Train Travel

For the first 9 days of our trip we will be walking and using public transport.  Most of it will be by train and the major trip will be the overnight trip from London to Fort William in the the Scottish Highlands.  This website is a mine of useful information.

I knew that since we are travelling in early August which is the peak season that the tickets would sell quickly.  In fact, when I checked today, there were no sleeper berths available for the week prior to when we are going.

After months of studying timetables and ticket prices we were finally able to book the tickets tonight.  Using trial and error and dummy travel dates over the past few weeks, I was able to ascertain that the tickets are released at about 9am on Friday, London time.

I sat at the computer this afternoon and kept checking until the tickets I wanted came up as available and I was able to book a 2 berth sleeper for £122.60 for The Duke and I.  A mere 3 hours later, the cheapest price for a 2 berth sleeper had risen to £184.50 so it was definitely worthwhile getting in early.

The other thing I found was a new Railcard.  I had planned to get a Senior Railcard for The Duke which provides savings on train travel for people aged 60 and over.  However, there is a new type of Railcard which was only released in March 2014 and it is called Two Together Railcard.  We can make greater savings with this than the Senior Railcard so we will be getting one when we arrive in London.  As well as discounts on train travel you can get 2 for 1 admissions to many attractions in London.  One of these is the Churchill War Rooms which is on our agenda.