Thoughts on Planning trips in the UK over Thanksgiving

[jis]

So I have four clear days to ride around on trains in the UK over the extended Thanksgiving Weekend, arriving at Manchester at bright and early 7am on Wednesday and departing Manchester at bright and early 9am on Sunday. I am landing armed with a 4 day First Class Britrail Pass. I am planning to cover some routes that I have not traveled yet. Since I have already traveled every route in Scotland except the one to Stranraer I figured I will concentrate generally on the west. Routes under consideration are:

1. London Paddington to Penzance - takes a complete day.

2. London Euston - Carlisle - Barrow on Furness - Lancaster - London Euston alternative routing (London Kings X - Newcastle - Carlisle)

possibly terminate at Manchester Piccadilly instead.

3. London Euston - Machester Piccadilly - Holyhead - Chester - Crewe - London Euston, possibly begin at Manchester Piccadilly.

4. London Euston - Carlisle - Kilmarnock - Stranraer - Carlisle - London Euston, possibly terminate at Manchester Piccadilly instead

5. London Paddington - Fishguard - London Paddington.

Of these

For 1, New section will be Newton Abbott - Penzance.

For 2. New section is Carlisel - Barrow on Furness - Lancaster

For 3. New section is Manchester Piccadilly - Holyhead and Chester - Crewe

For 4. New section is Carlisle - Kilmarnock - Stranraer

For 5. New section is Llanelli - Fishguard

Since I am flying into Manchester (hey it was $600 cheaper round trip than to the hell hole known as Heathrow. ) I figure I could do 3 on the day I arrive in UK. That leaves me to select three out of four. So out of 1, 2, 4 and 5 which would you recommend? Any experience with the scenery on any of those routes? I know about the Dawlish Seawall running on the route to Penzance. Particularly curious about the Barrow and Stranraer routes.

I am leaning towards 1, 2, and 4 since 5 has the least new trackage. I have a hotel at Manchester Airport for the last night since my return flight from Manchester is at a bright and early 9am on Sunday. So whatever I do on Saturday has to finally end up in Manchester Airport. That suggest that either 2 or 4 should be on Saturday subject to feasibility in the Saturday schedule. The other three nights I am at my favorite cheap hotel in London at Russell Square, and of course I have to visit all my favorite curry houses around London Worst case I might have to go for something less ambitious on Saturday if these branch line trains do not have a feasible schedule. maybe just for a lark I will do a round trip to Paris or Brussels on the Eurostar instead.

As usual I will get a strange disbelieving look from the UK Border folks, but they do have a long record on me traveling to UK to ride around on trains.

 

[ScouseAndy]

Ive only experience of option 3 which I have done many times on route to Dublin (you can actually buy a single ticket to Dublin from any UK station although not sure if your rail pass would include this). The views are stunning along the North Wales coast and you actually go under a castle in Conway, but bare in mind unless you are on the Virgin London to Holyhead train rather than an Arriva Wales service you wont be offered any 1st class accommodation.

Have you considered (assuming you have the time) to go London to Fishguard then ferry across the Ireland then head up the Irish coast to Dublin and then take the Dublin Swift to Holyhead and then run across to Manchester Picc? Would give you more new mileage and preventing you doubling back on yourself?

 

[caravanman]

Hi Jis,

Welcome to the U.K.... Your $ will buy more £ since Brexit, so a good time to visit.

Like Andy, I can't offer much advice on your routes, the only one I have taken is Manchester to Hollyhead. I have also been across the Settle to Carlisle viaduct section, but not the full route.

I think the Penzance run would be good.

Do be aware that the UK train service is often disrupted at weekends, especially Sundays, for track maintanance works. :-(

Enjoy a decent curry or two in London!

Ed.

 

[jis]

Ive only experience of option 3 which I have done many times on route to Dublin (you can actually buy a single ticket to Dublin from any UK station although not sure if your rail pass would include this). The views are stunning along the North Wales coast and you actually go under a castle in Conway, but bare in mind unless you are on the Virgin London to Holyhead train rather than an Arriva Wales service you wont be offered any 1st class accommodation.

Yup, I do realize the lack of first class issue. Indeed I will be going out on an Arriva train from Manchester if I do this trip soon after arriving in Manchester, but will then take the Virgin service to London from holyhead.

Have you considered (assuming you have the time) to go London to Fishguard then ferry across the Ireland then head up the Irish coast to Dublin and then take the Dublin Swift to Holyhead and then run across to Manchester Picc? Would give you more new mileage and preventing you doubling back on yourself?

Yeah, but not enough time this time around unfortunately. Also, I have ridden the entire network of the Irish Railways, so the only new thing will be the ferry.

Hi Jis,

Welcome to the U.K.... Your $ will buy more £ since Brexit, so a good time to visit.

There are still a few more weeks to go before I actually show up on your shores , but thanks. Yes the hotels are working out to be really inexpensive. And for some reason the Britrail Pass folks gave me a free extra day on a three day pass so basically I am paying for three days tot ravel four days.

Like Andy, I can't offer much advice on your routes, the only one I have taken is Manchester to Hollyhead. I have also been across the Settle to Carlisle viaduct section, but not the full route.

I have done the entire length of Settle - Carlisle a couple of times. It is nice.

I think the Penzance run would be good.

Do be aware that the UK train service is often disrupted at weekends, especially Sundays, for track maintanance works. :-(

Fortunately I have no rail travel planned on a Sunday this time. I will be on the big silver bird headed across the pond at 9am on Sunday As I mentioned Saturday is a bit of a concern, and we'll see how it pans out. I have a nifty app on my iPhone which in past has given very reliable information of outages and such, so the plans can be dynamically adjusted to work around them.

Sundays specially are also a pain because often the first service of the day is almost in mid morning rather than early morning on Sundays, which cuts down the total travel that one can do in a day.

Enjoy a decent curry or two in London!

Ed.

Will do.

Thanks.

 

[ScouseAndy]

Enjoy a decent curry or two in London!

Ed.

Or whilst in Manchester savour the delights of the curry mile, IMO some of the best curry houses in the UK

 

[jis]

Enjoy a decent curry or two in London!

Ed.

Or whilst in Manchester savour the delights of the curry mile, IMO some of the best curry houses in the UK

I'd do that probably for my dinner on Saturday, which will be in Manchester. So where is the curry mile in Manchester. I am not too familiar with Manchester. I had once spent a week there at a standards meeting, most of which was spent in the bowels of conference rooms in Hotel Piccadilly by Manchester Piccadilly, and another time I spent a couple of days, one of which was spent entirely at Old Trafford watching one day of some Cricket Test Match. I also did that once at the Lords many years ago between MCC and West Indies in the days when Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith were the opening bowling pair for West Indies . I used to be a very active Cricketer in my college days in India. Mostly played as a Wicket Keeper and a middle order Batsman.

 

[ScouseAndy]

The curry mile is on Wilmslow Road which is about 3 mile south of the City Centre or about 10 miles north of the Airport (depending on where you are staying) and very close to the University and Hospital (I used to live next to the Hospital and used to walk down for a curry at least once a month). There's buses direct from the airport (number 43 which runs all night every 30minutes and more frequently during the evening and day time and takes about 45mins each way) although I'd strongly recommend a taxi especially on a Saturday night either direct to and from the airport OR a to Manchester Piccadilly and then get a train.

 

[jis]

Thanks. I think I will do the taxi from Manchester Piccadilly.

I am thinking of taking a very early train to Manchester from London (Euston) Saturday morning, drop my baggage at the hotel and then do the riding for the day, ending with a dinner at a curry house.

Alternatively, I could save quite a bit of time in the morning by leaving my luggage at the Left luggage Facility at Manchester Piccadilly I suppose. It is open from 0700 to 2300 on Saturdays.

 

[jamesontheroad]

Alternatively, I could save quite a bit of time in the morning by leaving my luggage at the Left luggage Facility at Manchester Piccadilly I suppose. It is open from 0700 to 2300 on Saturdays.

You might save some time, but beware that left luggage at major stations is quite expensive. I think it's about £20 per day per item at Manchester. This is ostensibly to cover the operating costs, including x-raying suitcases for security purposes, but it seems now to be more of a money making exercise by the private left luggage provider.

 

[jis]

Thanks for the heads up. I could also just drag it along with me.

 

[ScouseAndy]

Alternatively, I could save quite a bit of time in the morning by leaving my luggage at the Left luggage Facility at Manchester Piccadilly I suppose. It is open from 0700 to 2300 on Saturdays.

You might save some time, but beware that left luggage at major stations is quite expensive. I think it's about £20 per day per item at Manchester. This is ostensibly to cover the operating costs, including x-raying suitcases for security purposes, but it seems now to be more of a money making exercise by the private left luggage provider.

Its not that much quite honestly, for 2 bags for 10 hours I'm getting a quote of £16.00, for 24 hours per item its £12.00. Considering the value of the £ and its constant fall against the $ by Thanks Giving this will translate to about 4 cents for a weeks storage :giggle:

https://www.left-baggage.co.uk/index/about-left-luggage

 

[jamesontheroad]

Good to hear.

As an aside, when I'm transiting through London, I often use the larger museums and their free cloakrooms to deposit bags for a couple of hours. The Victoria & Albert, for instance, is handy for the Piccadilly Line if you're arriving at LHR and coming into central London by tube. Also a wonderful museum to spend some time in if you need to allow a safety cushion between your early AM trans-Atlantic flight arriving in London and your afternoon train departing.

 

[jis]

I won't be transitioning through London. I will have a hotel room in London for the entire period.

I am now considering the Sleeper to Penzance in one direction and a day train in the other direction. Don;t know exactly which way will be which. It is actually quite inexpensive to do a single Sleeper room added on top of a Britrail Pass.

Other than that everything else will be day trips out of London.

 

[caravanman]

You probably won't have time for museums by the sound of it, but a well read chap like yourself might like the Charles Dickens museum, on Doughty Street, quite close to your Russel Square hotel.

Cheers,

Ed.

 

[ScouseAndy]

I am now considering the Sleeper to Penzance in one direction and a day train in the other direction. Don;t know exactly which way will be which. It is actually quite inexpensive to do a single Sleeper room added on top of a Britrail Pass.

My personal advice would be to take the sleeper West Bound - the waiting amenities in London are far greater with a 1st class waiting lounge before you depart (and unless they have been removed showers available) plus its a much more friendly 9am arrival into Penzance than being kicked out in London at 7am in the freezing cold.

Regarding the day train which ever way yo travel try and make it a Pullman dining service if you are traveling Monday to Friday - The GWR really does offer the only proper dining car experience in the UK on these services and you can book your seat in the restaurant car before you travel.

 

[jis]

Thanks ScouseAndy!

 

[ScouseAndy]

Not sure if you will be aware Jis but just to give you the heads up that over the last couple of days we have been hit by a strong storm and there is major flooding in the South West with the main line closed between Exeter and just south of Bristol (Taunton), time will tell what the damage to infracstructure and when services will resume to normal.

 

[jis]

Yes I have been following it closely on nationalrail web site. Thanks.

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

Thought I'd seen something about, what is it, Great Western Main Line being washed out in places?

 

[jis]

Flooding between Taunton and Exeter. It is all clear now. I am going to attempt the trip on Thursday.

I did number 3 on my list today - Manchester Airport - Manchester Oxford St. - Holyhead - London Euston (via Chester, Crewe, Milton Keynes).

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

Here's what I read, sounds like it's been cleaned up already and the tracks clear for now.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/nov/22/torrential-rain-and-floods-continue-to-cause-travel-chaos-across-uk

 

[jis]

I am sitting at Paddington waiting for the 9:06. The trains from Exeter are arriving at Paddington on time today. So yes I can vouch for the tracks being fine today

 

[jis]

The trip to Penzance went well complete with a lunch of Cornish Crab Cakes at a Cornish Pub. On my way back to London now experiencing the "at your seat Dining Service" on the Penzance - Paddington Express, though not eating the whole dinner offering. Too much food. The food appears to be more freshly cooked than on Amtrak. There are no tables in the Cafe Car where it is prepared. The food is delivered to your seat and served there. The service is available to both First Class and Standard Class Customers and is pretty reasonably priced as far as I can tell.

First class has huge fixed tables at each seat. Much more stable and larger than the rickety stuff in Acela First Class. Standard class tables are about the same size as on Amtrak. This is in these recently refurbished GWR HSTs. All run by the subsidiary of what was originally a bus company BTW.

Tomorrow it is back to Virgin Trains, Trans Pennine and ScotRail and a big trip up north if all goes according to plan.

 

[caravanman]

Hi Jis,

It would be interesting to me to read a full report of your trip to the UK. Always interested to hear of cultural differences as well as rail related items.

Cheers,

Ed.