Best ticket options for visiting the north of England

[fac586]

I am contemplating a short rail-based trip in northern England. I would be starting in Edinburgh, and have to be in Dumfries on Monday 24 June. The main aims are to travel on the Settle-Carlisle line and visit the National Railway Museum for as long as I want, absent the company of people who would rather be somewhere else!

Preliminary itinerary is:

Tue 18/06 Edinburgh - Durham
Wed 19/06 Durham - Saltburn
<Walking the Cleveland Way>
<Whitby - Pickering - Whitby (North York Moors Railway)>
Fri 21/06 Whitby - York
<NRM>
Sun 23/06 York - Appleby
Mon 24/06 Appleby - Carlisle - Dumfries

What's the best value way to do this? I want to be able to travel on any permitted train and flexibly break journeys (e.g. weather permitting, detraining between Settle and Appleby to do some walking and/or go to the pub).

The North Country 4 in 8 day Rover plus an LNER Edinburgh to Durham advance offers flexibility and convenience, but it looks like it costs more than separate off-peak tickets for the journeys involved. Are there any other options? Or is a rethink of the last two days to squeeze more value out of the Rover in order?

 

[cuccir]

One option for getting more value out of the rover would be to return on the final day via the Cumbria Coast Line.

If you wanted to do that and make a little time for stops on that day you could head back south from Appleby on the Sunday to stay in Preston or Lancaster: if unusual services interest you then you could take the 18:31 from Appleby to Preston, which is summer Sunday service via Clitheroe.
--
Edit - just a note that if you did take this option, staying in Lancaster would be preferable as there's a 09:00 departure to Barrow-in-Furness which would make the most of the validity of your rover.

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

I am contemplating a short rail-based trip in northern England. I would be starting in Edinburgh, and have to be in Dumfries on Monday 24 June. The main aims are to travel on the Settle-Carlisle line and visit the National Railway Museum for as long as I want, absent the company of people who would rather be somewhere else!

Preliminary itinerary is:

Tue 18/06 Edinburgh - Durham
Wed 19/06 Durham - Saltburn
<Walking the Cleveland Way>
<Whitby - Pickering - Whitby (North York Moors Railway)>
Fri 21/06 Whitby - York
<NRM>
Sun 23/06 York - Appleby
Mon 24/06 Appleby - Carlisle - Dumfries

What's the best value way to do this? I want to be able to travel on any permitted train and flexibly break journeys (e.g. weather permitting, detraining between Settle and Appleby to do some walking and/or go to the pub).

The North Country 4 in 8 day Rover plus an LNER Edinburgh to Durham advance offers flexibility and convenience, but it looks like it costs more than separate off-peak tickets for the journeys involved. Are there any other options? Or is a rethink of the last two days to squeeze more value out of the Rover in order?

Do you live in the UK? If not, you could make good use of various passes designed for foreign tourists.

 

[scrapy]

One option for getting more value out of the rover would be to return on the final day via the Cumbria Coast Line.

If you wanted to do that and make a little time for stops on that day you could head back south from Appleby on the Sunday to stay in Preston or Lancaster: if unusual services interest you then you could take the 18:31 from Appleby to Preston, which is summer Sunday service via Clitheroe.
--
Edit - just a note that if you did take this option, staying in Lancaster would be preferable as there's a 09:00 departure to Barrow-in-Furness which would make the most of the validity of your rover.

I would not rely on the Dalesrail to Preston running. It is regularly one of Northerns first planned cancellations on a Sunday.