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Grange Over Sands - Euston - Fort William - Grange Over Sands 2 day trip.

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Scooby

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For my daughters fifth birthday next year, we are considering doing the above trip.
She loves train travel and for her (& me) the further really is the better. We can pick up a train after school on the Friday, & get into Euston for about 8ish**. have a meal in Euston and then board the Sleeper (which is the main attraction for her) and take the long slow trip North. Wake up at her usual 7ish time in Scotland and take our places for a long & slow breakfast and enjoy the world going by until we get to Fort William.

Spend a little while in Fort William at a playground and then take the 11.40 train back to Glasgow, getting home on Saturday evening.

Its doable, its eminently doable, but I'm just wondering if I'm missing a trick somewhere ?

In the future, when the days are longer, I'm sure that we'll make a Grange to Mallaig, across to Skye room for the night and then Kyle to Grange trip, but as a great 'put me on' with the experience of a run on the Sleeper, it seemed like a great opportunity.

If there is anyone out there who has done a similar sort of trip (especially with a little'un) could offer me any pointers, they would be gratefully received.

** I know that we could pick up the sleeper at Preston, but it would mean joining the train at 1 'o' clock in the morning, which just wouldn't be fair (on either of us ! )
 
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bb21

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Firstly, a Family Railcard is definitely worth it.

Secondly, Advance tickets will likely be your best bet. I don't think you will be able to do this on one return ticket, and given that sleepers are non-stop in the middle for a long stretch you will be hard-pushed to find a good deal involving a clever split, so I would say maybe an Advance to London, then Bargain Berth, finally an Advance back could be your best bet.
 

Scooby

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Firstly, a Family Railcard is definitely worth it.

Secondly, Advance tickets will likely be your best bet. I don't think you will be able to do this on one return ticket, and given that sleepers are non-stop in the middle for a long stretch you will be hard-pushed to find a good deal involving a clever split, so I would say maybe an Advance to London, then Bargain Berth***, finally an Advance back could be your best bet.

I've got the railcard, so thats that angle covered :D Although now that I've made my booking, the F&F didn't have the large effect that I would have hoped for - c'est la vie.

For the date that I'm looking at, the Advance ticket price is ridiculously cheap, sadly, when I contacted Scotrail, they had sold out, but the next price point wasn't to offensive - I need to book it over the phone, as it will be a 'family' booking and it wasn't quite as straightforward as I hoped it would be.
So far, I've got Grange to Euston for about £16, Euston to Fort William in a twin berth for about £140) and then Fort William to Grange for £20. So the two of us will be able to do the trip for under £180. Not quite the bargain that I originally anticipated that it would be, but a great experience for the two of us, that we'll thouroughly enjoy and remember for years.


*** bargain berths from Euston to Fort William on a Friday night see to be rarer than rocking horse droppings.
 
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4SRKT

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How have you got Fort William to Grange for £20??

If you want it cheaper, you could try not going on a Friday! Much better value than the Caledonian Sleeper is the Night Riviera who don't do Bargain Berths but on Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays you can get a solo advance for £49. Railcard discounts don't apply, but I did this earlier this year with my 9 year old son and we had a cabin each with interconnecting doors (basically one larger cabin) for £73.50. This includes tea and biscuits in the lounge car on boarding, and breakfast brought to the cabin in the morning, neither of which you get on ScotRail. There is a telly in the cabin as well which helps youngsters if they get bored. FGW pricing and booking is more transparent and easier than ScotRail's, which helps. Still have to do it over the 'phone if there's a child in the party though.

Clearly the views aren't as good as the West Highland, but they are still pretty special and Fort William is a dump. My lad and I had a great morning in St Ives before we worked our way back north to West Yorkshire after lunch. FGW do some spectacularly cheap advances out of Cornwall, so it pays to ride FGW as far as Taunton before bailing and using a XC advance from there. The lad got his head out of the FGW HST all round the sea wall at Teignmouth and Dawlish, until the guard told him to stop!
 
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Track Basher

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We did this as a family of 5 last February a fantastic weekend. You are cheaper to do this out of season as the price climbs in the summer. My 7 year old daughter loved it going to bed on the train and stag spotting on Rannoch moor when she woke up. Teenagers not too fussed.

Book the sleepers separately London - Fort William. This is normally cheaper than through tickets. Fort William by far the most scenic journey of the three portions. We caught the 21:15 as it is more sociable with little ones 23:50 is a very late departure for a 5 year old. We went to Euston rather than Crewe because of the departure time. Midnight at Crewe not good and 1 a.m. Preston even worse.

If you are gonig to do this plan it well in advance and get in for the sleepers 12 weeks before you are travelling. All they ever do is go up in price the nearer you get to the departure date.

I agree with Mr Thumper not much to do in Fort William 2 and a half hours is enough. Walk down the Main Street and back again. The sleeper does cross the first one off Mallaig at Rannoch.

You cannot do the clockwise circle of Skye in the winter timetable it is only possible anti-clockwise. The ferry and bus timetable does not work you cannot arrive at Fort William on the sleeper travel to Mallaig - Armadale - Kyle in time for the last train to Inverness. This is however possible in the summer timetable as a direct bus runs from Armadale to Kyle. In the winter you have to change at Broadford.

If you get the sleeper to Inverness it is possible to do Kyle - Broadford (change buses) Armadale - Mallaig - Fort William and connect into southbound sleeper at Fort Willliam. If you stay on Skye that will be tricky as all you can do is connect with the sleeper from either Inverness or Fort William. You are going to struggle to get Skye to Grange on day services only.

Hope this helps
 
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Scooby

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How have you got Fort William to Grange for £20??


Full reply to follow, but in the meantime :D:D

from take the train, travel date Sat 18.02.11
dep Fort William 11.40
Arr Dalmuir 15.03
Dep Dalmuir 15.23
Arr Glasgow Central 15.46
Dep Glasgow Central 16.40
Arr Lancaster 18.40***
Dep Lancaster 19.15
Arr Grange Over Sands 19.39
With a F&F railcard
Adult £15.50
Child £4.45

*** a naughty person may get off at Oxenholme at 18.26 and get collected by Mrs Scooby and get home quite a bit earlier. But as this would be travelling short and against the terms of the ticket, I wouldn't even consider it. Honestly ;)
 

Scooby

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20 Jul 2011
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If you want it cheaper, you could try not going on a Friday! Much better value than the Caledonian Sleeper is the Night Riviera who don't do Bargain Berths but on Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays you can get a solo advance for £49. Railcard discounts don't apply, but I did this earlier this year with my 9 year old son and we had a cabin each with interconnecting doors (basically one larger cabin) for £73.50. This includes tea and biscuits in the lounge car on boarding, and breakfast brought to the cabin in the morning, neither of which you get on ScotRail. There is a telly in the cabin as well which helps youngsters if they get bored. FGW pricing and booking is more transparent and easier than ScotRail's, which helps. Still have to do it over the 'phone if there's a child in the party though.

Clearly the views aren't as good as the West Highland, but they are still pretty special and Fort William is a dump. My lad and I had a great morning in St Ives before we worked our way back north to West Yorkshire after lunch. FGW do some spectacularly cheap advances out of Cornwall, so it pays to ride FGW as far as Taunton before bailing and using a XC advance from there. The lad got his head out of the FGW HST all round the sea wall at Teignmouth and Dawlish, until the guard told him to stop!

I considered the Night Riviera, but for this particular trip, it wasn't going to work our for us. A departure of just before midnight I thought would be taking things a bit to far, with regards to to my daughters age. I hear what you say about Sunday, Monday & Tuesday being better value days, but it really needs to be travelling down on a Friday after school an then back on a Saturday, to give us Sunday for our sporting comittments.
Maybe on another occassion when it fits in with school holidays we'll give it a shot.

Scooby

p.s. plus the Caledonian Sleeper is a (much) longer trip :D
p.p.s all we are looking from in Fort William is a playground for a quick play and somewhere to get a bite to eat for the return trip.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
We did this as a family of 5 last February a fantastic weekend. You are cheaper to do this out of season as the price climbs in the summer. My 7 year old daughter loved it going to bed on the train and stag spotting on Rannoch moor when she woke up. Teenagers not too fussed.

Hope this helps

It helps more than you can imagine and if the trip works out well in February, I'll be back to your post and refer to it as a real pointer !
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
That's a long day journey for a youngster....

its a hell of a long journey, but over two days it'll be a wonderful treat and experience. She is an experienced long distance traveller and we both get a real pleasure from spending the time on the trains together.

Plus, and its a big plus, its great to be doing something purely for the sheer fun of itself !
 

4SRKT

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You can get on the Night Riviera (and the Lowland Caley) at half ten. You don't have to hang around Paddington (Euston) until quarter to midnight.
 

Scooby

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You can get on the Night Riviera (and the Lowland Caley) at half ten. You don't have to hang around Paddington (Euston) until quarter to midnight.

thank you very much -- its all great stuff that I'll (hopefully) use in the future :D
 

Marvin

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I just want to say: this sounds like a brilliant idea, and now I want to do it for my birthday as well!
 

4SRKT

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It is. I shall be doing the sleeper for the third time this year in a couple of weeks.



I've done sleepers four times this year :). Twice to Penzance, once to Plymouth and once to Aberdeen. Will be taking the lad to Inverness for the anti-clockwise Skye circular for his birthday (staying at Crianlarich Youth Hostel on the way back rather than the sleeper) Frankly, I'm addicted.
 

Scooby

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I just want to say: this sounds like a brilliant idea, and now I want to do it for my birthday as well!

Oh to be regaining the joy of your birthday !

I've done sleepers four times this year :). Twice to Penzance, once to Plymouth and once to Aberdeen. Will be taking the lad to Inverness for the anti-clockwise Skye circular for his birthday (staying at Crianlarich Youth Hostel on the way back rather than the sleeper) Frankly, I'm addicted.

I'm hoping that our trip is a great success and it fires us up to do a few more in the future.

BTW, I've just discovered that I've now qualified myself to use the Virgin First Class lounge at Euston* (incl complimentary drinks and snacks) and the Scotrail lounges in Scotland for the next year, plus complimentary Weekend First upgardes in Scotland, by virtue of using the Sleeper**.
*I can, not sure about my daughter !
**Condition apply !
 

Scooby

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Hurray, our Sleeper Tickets have come and from reading around the forum, it looks like we have got 'prime' berths, in the middle of the carriage.

Great stuff.

I've now got an etiquette question.
Would it be acceptable for my daughter to be in the Loungue Car, enjoying a glass of warm milk, in her Dressing Gown, with her 'Dogs' as the train sets off on its way from Euston, or would this be frowned upon ?
I would imagine that it will be a different story North of Edinburgh, as she is likely to be up earlyish to watch the world go by, probably from the Lounge Car.

p.s. GOS-Euston £16.15, FTW - GOS £19.95 -- it doesn't get much better value than that, does it ?
 

Essexman

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You can get on the Night Riviera (and the Lowland Caley) at half ten. You don't have to hang around Paddington (Euston) until quarter to midnight.

It's usually 11.00 before they let you board the lowland sleeper.

On the whole plan to take young child on sleeper - excellent idea. I took my two sons to Cornwall on the Nigh Riveria several times (wife drove down in car and we met her there), and they loved it. Took the youngest to Inverness summer before last - when he was 11 and still just young enough for it to be exciting (if fed often), but now he's a cynical teenager!
 

Track Basher

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I would play this by ear. When me and 3 mates went in June the lounge car had a stag party in it so was a bit rowdy. Between us and the stags we drank the bar dry and had to go on a beer raiding trip to the Inverness portion. I can be a bit intimidating for a little one in a very rowdy carriage.

The other trips off season the lounge car was very quite and I can't see it being a problem. The lounge cars with the loose chairs and sofas are the best ones.

The morning is never a problem as very few people go down there and stay in their cabins until arrival.

If you are on the Fort Bill I had a bit of fun with my wife. I did not tell her the train reversed and the lounge car was attached to the other end of the sleepers so she went the same way as the night before and found the loco, very confused. She had to go the other way after Edinburgh.
 

Scooby

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I would play this by ear. When me and 3 mates went in June the lounge car had a stag party in it so was a bit rowdy. Between us and the stags we drank the bar dry and had to go on a beer raiding trip to the Inverness portion. I can be a bit intimidating for a little one in a very rowdy carriage.

The other trips off season the lounge car was very quite and I can't see it being a problem. The lounge cars with the loose chairs and sofas are the best ones.

The morning is never a problem as very few people go down there and stay in their cabins until arrival.

If you are on the Fort Bill I had a bit of fun with my wife. I did not tell her the train reversed and the lounge car was attached to the other end of the sleepers so she went the same way as the night before and found the loco, very confused. She had to go the other way after Edinburgh.

Good idea playing it by ear - we'll maybe enjoy the lounge car more across the Border.
 
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