best way to travel from Europe to UK (near Manchester) with two people?
February 19, 2024 2:26 PM   Subscribe

Looking for recommendations for two people to travel from continental Europe to a conference center near Manchester in the UK, with a good balance between sustainability, convenience and cost. We'll be traveling in the middle of May. We've already found some options, but there might be deals that we're simply not aware of or routes we haven't considered.

We will be traveling to a conference center near Manchester in the middle of May. We're looking for a suitable compromise between sustainability, convenience and cost. We're two adults who could share a cabin if needed. We're located between Amsterdam (Schiphol) and Brussels, and even Düsseldorf could be an option.

For now, we've looked at both flights (Amsterdam to Manchester) and train only (via the Channel Tunnel) or even ferry + train.

So far, it looks like taking the train would be almost twice as expensive as flying, though of course it's the more sustainable option. Also, we'd probably need some checked luggage.

Reasons to avoid flying:
- not very sustainable
- the hassle of airport security and checking in
- weight limits and surcharges for luggage

Advantages of the ferry (and one disadvantage):
- overnight travel works out well for the outbound journey (we'd book a cabin and get most of a night's sleep)
- there's a combined ferry+train ticket that's pretty economical
- for the inbound journey, ferry times don't work out so nicely

Regarding trains:
- we've looked at rail passes like the "Global Pass", but there are surcharges for the Eurostar (which we need to cross the Channel)
- we don't qualify for the Youth rate anymore

I'd be delighted to find out about options that we didn't consider yet, even if they're impractical.

More practically, special train fares (perhaps for two people traveling together) and/or routes which reduce the cost of the train option would help cement our decision that train is the way to go. (Probably combined with the ferry for the outbound journey.)

For reference: current prices are roughly 250 euros per person, one way, for the train.
posted by demi-octopus to Travel & Transportation (14 answers total)
 
Best answer: Rome to Rio is good for seeing a lot of options:
https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Rotterdam/Manchester
posted by soelo at 2:37 PM on February 19, 2024 [1 favorite]


Best answer: My go-to site is The Man in Seat 61, which is incredible for train journeys in Europe.

For example, a page on advice on how to travel from Brussels to London and the rest of the UK.

The great thing about the site is it will give advice like "plan your route using the German train website, then book on a French site for the best price".

Following the advice on the Brussels page I found travel from Brussels to Manchester via London for about 100 euros on 13 May (though a bit more expensive on other days).
posted by Pink Frost at 2:42 PM on February 19, 2024 [2 favorites]


Train travel in the UK is notoriously expensive and unreliable at present. If you're looking for a budget option for travel in the UK, consider National Express, who run coaches regularly between all major cities. It's stupidly cheap (often less than £10 for a return fare). It is however nearly a five hour trip (considerably slower than the train). The coaches are normally clean, but it's not by any means luxury travel. Having said that, luggage is much easier to manage that if you use the train, and the the service is a reliable one. Most coaches run to and from Victoria coach station, which is a short walk from the nearest tube stop.
posted by pipeski at 2:53 PM on February 19, 2024 [2 favorites]


Best answer: It was 2008, but the ferry is magical, very comfy.
posted by freethefeet at 3:45 PM on February 19, 2024 [2 favorites]


Best answer: To help with the train fares, you could buy a Two Together Railcard. This is £30 and gives a 1/3 discount on rail tickets when you travel together (except for journeys between 04:30 – 09:29 hours, Monday to Friday, which might be relevant to you). I checked the T&Cs and there’s nothing about being a UK resident. Certain apps and websites have promotions where you can get them for about minimum £20 if you search around and are lucky.

I am sorry about our rail system though!
posted by lokta at 4:12 PM on February 19, 2024


Best answer: Oh and again within the UK itself there is a weird way to sometimes get cheaper tickets via splitting your ticket while staying on the same train. Split My Fare is one of the websites to do this, or you can google ‘split ticketing’. Something to do with arcane fare regulations.
posted by lokta at 4:15 PM on February 19, 2024


Rome2Rio says there’s a bus option going from Brussels to Manchester. Bus transit is economical in price and eco friendly. Economical in time? Comfortable? Doubtful.
posted by oceano at 1:33 AM on February 20, 2024


Best answer: Not sure if you plan to return to your departure point or not based on your question or if onward travel would also be an option.

Even if you do have to return to your departure point, it is worth noting that this is not one of those cases where booking a return ticket is going to be a lot cheaper than booking one way/a separate one way to get back or to get to your next destination.

As a result, you can absolutely use one mode of transport for one leg and another coming back.

UK border control may well ask to see a return ticket before admitting you to the country. But they really just want to see you have a ticket to leave the country again. So make sure you have that.
posted by koahiatamadl at 1:47 AM on February 20, 2024


demi-octopus: Reasons to avoid flying: - the hassle of airport security and checking in

The EuroStar, in and out of Stupid Island, will subject you to the same security checks.
posted by Stoneshop at 4:09 AM on February 20, 2024 [1 favorite]


For the train, it will probably be cheaper to book Manchester-London separate to London-Amsterdam (and might even be cheaper to do London-Brussels and Brussels-Amsterdam). I can find tickets in the region of £100 per person one way for Manchester-London-Amsterdam on 14 May. The easiest way to get between Euston and St Pancras is to walk.

If you do book it in separate stages, you are responsible for ensuring that you have the time you need to make all the connections. I think that means that realistically you are looking at the 18:04 from St Pancras if you want the direct London-Amsterdam train and a cheap Manchester ticket.
posted by plonkee at 12:18 PM on February 20, 2024


I would look at: Train to Rotterdam, Ferry to Hull and then pick up a hire car, I think there are one or two Car hire companies near the ferry terminal, but I havent done this trip for a long time.
posted by Lanark at 4:08 PM on February 20, 2024


pipeski: Train travel in the UK is notoriously expensive and unreliable at present.
The Euston-Manchester train is one of the fastest and most reliable, and currently at its cheapest about 12 weeks out from mid-May.

plonkee: The easiest way to get between Euston and St Pancras is to walk.
It is uphill, maximum 10 minutes if you don't get distracted by The British Library.

Lanark: Train to Rotterdam, Ferry to Hull and then pick up a hire car
There's also trains from Hull to a Manchester Victoria station, usually needing a change. I just warn you about the train provider Northern Rail.
posted by k3ninho at 12:47 PM on February 21, 2024 [1 favorite]


I've never really noticed before, but yes I guess it is uphill Really the point is that it's quicker to walk than to for example to take the tube, and you don't need a London terminals or London travelcard ticket. There might even be less walking involved. If you have too much luggage or you can't walk that far, then a black cab is probably the best solution.

If you want a distraction then the British Library is amazing, St Pancras Station has shops, and the Betjeman Arms is a good place for a drink.
posted by plonkee at 10:44 AM on February 22, 2024 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Thanks everyone! There was a lot of useful information here, just what we were looking for to make up our minds for how to go about this.

We ended up going with ferry + train for the way in, and train only for the way back.

The ferry was a really good experience: no lines at all for check-in, a reasonably spacious cabin (beds on one side, couch on the other, where they could have just made us use the bed as a couch). The only downside was that some of the announcements (admittedly at low volume) started at 4 AM...

We were less happy with the trains: we tried to save on the fares by buying tickets for specific times, but then we missed our train on two separate occasions. The first time, an employee took pity on us and gave us something to make the ticket valid again. The second time, we were late due to a delay of the previous train. We had used split ticketing and because the delayed train was from a different company than the one we missed, there was nothing to be done (according to the railway employee) and we had to buy (now very expensive) tickets all over again. (We're used to train tickets that are valid for the whole day, so weren't as careful about delays as we ought to have been.)

Also, customs for the EuroStar was quite efficient but loud and busy.

In general, we found that the duration of travel does make a difference, even if you're mostly just sitting - it was more tiring than we had anticipated.

Lessons learned:

- don't aim for the very cheapest price when you're not accustomed to the system, unless you're willing to be on guard all the time - maybe just pay the 'tourist tax' of not getting the best deal
- consider not just the travel time but also the recovery time, both for enjoying your destination and any obligations when you're back home

All things considered, flying is back on the table as an option, if I were to do this again. If the ferry had gotten us closer to our destination, that would be my first choice.
posted by demi-octopus at 2:44 AM on August 18, 2024


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