Fare advice pls: Warrington-John O'Groats-Lands End-Exeter

[BigHairyIan]

I am looking to travel from Warrington to John O'Groats to Lands End to Exeter by public transport (train would seem best!) with my son, 11. We have a family rail card.

I am looking to set off on early Saturday 2 April, and expect to camp along the way!

We are (hopefully) going:

Warrington to Thurso (unless you have a better suggestion) on Sat 2/4/11 and stay in Thurso

Then bus? Thurso to JOG, and back to Aberdeen on Sun 3/4/11

Train from Aberdeen to Penzance (one continuous trip) on Monday 4/4/11

Then Penzance to Lands End (bus?) and camp there on Tuesday 5/4/11

And then back from Lands End to Exeter on Wed 6/4/11 (bus? and train)

OK, so how will I go about finding the cheapest ticketing arrangement for this adventure?

 

[LexyBoy]

I am looking to travel from Warrington to John O'Groats to Lands End to Exeter by public transport (train would seem best!) with my son, 11. We have a family rail card.

I am looking to set off on early Saturday 2 April, and expect to camp along the way!

We are (hopefully) going:

Warrington to Thurso (unless you have a better suggestion) on Sat 2/4/11 and stay in Thurso

Then bus? Thurso to JOG, and back to Aberdeen on Sun 3/4/11

Train from Aberdeen to Penzance (one continuous trip) on Monday 4/4/11

Then Penzance to Lands End (bus?) and camp there on Tuesday 5/4/11

And then back from Lands End to Exeter on Wed 6/4/11 (bus? and train)

OK, so how will I go about finding the cheapest ticketing arrangement for this adventure?

Sounds fun!

For the ends, there are buses for the connections to JOG and LE - the LE one will be running at off-season frequency (bus is the 400 IIRC, around every 2 h or so), not sure about the JOG buses.

The LE bus goes Penzance-St Ives-Lands End-Penzance circular route, so you could alternatively come back via St Ives if you fancy having a look round - quite a nice place for a pre-train cuppa.

For all your journeys you should be able to find Advance fares which will be cheaper than standard Off-Peaks - not got time to look now and it will depend on what timings you find acceptable.

On the Aberdeen-Penzance leg, unless you really want to do the longest train journey in the country for the sake of it, I wouldn't use the direct train - you will almost certainly get a cheaper (and probably faster) journey travelling via London, and won't be stuck on a Voyager rattling along with no catering for 13 hours. If you do decide to get the direct train, try splitting along the way - Newcastle, Derby, Cheltenham and Exeter come to mind but you'll haev to have a play around. For via London trains it's probably cheapest to buy direct advances Aberdeen-London and London-Penzance. Buy the EC ticket from their website for a 10% discount.

Again on the Exeter-Warrington front, you might find it cheaper to go via London since both FGW and VT do some cheap advances. Otherwise try splitting at Cheltenham and possibly Birmingham.

 

[cuccir]

I am looking to travel from Warrington to John O'Groats to Lands End to Exeter by public transport (train would seem best!) with my son, 11. We have a family rail card.

I am looking to set off on early Saturday 2 April, and expect to camp along the way!

We are (hopefully) going:

Then bus? Thurso to JOG, and back to Aberdeen on Sun 3/4/11

Train from Aberdeen to Penzance (one continuous trip) on Monday 4/4/11

Then Penzance to Lands End (bus?) and camp there on Tuesday 5/4/11

And then back from Lands End to Exeter on Wed 6/4/11 (bus? and train)

OK, so how will I go about finding the cheapest ticketing arrangement for this adventure?

Your best bet might be rovers and rangers of various types. The All Line Rover for a week is £283 for an adult with a family railcard, and £215 for a child (not sure if the railcard discount might also be applicable to that?). That's £498, so lets try and at least beat that!

I think the following may do you as a start:

* A freedom of scotland travelpass (4 days in 8) is £114 + £57. You can get an advance single to Carlisle for £13.60 total on either the 07:27 or 08:12 from Warrington, from where the Scottish ticket would be valid.

* You can currently either:
** get a Berwick to Penzance on the 12:39 for £63.15 on East Coast - to bring up this fare, search for via London. Take the earliest train you can from Aberdeen and make the most of a little rest in Berwick!

** get an Edinburgh to Penzance single for £75.20 on the 11:08 from Edinburgh. This train is also the 08:20 from Aberdeen. Costs more but you get into Penzance a couple of hours earlier.

* Off peak day single Penzance - Exeter is £14.80 in total

Cost of these all is £248.95 or £260.

It's a start at least - someone might be able to break down your costs in Scotland even further.
----

EDIT:
Indeed, an advance single from Carlisle to Inverness is an astonishingly cheap £18.30 on the 12:47 from Carlisle, changing in Glasgow. Stay in Inverness, then the next day get a £19.20 anytime day return to Thurso: take the 07:06 from Inverness in the morning. This should give you time to get to JOG. Buy (you can arrange this at a station in advance I think) an excess to allow you to travel to Aberdeen on the way back - this should be no more than a few pounds. Then, the following day, your advances from Aberdeen to Penzance are £91.40 on the direct train, or as little as £68.50 if you travel via London.

This could pull your costs to under £200.

 

[flymo]

Then bus? Thurso to JOG, and back to Aberdeen on Sun 3/4/11

With it being a Sunday This page suggests that a bus might not be possible but check with the operators to be sure. The Stagecoach X99 runs up that way on a Sunday but doesn't go to John O'Groats.

Good luck anyway, sounds like a good trip.

 

[4SRKT]

For your trip I'd get the sleeper from Crewe to Inverness on Friday night (23:54 off Crewe). Booked in advance this can be pretty reasonable and is a lot of fun. If travelling with a minor you need to book over the phone (number on ScotRail website). Whatever, with Railcard discount I am planning to take my young son from Euston to Fort William on the sleeper for a mere £51. From Inverness take the 10:38 to Thurso where you'll arrive at 14:24 with plenty of time to go to JOG (£11.20 booked in advance, £9.75 on Railcard)

The daily Far North train on Sundays leaves Thurso at 12:22 and changing at Inverness you'll be in Aberdeen at 19:28. Advance single is £13.20, £11.50 on railcard. WARNING: not much to do in Thurso at any time, never mind a Sunday!

Starts to get a little dearer now as the direct train Aberdeen > Penzance costs £107 advance (before railcard) and is also a Voyager. Avoid would be my advice. Booking in advance with East Coast gets you to the Cross for £53 (£46.15 on Railcard), possibly changing at Edinburgh. Spend a little time in the Capital then use FGW's excellent advance sleeper deal of £67 for double occupancy of a berth on the Night Riviera (unsure if Railcard discount applies here). You'll be in the Zance for 08:00.

You can get an advance from Penzance to Birmingham, changing at Plymouth, for £47 (£40.90 on Railcard). Using the 12:54 off the Zance should give you time to get to Lands End and back, and will have you in Brum for 18:57. A £5.50 Advance (£4.80 on Railcard) from New Street to Bank Quay and the job's a good 'un!

Total cost is £51 + £9.75 + £11.50 + £46.15 + £67 + £40.90 + £4.80 = £231.10, or £222.40 if the railcard discount applies on the Night Riviera. All this of course only IF you can get the advances, so I’d get booking if I were you! Note that is more than £200, but it also covers two nights accommodation which would have to be paid for otherwise. There used to be an OK Youth Hostel in Aberdeen when I last went there, but that was in 1987!

 

[cuccir]

For your trip I'd get the sleeper from Crewe to Inverness on Friday night (23:54 off Crewe). Booked in advance this can be pretty reasonable and is a lot of fun. If travelling with a minor you need to book over the phone (number on ScotRail website). Whatever, with Railcard discount I am planning to take my young son from Euston to Fort William on the sleeper for a mere £51. From Inverness take the 10:38 to Thurso (arrive 14:24 and £11.20 booked in advance, £9.75 on Railcard)!

I'd agree that given the bus situation, this seems your best bet!

 

[4SRKT]

Just read the thread header properly and realised that the return journey is only to Exeter. Even better. You can get an advance Penzance > Exeter for £8 (£7 on Railcard).

This makes the total cost £51 + £9.75 + £11.50 + £46.15 + £67 + £7 = £192.40 or £183.70 if Railcard valid on Night Riviera. Phew! Hold on, I think I'll be coming with you....!

My own version of this would involve much less time in Scotland, and no Aberdeen visit (Aberdeen's pretty boring and the run from Inverness is pleasant enough but pretty unspectacular). I would not go on a Friday to avoid the weekend problem in Scotland, then go Sleeper Crewe > Inverness (£51), there and back in the day to Thurso (£9.75 each way), sleeper to Euston (£51), day train to Penzance and back to Exeter on cheapest advances I could get. There's a £34.50 advance to Penzance on the 09:06 from Paddington (£30.05 on Railcard). This would only cost £158.55 in total, with no additional accomodation costs at all: with some of the money saved you could pay for a taxi to get to and from JOG: LE is easier as you'd arrive in Penzance mid-afternoon and still have time to get there and go on to Exeter). You could leave on a Sunday from Crewe (23:39 on Sundays) instead and catch up with yourself by the time you got to Exeter due to less hanging about.

 

[BigHairyIan]

Guys, this is great advice, thanks!
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Oops, sorry, don't know if you are all "guys": so thanks to any girls who have posted too!

 

[4SRKT]

Well, what are you going to do then? We're all intrigued now.

Just looked on the map, and John O'Groats is actually 3 miles closer to Wick than to Thurso! It's 19 miles from Thurso, so could be quite an expensive taxi. Still, it'd have to be about £100 to make it dearer than doing the version with the two nights in accomodation and more expensive tickets.

 

[Statto]

Sounds like a great idea for a trip, i'd use the Sleeper to & from Inverness, i'd do an AP Warrington to London Euston, & catch the Sleeper from Euston, rather than changing to the Sleeper at either Crewe or Preston, you can get good deals on the Sleeper, change at London for the FGW, if you don't mind waiting there's a couple of non stop Reading-Exeter trains Padd to Penzance around 10-11am, which take about 5hrs.
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There is a bus from either Wick[77] or Thurso[80] to JOG[no Sunday Service]but theres ony a few journeys a day. There's also a regular bus service Penzance-Lands End [1 & 501]both every 2 hours with a Sunday service.