After a bit of planning a few years back and using an ALR, I had a B&B booked in Inverness, the following morning I took, what was then the 09:00 Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh service, with an hour or so break in Kyle returned on the same unit as far as Dingwall. With a 20-minute gap to connect with the service up the Far North Line to Thurso. (I had on a previous holiday done Wick, Georgemas Junction, Thurso and return). I'm not sure it's possible now but then there was an X99 Scottish City Link service from Thurso back to Inverness, (which I had a £4.00 advance ticket for), leaving around 18:15 and back into Inverness just as it got dark (Mid-June) around 22:00.
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GB Rail Rover Tips & Advice? [All Line Rover or Regional Rovers]
- Thread starter Ayman Ilham
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Techniquest
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Some fantastic ideas there, and I'm glad you're enjoying the trip report. I should have made more effort to explore places, but I'm still reasonably happy with how things went. Not so much with the final day, but we'll get to that in the trip report before too long!
Ayman Ilham
Member
Thanks, and you should totally write a book dedicated to these ALR trip reports
Techniquest
Veteran Member
Thanks, and you should totally write a book dedicated to these ALR trip reports
Tempting
As for the First Class lounges, I have still a number of them to go. On LNER it's Darlington and Berwick-upon-Tweed, on GWR there's only one to go and I'm keen to see how much it's changed since the mid-2000s. Avanti there's 3 to go, plus one I haven't done since 2008 so it'll be nice one day to see how much it's changed. The EMR lounges, if they ever re-open, will get done but that may be a long wait!
Ayman Ilham
Member
Self publishing on Amazon is actually surprisingly straightforward once you've put together a manuscript of what you want your book to contain; definitely something worth looking into! However, you're gonna have to go full Bill Bryson mode and write in further detail than you already did: about the sights you've seen along the way, be it from the train, around the station or wherever you went out to explore.Tempting
As for the First Class lounges, I have still a number of them to go. On LNER it's Darlington and Berwick-upon-Tweed, on GWR there's only one to go and I'm keen to see how much it's changed since the mid-2000s. Avanti there's 3 to go, plus one I haven't done since 2008 so it'll be nice one day to see how much it's changed. The EMR lounges, if they ever re-open, will get done but that may be a long wait!
Another idea just came into my head about combining two adjacent regional rovers as a cheaper, more flexible alternative to the ALR. For example, combine a Heart of England Rover with a Freedom of South West Rover (total £139 w/ railcard for 3 in 7 days) so you can easily travel from the North (well, I also need returns from Manchester to Crewe or Stoke) or Midlands down to the West Country to head to different areas, such as one day in Salisbury and Southampton, another day in Exeter and Plymouth, etc. Both of those rovers connect at Cheltenham Spa, allowing an easy CrossCountry run down to Bristol and beyond. If you think about it, the combined price of the two rovers is actually similar to the cheapest split-ticketed return between Manchester and Penzance, so that could actually work pretty well. I would have to save Penzance for a Saturday, however, given the after 9am restriction on weekdays. Another example would be Freedom of North West combined with Spirit of Scotland to explore Scotland from my base in Manchester. Also, the combination of the Freedom of North West and North East Rovers would give free reign of virtually the entire North of England.
spyinthesky
Member
In no particular order as the first ones were the ones I could remember off the top of my head. I did have a few more which did not meet MY criteria.
7 Day 1st ALR.
1. Hampshire - Queen’s Arms Basingstoke -Flack Manor Double Drop
2. Wiltshire - Salisbury - Duke of York - Stonehenge Danish Dynamite
3. South Yorks - Sheffield - Sheffield Tap - Kelham Island Easy Rider
4. Kent - Canterbury - Foundry Brew Pub - Torpedo
5. Sussex - Brighton - Shakespeare’s Head - Dark Star Hophead
6. Cornwall - I think I bailed off the sleeper at Lostwhistle and drank a bottle of Sharps Doom Bar at some unearthly hour with the breakfast roll on the platform.
7.Lancashire - Met my brother for a day, had a pint in Blackpool but haven’t noted what it was but on a separate day Stalybridge station - Millstone (Citra I think)
8. Cumbria- Carlisle - Spoons - Jennings Cumberland
9. West Yorkshire- Huddersfield- Kings Head - Saltaire Blonde.
10. East Yorks - Bridlington Station - Wold Top Scarborough Fair
11. North Yorks - York - York Tap - Rudgate Ruby Mild
12. Bedfordshire - Sandy - Sir William Peel - Wells Bombardier
13. Berks - Windsor- Queen Charlotte- Windsor & Eton Guardsman
Bucks - Fail
14. Cambridgeshire - Ely- Drayman’s Son - Oakham Citra
Rutland - Fail as Oakham Brewery is in Peterborough
15. Cheshire - Chester - Old Harkers Arms - Westwood Old Dog
16. Derby - Derby - Brunswick Inn - Brunswick White Feather
17. Devon - Exeter - Spoons - Dartmoor Jail Ale
18. Dorset - Poole - King Charles Inn - Sixpenny Handley 6d
Durham - Fail
19. Essex - Grays - Theobold Arms - Deverell’s Gold
Gloucester - Fail
20. Hereford - Hereford - Barrells - Wye Valley The Hopfather
Surrey- Fail , Had a pint in Guildford but not from Surrey didn’t write it down
Lincs - Fail no timely opportunity
21. Warwickshire - Coventry spoons breakfast and Purity Gold
22. Shropshire- Shrewsbury - Salopian Gold Bottle bought and drank on way to Crewe
23. Herts - St Albans - White Lion
Oxford - Fail
24. Leicestershire - Leicester - Ale wagon - Hoskins IPA
25. Notts - Nottingham - Newshouse - Castle Rock - Harvest Pale
26. Worcestershire- Worcester - Dragons Inn - Malvern Hills - Beacon Gold
Somerset - Fail no timely stop
27. Staffordshire- Stoke - ?near station - Titanic White Star
28. Middlesex? - Euston - Bree Louise - Redemption Pale
29. Norfolk- Norwich - Compleat Angler- Woodforde’s Wherry
30. Suffolk- Ipswich - Thomas Wolsey - Adnams Lighthouse
31. Northants - Corby - Nene Valley ?
Techniquest
Veteran Member
That is certainly an interesting idea! Spirit of Scotland remains on my list of trips to make if things don't go the way I'm hoping they will (no further details to be revealed!) in 2023. It *might* get combined with some cycling, and if Inverness Airport's station opens by the time the trip happens then I'll be flying up and using the station. Oh that gives me an idea for a trip for if things do go the way I want them to!
Combining rovers is actually something I've done before when I lived in Swansea, combining a Freedom of South Wales and a Heart of England rover got done more than once!
As for self-publishing and going into more detail than I already do, no thanks!
Peter Lanky
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My sentiments exactly. I have always wanted to make more use of trains as a leisure facility, especially as so many trains are empty during the non commuting hours. It seems that those responsible for managing modern train travel are unable to see beyond trains as a means of commuting, and that leisure travel is part of ancient history.
With the ALR coming in at £818/£504 for 1st/2nd class or even £540/£356 with a railcard for only 7 days with a significant number of restrictions, it doesn't even come close to £700/£525 for a whole month for an Interrail pass.
I appreciate that there are probably more enthusiasts than casual users on this forum who may be motivated by spending an entire week sat on trains bumping up the miles, but there must be so much more scope and potential income for the rail companies if they priced the ALR or any other rover, as they are equally high priced, to appeal to people who want to use trains for a holiday in the UK.
For example, a few years back I went from Wigan NW to Inverness for a one week trip and made journeys to Thurso, Kyle, Aberdeen, Nairn and Elgin by train while I was up there. I even went 1st class on the outbound and inbound trips, and ended up paying under £200 for 2 of us for everything, with a lot of forward planning. Imagine how many people may be tempted to make a similar holiday if single rover ticket was available at a similar price. From experience of talking to friends, few people can be bothered with close following internet prices to get a really good deal from advance fares which seem to be getting more and more unpredictable, but want it served up on a plate.
What do others think?
Ayman Ilham
Member
I definitely need to consider combining rovers in that case, although I imagine hotels in a base location (e.g. Bristol) will likely be more worthwhile, allowing more relaxation and better exploration across the board. However, it is still a good idea for just travelling long distances in general to experience different routes and get a good feel of far-away destinations that are difficult to get cheaper point-to-point fares anyway. Cheap advanced fares on CrossCountry, for example, are practically non-existent in you wanna get from the North/Midlands to the West Country or South Coast. Thus, combining Heart of England with Freedom of South West would actually be a worthwhile alternative offering some extra flexibility as a bonus.
Some interesting points here; while it is true the interrail pass is certainly better value for money overall, there are a few things to consider:
- The Interrail Pass has to be bought in advance online, which means potentially waiting for delivery (unless there's a digital version, which would have its own set of issues in case your phone dies or gets lost/stolen); you can't just turn up to the station and buy it the day you wanna start travelling unlike the ALR so doesn't have as much of the 'spontaneity' factor.
- You can only travel within your own country on the first and last valid days of your pass as a means to get to and from other countries, be it Eurostar reservations (not sure of the availability close to when you wanna start travelling) or flights/ferries to the continent, which may potentially lead to many additional costs due to booking accommodation remaining far from home or external travel (flights, etc.) if you wanna return home and rest mid-way through the duration of the pass.
Also, a flexible ALR (e.g. 7 days within 15 or 14 days within a month) would make more sense than the continuous 7/14 day offerings, as that may potentially attract more people too. However, as I discussed earlier, combining 2 or 3 regional rovers (which do offer flexible options) together can offer a similar degree of flexibility (e.g. 3-in-7 day or 4-in-8 day) over a large network for long distance travel. Also, it is possible to do a similar thing with an off-peak return between two very far-away points (e.g. Manchester to Inverness or Penzance in the opposite direction) taking different permitted routes in either direction, breaking your journey as much as possible in-between within however many days you have to complete your journeys.
davetheguard
Established Member
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Brilliant, thanks. A great idea, and sounds like a pretty good attempt on only a 7 day All Line Rover! Some good beers in that list; can't claim to have tried them all, but I will admit to quite a lot of them!
Any plans for a 14 day ALR to complete the list?
spyinthesky
Member
I would like to do 14 days, as for completing the list I would do something different as a challenge such as Regional Pubs of the year. Some counties it was just difficult to find something open at the right time and an Ale that fitted the criteria(Too many chains serving the same dregs.
Current timetables and disputes also put me off. Like others I am more likely to utilise a regional ranger for now.
Peter Lanky
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As I wanted to see a little more than the termini, we had also made a trip to Inverness using TPE/Scotrail first class at around £50 return each with railcard, but this is no longer possible at that price now. We then based our week in Inverness. The following day we took the train to Kyle but as there is little there of interest, immediately returned to the train and alighted at Plockton, which is well worth a visit. We then returned to Inverness 4 hours later. An amusing part of the return journey was a malfunctioning level crossing, for which the train driver leant on his horn repeatedly to announce to vehicles that he had no intention of stopping.
Having already made the trip to Thurso, which is a full day, we took the same train again, but alighted at Dunrobin Castle, which was originally the personal station of the Dukes of Sutherland. After a day spent there, we were able to impress some Aussie travellers by introducing them to "Realtime Trains" at the station, and showing them just how late the train really was. Amazingly (not really), the timetabling was planned so the arrival back in Inverness was less than 30 minutes, thus avoiding a late arrival claim.
ChrisC
Established Member
When I did an 8 Days in 15 Spirit of Scotland Rover 3 years ago I also had about 4 hours in Plockton. I got off there on the way to Kyle and then just did the short trip to Kyle and back later in the day before returning to Inverness. Kyle is ok to say you have done it but Plockton is a lovely place to spend a few hours.
I had 2 days on the Far North Line. The first day I went all the way up to Thurso and had an enjoyable wander around there. The next day, with a bit of careful planning, I managed to visit Brora, Golspie and Helmsdale in that order, with time for about 2 hours in each place. I don’t think the current slightly reduced timetables would allow that.
I stayed 7 nights in the Premier Inn on the side of the river in Inverness. Expensive for a Premier Inn, but lovely location and handy for the station. I then moved on and had 4 nights in the Queen Street Travelodge in Glasgow where I didn’t find the Super rooms too basic for a Travelodge. The advantage of an 8 Days in 15 Rail Rover is that you can have the occasional day off from travelling by train and this gave me opportunity to see more of Inverness and to have a day on the Black Isle by bus.
Techniquest
Veteran Member
All this talk of Scotland is making me want to go there ASAP. I definitely want to revisit the Kyle line, it's been too many years since I last went but I would absolutely ensure I spent some proper time on Skye this time. Similar for Thurso and that general area, I never explored it properly in 2007 when I visited on a railtour.
A Spirit of Scotland, combined with some serious exploring on foot and cycle, is definitely a holiday I want to book ASAP! I've got 3 158s to travel on and a load of 385s to find, plus I want to properly sample one of the bike-train 153s. Yes I am more than willing to pay the supplement for that!
Mind you, I'd also want to do the same in Anglia, there's a lot over there I want to get done/finish doing. Same for Kent, I have a lot of unfinished business with the 375s, the 395s and I have boatloads of exploring to do! I could easily fill an entire week in the North East too!
That's one thing this thread has done really well I think, providing lots of inspiration to get booking and go exploring.
A Spirit of Scotland, combined with some serious exploring on foot and cycle, is definitely a holiday I want to book ASAP! I've got 3 158s to travel on and a load of 385s to find, plus I want to properly sample one of the bike-train 153s. Yes I am more than willing to pay the supplement for that!
Mind you, I'd also want to do the same in Anglia, there's a lot over there I want to get done/finish doing. Same for Kent, I have a lot of unfinished business with the 375s, the 395s and I have boatloads of exploring to do! I could easily fill an entire week in the North East too!
That's one thing this thread has done really well I think, providing lots of inspiration to get booking and go exploring.
This idea of visiting every UK city got me thinking as I suspected that I'd visited most of them.
Sure enough the only ones I'm missing are:
Armagh - Northern Ireland
St Asaph - Wales
St Davids - Wales
It's no coincidence that they are all places without a rail service.
Sure enough the only ones I'm missing are:
Armagh - Northern Ireland
St Asaph - Wales
St Davids - Wales
It's no coincidence that they are all places without a rail service.
Ayman Ilham
Member
Fun fact: St Davids (Britain's smallest city) is the only station that never had a train station to begin with, even pre Beeching, owing to its remote location. You can get the T11 from Haverfordwest, the nearest useful railway station. However, the bus service has become infrequent (only a few buses a day) since COVID and I'm not sure if the hourly frequency has returned yet to that's worth checking. St Asaph is a lot easier though, as it has 2 buses an hour from Rhyl (nearest railway station) by Arriva (51) or if you fancy a more scenic route, you can take the hourly X51 from Wrexham if that's made a comeback. Not sure about Armagh as I ain't too big on Ireland, but there should be regular buses from Newry and Portadown, and probably coaches from Belfast.
As for the other two UK cities without railway stations (for the benefit of others reading this thread), Ripon has the Transdev 36 bus every 20 minutes from Harrogate (nearest railway station, bus station is just outside unlike in Leeds where its on the other side of the centre) and Wells has regular buses (First West of England) from both Bristol and Bath. Nearest station to Wells is Castle Cary, but I don't know if any buses run that way.
Thanks Ayman - really useful info.
I've yet to visit just Ripon and St Asaph in England / Wales - and I'll pay them a visit in '23. But I've not been to Northern Ireland. Most recent 'new' city visited: Bangor, 15/07/21.
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