UK Interrail

Hi,

Some time ago I posted a rediculous planning which would show me the inside of trains a lot.
The new planning is a little less in detail so we have more freedom. It generally is like this:
4 days London
-Sleep train to Fort William
6 days Scotland
- Fort William, from where I want to go mallaig and climb Ben Nevis
- Edinburgh
- Train allllll the way to the south of england (Exeter? or maybe Cardiff first) I don't know how doable this long trip is... maybe we need a stop?
5 days South-West England
- St.Ives or a similar place
- A national park (dartmoor or exmoor?)
- Recommended places?
1 day back to London to catch the plane

It is still quite short to do both Scotland and South England. What do you think?

on your way to Exeter stop in Bristol, see Bristol and Bath. The Lizard penisula in Cornwall (eps village of Coverak) is good but I think you would have to bus it from Penzance train station. Exmoor is nice but dont know if the trains around that area will accept Inter rail ( as its a Tourist track)

Still quite rushed, if you havent bought your pass yet I would go to Scotland (bus waaaay cheaper) maybe hire a car for few days to get out to more remote locactions

Thanks for the reply.
I read about Bristol and Bath, but forgot. Good point, I will include it in the planning.
What do you think of going (close) to Land's End or St. Ives, is it worth the valuable time? (since I have to go back to London)

You seem to be a Scotland fan, am I missing any big things?

Lands end is very touristy but St Ives is very, very nice. Im from the South West which is why Scotland sounds better.

If you have not got your rail pass yet you may want to think about booking the tickets in advance The train line and mixing it with bus and flying from Edinburgh to S England, far cheeper and faster.

If you dont fly then think about Derbyshire or Lakedistrict on your way down from Scotland, I would chose them over Exmoor. It would also break your journey from Scotland.

You could even get a cheep flight from Edinburgh to Newquay (Cornwall) Flights from Scotland to Cornwall it would cost around £40 save you money and time. 1 night in Newquay, then bus to St Ives down the coast, train back to Bath and London.

I would think about flying more, it can be much cheeper than rail and obviously faster.

James

Because looking it up is quite time consuming and i'm at school. Could you please estimate how much it would cost to:
go from London to fort william by train
Retour fort william - Ben Nevis (train possible?/bus)
Retour fort william - mallaig
Single For William - Edinburgh
Plane single Edinburgh - Newquay
Single Bus to St.Ives
Single train to Bath
Single train to London

This way I can compare it to Interrail. Thanks for the good idea!

The sleeper from London to Fort William saves on a night's accommodation. You will need a day to go from Fort William to Mallaig and back and a day to climb Ben Nevis. If you have a rail pass you could go from Fort William to Mallaig, ferry across to Armadale on Skye and a shortish bus trip to Kyleakin via Broadford. From Kyleakin you could walk across the Skye Bridge to Kyle of Lochalsh (or take the bus). From Kyle of Lochalsh you can then catch the train to Inverness and then another train journey from there to Edinburgh. At least that way you will see more of the Scottish Highlands and not repeat the rail journey back to Fort William from Mallaig and the Fort William to Glasgow route. Obviously you need to go up Ben Nevis before leaving Fort William for Mallaig.

Good idea. To get it right:
day 1: Fort William - Ben Nevis
day 2: Fort William to Mallaig, ferry across to Armadale on Skye and a shortish bus trip to Kyleakin via Broadford. Sleep in Kyleakin
day 3: From Kyleakin you could walk across the Skye Bridge to Kyle of Lochalsh (or take the bus). From Kyle of Lochalsh you can then catch the train to Inverness. Sleep in Inverness
day 4: train journey from there to Edinburgh.
day 5: Edinburgh
day 6: Edinburgh

What do others think of this planning and my previous repley about the costs?

Estimate if you mixed bus/train/plane (based on checking a few sites and having used the routes before, check yourself though!)

go from London to fort william by train / £80
Retour fort william - Ben Nevis (train possible?/bus) /Fort William is Walking distance from Ben Nevis base (Well 2 or 3 miles) taxi would be around £5
Retour fort william - mallaig Not sure
Single For William - /Edinburgh £30 (by bus from fortwilliam or £40 by train)
Plane single Edinburgh - /Newquay £44
Single Bus to St.Ives /under £10
Single train to Bath
Single train to London /Train ticket from St Ives to London Via Bath £60.

So about £240 and saves time with the flight. You can probably get it under £240 by playing with dates on diferent sites.

J

Thanks a lot James!

The Interrail tickets is 195 euro, so that's less than the £240(+-360 euro) you calculated.
My plans are improving a lot with the help of you all!

How time consuming is a trip to Loch Ness when I'm in Inverness, or is there a better thing to do?

-Don

This looks like a more viable option! Some comments:
- Remember that in Scotland it rains. A lot! Don't even think of attempting Ben Nevis in bad weather. I believe there was a cycling map of the mountain which was innaccurate and someone ended up riding off the side of it in fog. It might not be huge by mountain standards, but it's very much a proper mountain. Fort William is a great base for Ben Nevis and Skye though.
- Edinburgh is a wonderful city. Spending a couple of days in Edinburgh is a good idea!
- Virgin run a cross country service that goes between Edinburgh and Southampton Central, from where you can pick up trains to Weymouth in Dorset. Alternatively you can change at Reading and take a train to Exeter, Bath, Bristol or Cardiff.
- Exmoor is beautiful but hard to reach on public transport, as is Dartmoor. Closest you can get to Exmoor is either Barnstaple or Taunton. The major attraction of Exmoor is its coast with the highest sea cliffs in Britain, major colonies of nesting seabirds and cute little villages, the largest of which is Lynmouth. The walks around the Watersmeet Valley, owned by the National Trust, are among my favourites in England. At the risk of being controversial I'd seriously recommend Exmoor over the Lakes and the Peaks. Fewer people, especially foreign tourists, go there (Apart strangely from the Dutch - I've met loads of you guys on Exmoor!) and the people are friendly and the scenery magnificent. It gives me a warm glow just thinking about it, and moving to Bristol soon I'll be within striking distance of the place. Seriously, my family went on holiday there for 12 successive years; we couldn't get enough. I've trekked in the Andes and Patagonia, gone deep into the Amazon and watched geysers on Iceland but the view into the Watersmeet Valley from County Gate is still one of my favourite in the world. In fact you'd be better off stopping at Bristol and Bath and then moving on to Barnstaple and Exmoor than traipsing all the way into Cornwall (Which is a world unto itself. Some people there want to devolve like Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland!). You'll have less distance to cover coming back for one thing. In fact, if you go between May and August consider taking a boat trip out to Lundy island from Ilfracombe where you can see puffins! What am I trying to say here? Exmoor is great! I didn't get a job with the Exmoor tourist board, honestly.
- Although I have waxed lyrical about Exmoor, the Lake District is beautiful (If busy) and the Peaks are also lovely (although I haven't been there myself yet). But Exmoor does better cream teas and that's what it's all about ultimately!

DD

Cornwall is well worth visiting and St Ives is a good choice. If Lands End is too touristy for you, I recommend nearby St Just as it has great views. If you do stop in Lynmouth, Devon, go to the Valley of Rocks as well.

The southwest still is a tough choice after reading a lot of different opinions! DD I will consider exmoor in the morning and read a bit more about it. St. Ives too... to much for this few days =[

Bristol & Bath
Exmoor
St. Ives
A pity the traintrips take quite long in that area, right?

-Don

I would like to agree with the posters that St Ives is a gorgeous town. Several fantastic beaches (for every type of beach lover), wonderful restaurants and gorgeous coastal walks nearby.

I actually haven't been in several years but it is without a doubt my favourite place in GB.

plans return trip...