Train travel bargains in the UK

December 13, 2009 10:08 AM

I'm hoping to go on a day trip by train in the UK next week. I'm not too choosy about my destination but I am about the price. Is there a website where I can enter the amount I'm willing to pay and it will list destinations that are available at that price and at what times?
posted by feelinglistless to Travel & Transportation around United Kingdom (8 answers total)

I don't know of anything like that. National rail have a Cheapest fare finder, which given a pair of destinations can tell you when it's cheapest to go. But I don't think there's a list of places you can go for e.g. under a tenner. It'd be a very difficult system to write, there being so many stations in some parts of the UK.

Maybe askme can help you with the question nevertheless: where are you starting from, and what do you like doing? It would be a drag, but given that information you could put the suggested destinations into the cheapest fare finder and see where you can go.
posted by handee at 10:17 AM on December 13, 2009

Most viable (in terms of time to get somewhere) day trip destinations will normally be advertised in your local station...not sure the source you want exists.
posted by koahiatamadl at 10:38 AM on December 13, 2009

From where your profile puts you, what about Dublin for £27? It's about 5 hours via Holyhead. Train/ferry over, fly home (not included in the £27, but probably pretty cheap on Ryanair/Aer Lingus).
posted by mdonley at 11:01 AM on December 13, 2009

There are cheap offers on the East Coast Line for GBP 9.00 one way all the way from London to Edinburgh or anystations en route. You can find these here.
posted by london302 at 11:10 AM on December 13, 2009

Response by poster: Sorry, I should have said that I'm travelling from Liverpool.
posted by feelinglistless at 11:26 AM on December 13, 2009

Depends how long you've been in Liverpool I guess, and whether you've been these places already, but...

Within easy reach:

Port Sunlight for art and architecture and old-style industrial philanthropy.

Crosby beach for the Gormley.

A little father:

Blackpool for cheesy seaside goodness.

The lakes or the pennines if the weather's good.

Hebden Bridge/Todmorden if you fancy hippy shops and hill walking and pubs.

Manchester for museums and galleries. But give the Lowry a miss.
posted by handee at 11:45 AM on December 13, 2009

Best answer: As far as I know there isn't a site that does what you're asking for exactly, but this page does list a few tricks for getting cheap tickets and has some links that you might find interesting. Split ticketing does indeed work (I use it all the time) but it is a case of getting into the booking sites and playing around with different combinations. The UK ticketing system is labyrinthine, to say the least, but that's all part of the fun and makes digging out the bargains so much more satisfying...
posted by Chairboy at 11:57 AM on December 13, 2009

Advance tickets are by far the cheapest way to travel but only if you can book in, well, advance. Wanting to travel next week will seriously limit the cheap options (although there will be some out there). You might consider a day ranger ticket which allows mostly unlimted travel accross certain areas. Northern Rail do some that cover Liverpool - for Cheshire (which goes right across into Derbyshire for a day out in the Peak District) and for Lancashire. You can hop on and off as much as you like so visit various location. Other day rangers may be suitable if you can get a cheap return ticket to a station in the covered area.

A good day out with a scenic trip could be along the North Wales coast (LLandudno only £17.10 return - a walk up fare so no pre-booking required maybe go into Snowdonia - £20 return to Blaenau Ffestiniog) or the Lake District (£17.80 return to Windermere) Or spend more and travel along some of the most scenic routes in the UK eg. Cumbrian coast or Settle-Carlisle.
posted by badrolemodel at 2:21 PM on December 13, 2009