Ideas of places to go from Stoke-on-Trent

[Trainfan344]

Can anyone recommend places to go near Stoke-on-Trent by public transport during the week? Ideally costing £15-20.

 

[Techniquest]

WMDR? Or are you more interested in stuff to do at the end of the journey?

 

[yorkie]

Can anyone recommend places to go near Stoke-on-Trent by public transport during the week? Ideally costing £15-20.

You can do a round trip via Stockport (or potentially via Manchester if you get the Northern stopper avoiding doubling back), Sheffield, and Derby for less than that price. I'll PM you the details of tickets to buy if interested.

Or you could get a Derbyshire Wayfarer for £12, you'd just need bus/train tickets to/from the first stop in the area.

I'm not sure it's possible to recommend places to go to without knowing what you'd want to see/do at those places. Or is it simply you want to explore and travel round?

 

[GrimsbyPacer]

Can't you just go to Derby, it's a nice place with stuff to do like anywhere I guess?

 

[Trainfan344]

Got a few days to kill between exams finishing and going home so trying to find something to do Yorkie, can you PM me the details of your trip to Sheffield and Derby?

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Nottingham's quite nice for a gander around: it's also got more than its fair share of watering holes if you're into that kinda thing, as well as the trams, depending on what you're after.

 

[Trainfan344]

Nottingham has crossed my mind a couple of times.

 

[GrimsbyPacer]

Nottingham has crossed my mind a couple of times.

In that case Wollaton Hall (site of one of UK's oldest railways) and Green's Windmill, are the best non city centre places to go.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

Disappointed your student experience hasn't persuaded you to move to Smoke-on-Stench permanently!

So much to see and do, and the locals are so friendly.

By bus:
Arriva day ticket £6.20 - will get you to Market Drayton and Shrewsbury.

D & G day ticket £4.90 - will get you to Cheddleton for the Churnet Valley Railway, the same at Froghall, walk along the canal between the two, stopping off at The Black Lion at Consall.

First Potteries day ticket £4.00 - just Stoke and Newcastle (plus Leek until the end of May)

First Network day ticket £5.50 - includes Stafford, Eccleshall, Stone and Crewe

By rail - check prices by re-booking at Blythe Bridge and buying an ADR Stoke to Blythe Bridge. Similarly Blythe to Manchester is cheaper than Stoke to Manchester for an 'any operator' ticket!

Derby and Crewe are the nearest places of current / modern railway interest. Crewe, Cheddleton, Duffield and Matlock for heritage interest. Derby to Matlock tickets are treated as 'day rovers' so you can hop on and off.

Cheshire Day Rover, a bit higher than your stated price but good rail coverage - valid from 0845, much earlier than must off-peak day tickets from Stoke.

Shrewsbury - 2 hour ride each way on the bus - passes through interesting places and the ticket is a day rover for £6.20 so you can hop on and off. Market Drayton is half way - historic town, Joules brewery, several pubs. Shrewsbury is very nice - historic town, pleasant shopping area (unlike Hanley), nice parks and walks by the river. The train is rather more expensive but within your £20 but you can do the round trip out via Crewe, return via Wolverhampton, so could stop off in each, plus Telford, yum!

Catch the new D & G 31 service from Hanley to Leek via Cheadle. Again scenic and only £4.90 for a day ticket.

 

[Trainfan344]

Disappointed your student experience hasn't persuaded you to move to Smoke-on-Stench permanently!

So much to see and do, and the locals are so friendly.

By bus:
Arriva day ticket £6.20 - will get you to Market Drayton and Shrewsbury.

D & G day ticket £4.90 - will get you to Cheddleton for the Churnet Valley Railway, the same at Froghall, walk along the canal between the two, stopping off at The Black Lion at Consall.

First Potteries day ticket £4.00 - just Stoke and Newcastle (plus Leek until the end of May)

First Network day ticket £5.50 - includes Stafford, Eccleshall, Stone and Crewe

By rail - check prices by re-booking at Blythe Bridge and buying an ADR Stoke to Blythe Bridge. Similarly Blythe to Manchester is cheaper than Stoke to Manchester for an 'any operator' ticket!

Derby and Crewe are the nearest places of current / modern railway interest. Crewe, Cheddleton, Duffield and Matlock for heritage interest. Derby to Matlock tickets are treated as 'day rovers' so you can hop on and off.

Cheshire Day Rover, a bit higher than your stated price but good rail coverage - valid from 0845, much earlier than must off-peak day tickets from Stoke.

Shrewsbury - 2 hour ride each way on the bus - passes through interesting places and the ticket is a day rover for £6.20 so you can hop on and off. Market Drayton is half way - historic town, Joules brewery, several pubs. Shrewsbury is very nice - historic town, pleasant shopping area (unlike Hanley), nice parks and walks by the river. The train is rather more expensive but within your £20 but you can do the round trip out via Crewe, return via Wolverhampton, so could stop off in each, plus Telford, yum!

Catch the new D & G 31 service from Hanley to Leek via Cheadle. Again scenic and only £4.90 for a day ticket.

We'll see, I'm only in second year! Cheers for some ideas, done the buses before, did them out to Crewe once and Stafford the other time (Via stone of course). Obviously got a limited amount of funds and time etc..

 

[Trainfan344]

Disappointed your student experience hasn't persuaded you to move to Smoke-on-Stench permanently!

Catch the new D & G 31 service from Hanley to Leek via Cheadle. Again scenic and only £4.90 for a day ticket.

Looked at the D & G service and the only return trip to Leek from Hanley leaves me 6 minutes in Leek! So not ideal!

Which is a shame as I like to support local operators.

 

[crehld]

A D&G day ticket (and indeed most of their tickets) is slightly cheaper (£4.17) when purchased with a Cheshire Travelcard.

 

[Romilly]

Maybe go out to Alsager: there is a large secondhand bookshop (25,000 books) in the former Hassall Road Methodist Church (open 10-2 Fridays, 10-1 Saturdays, but check their website). The bookshop has links with the Englesea Brook Chapel & Museum (D&G bus 85 from Newcastle then 15mins walk) which offers interesting insights into social history through its focus on the Primitive Methodists (check their website for opening times).

 

[Baxenden Bank]

Looked at the D & G service and the only return trip to Leek from Hanley leaves me 6 minutes in Leek! So not ideal!

Which is a shame as I like to support local operators.

Agreed, if you were to catch the 31 in both directions. Monday to Friday you can get just over 2 hours in Leek by stopping off for an hour in Cheadle on the return (1523 to 1635) back into Hanley 1720. Saturdays you don't get the hour in Cheadle.

What I would actually suggest is to travel out on the 31 for the scenic ride, then return on the 16 which is much more direct.

Depends on what you want from a day out - a ride on the bus/train, scenery, towns, pubs, modern / preserved rail or a country walk.