They look cool Has anyone done one and have any recommendations? Thx.
Are you talking about buying a BritRail Pass, and plannong your own itinerary?
Or an orgainized “Train Tour”?
An organized tour. Thought it might be more time efficient.
That sounds very interesting! We used a lot of public transportation in England, including trains, but nothing organized. And we’ve taken the Eurostar train a few times, which was very cool.
Rebecca
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Railways go through countryside that can’t be reached by road and sitting looking at the views is always easier on a train than in a car. Also, in trains one can walk around and eat at will. The stations are always central in a city unlike airports. Trains are a civilized way to travel. As a Brit, I would suggest that an organized tour would be a better option for a tourist because the ticket prices in the UK are extremely high (thank you, privatization) unless one knows all the wrinkles and wheezes to obtain lower ones. An organized tour would be a known quantity. I think it would be fun to do such a trip so I’ll now have to look one up!
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I am going to Scotland via rail in September I plan to work my way up to the Orkneys then back down to Oban and out to the islands.
I will make use of the Scot Rail 2 week travel pass for a bulk of the journey since it also covers bus and ferry. Plus a couple days in London on either end because, well, its London. I have solo traveled a lot including much of the UK. Scotland is my final tick off
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Hah. Sometimes Scotrail works. Sometimes, you have a sinkhole.
I can’t say enough good things about Oban. I’ve been there a few times over the years and really enjoyed it on every visit.
It’s very easy to catch a ferry from there to some of the nearby islands that are well worth a day trip. I’m still hoping to get back to Mull and Iona again one day.
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Yes I plan to day trip to the islands.
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Ha! Our rail journey from Edinburgh Waverly to Inverness on May 13th was impacted by a reported sinkhole on the line. We made it as far as Perth and then were unceremoniously told we had to get off the train as it would go no further. First ScotRail said they were getting buses to take passengers to Inverness but then (surprise surprise) no buses were forthcoming. My husband and I and our friends elected to pay a taxi driver to take us to Inverness (another 2+ hour drive). Those who waited for ScotRail’s solution had to take a train to Aberdeen and then to Inverness for a ~5-6 hour delayed arrival in Inverness. Then it turns out we met another person who had basically the same experience a day later … and ScotRail sold her the ticket to Inverness from Edinburgh when they must have known about the sink hole issue.
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Claim for your taxi. If you purchased a ticket, you have a contract that must be honored. The process is simple because it is so familiar to many. I hope you have the receipt.
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Perth to Inverness is a long taxi ride. Yikes. Don’t want to know what that cost you.
For everyone who may be reading this, the CityLink bus goes to all these places and is a damn sight cheaper than a cab. It’s more direct than Perth-Aberdeen-Inverness, and they leave every hour from Broxden and go up the A9, straight to Inverness. Also, hitch-hiking around the Highlands isn’t stupid, though the A9 isn’t ideal for it.
I guess if you’re in a foreign country, it’s a lot harder to figure all this out.
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if you travel the Rome2Rio app is a great help for when things go sideways , or even regular times. It gives you most of the doable options including bus routes and times.
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We shared the cost between three couples. It actually wasn’t too bad – and we gave the friendly driver a good tip for her trouble. Saved the day for us vs. figuring out local buses – getting to bus stops – and dealing with our luggage. Life is always a balance between time and money – we opted for time on holiday.
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