggestions?)

Since I took one night away from the Cotswolds, I can add that extra night to either the Snowdonia area or York area. Which place would you suggest I add it to?

Train from Moreton-in-Marsh to Conwy to spend the night. From there, I'm not sure how or what to do in Snowdonia, probably a combination of buses and trains, still researching. Then on to York and finally Edinburgh both by train.

Thanks again!

Once I get to Wales, I thought the first night could be spent in Conwy just because it will be a long trip, although it could be done at the end of my time in Wales before leaving for York. I’m not sure about the most efficient route and places for the night for my time in Snowdonia area. Here are some thoughts on possibilities:
I could go to Betws-y-Coed as I have heard there are nice walks there (1-2 hrs.), on to the Slate Caverns and take Ffestiniog Railway to see more of the park which would then go on to Porthmadog.
I could see Beaumaris and Caernarfon and possibly make a trip to Llanberis to see the Slate Museum. From there I could take the West Highland Railway and go all the way to Porthmadog or only as far as Beddgelert and get out there to do some walking such as to Abersglaslyn Gorge or along Llyn Dinas.
Any suggestions? Thank you so much!

Hiring a car in a couple of these places would seem to be a better option than waiting around for public transport.

From Heathrow to Moreton-in-Marsh, I would suggest taking the 'the Airline' coach from Heathrow to Oxford, and then getting a train from Oxford. This would avoid having to go into London. It's £23 one way from Heathrow to Oxford, which, whilst expensive, saves you the cost of having to get into london from heathrow. The bus station at Gloucester Green in Oxford is only 5 minutes walk from the station, and there are direct trains from Oxford.

You could also consider using Oxford as your base, rather than Moreton, or perhaps move between the two. Oxford itself is worth a visit if you've never been. And there are bus routes to the Cotswolds from Oxford, though perhaps Moreton-in-Marsh might be more suitable.

Hidcote Manor gardens are beautiful but it is very difficult to get to with public transport.

The best way to get to Moreton in Marsh from Heathrow is not to go into London (wrong direction, expensive) or even the railair bus to Reading (better, but a little expensive) but to get a local bus to Slough, and pick up the train to Moreton from there. All off peak trains to Moreton call at Slough.

£22.80 off peak single for the train - no advance booking needed, it doesn't save anything

The bus station at Gloucester Green in Oxford is only 5 minutes walk from the station

You must be a very fast walker- nearer 10, more with luggage

Thanks for the advice!

The problem I am having now is booking train tickets online. I live in the U.S. and do not have a credit card with chip/pin capability so I would not be able to use the machines at the stations to get my tickets and some places don't have machines anyway. I get conflicting info from different online train booking sites. Some tickets are off peak day single, some anytime day single and a few are advance which I know I have to buy now. Help!

The best solution might be not to buy any British tickets at all, just buy 1 "international" return ticket London-Edinburgh.

Let me explain!

London-Edinburgh is not an international journey(yet), however in Europe you can buy train tickets within country A(say Britain) in country B(say Hungary) for international tariff(SCIC-NRT).

The advantage of such tickets is that these are valid for 1 month, you can use any train, anytime and you can break your trip as often as you wish. Moreover in case of Britain you don't have to follow a specified route as only London-edinburgh will be written on your ticket. It's up to you to choose a logical route and as long as you're heading in the general direction of Edinburgh there should be nothing to worry about. You can think of it as a rail pass with a set route. Wales is out of the way, but Crewe(a railway junction) is OK and for your side trip to Wales you could just buy a North Wales Flexipass.

http://www.arrivatrainswales.co.uk/uploadedFiles/Wales%20Flexipass%202010%20English.pdf

Or you could drop Wales and go to the Lake District for hiking which is on the way to Scotland.

As with the London-Edinburgh ticket you can't just zig-zag around the country I recommend a following route:

London - Moreton - Worcester - Birmingham - Crewe(Do a side trip to North Wales if you wish) - Oxenholm(for the Lake District) - Carlisle - Edinburgh from Edinburgh come back to London via the east coast Edinburgh -Newcastle - Durham - York - London or you could even travel York - Doncaster -Lincoln -Peterborough - Ely - Cambridge - London

All you need to buy is just 1 ticket for your whole trip, and chances are itt'll be cheaper than buying several domestic tickets, anyway it's certainly more convenient.

The problem is that you can't buy such ticket in the USA as far as I know, nor in Britain of course, since you must buy it abroad as it is in theory an international ticket.

Your best bet is to contact a reliable European travel agency specialising in rail tickets and ask them if they can issue the ticket and send it by post.

I can recommend one agency in Berlin. The website is in German, but you can find their contacts and write them in English, no problem.

http://www.bahnagentur-schoeneberg.de/

here is the e-mail: info@bahnagentur-schoeneberg.de

Oh, I forgot to mention the price of the London-Edinburgh SCIC-NRT ticket is 160 EUR one-way, 202 EUR return

You might want to buy this guidebook specially written for travellers taking the train:

http://www.bradtguides.com/Book/495/Britain-from-the-Rails.html

Hope this helps!

Bon voyage!