UK Overnight Train

[Gary]

Hi

Am curious to hop on one of the long distance overnight trains in the UK, anyone got any suggestions. Was thinking something like London to Iverness and fly back to Dublin with Ryanair.

Anyone any experience/ tips of these trips and where to book etc? Also the transport museum in London, is it worth a pit stop into?

Cheers

[zag]

You should check out the 'bargain berths' section on the relevant website (I can never remember the address, but google for caledonian sleeper and it should show up) for good value fares.

The most popular/scenic route is to or from Fort William, especially in the summer due to the long bright evenings and the long stretch of track trough the highlands, but other routes are worth a go.

I did London-Aberdeen last Summer pretty cheaply. Flew to London on a mid-day (i.e. off peak €1) flight, floated around Euston area for a while, had dinner, got the train up (£19), checked out Aberdeen for the day, B&B overnight and then a Ryanair £0.01 flight home from Aberdeen.

I was looking at Fort William this summer. It's normally sold out (i.e. no bargain fares) but last time I checked there was a Friday evening departure to London for £19 available in August. Unfortunately there was only one ticket, so that didn't suit, but otherwise it would have been similar - fly to Glasgow/Prestwick/Edinburgh, train to Fort William, sleeper back down, cheap over night in London and a flight home on Sunday.

You can also get the sleeper to Penzance in Cornwall, but because the distance is much shorter you leave London around midnight and still get there about 0700 or something, so the experience is not the same.

z

[Gary]

Cheers Zag. Thanks for the infor. Not having any joy on the bargain berths. Seems to be all looking even mid week at around 180 euro for the fare incld berth from London to Aberdeen. Was just looking at www.firstscotrail.com

Did you get breakfast included in the price? I assume there's a full catering unit on the train?

[zag]

There is a restaurant car (a real one with table service, those little lights on the tables, china (well not plastic) cups, etc . . . ) on the train. Breakfast is served by the car attendant in your cabin about 30-45 minutes before you are due to arrive. It is reasonably standard airline fare (scone, jam, bread, juice, etc . . .) but at least you get something.

It is nice sitting in the resto car, watching the world go by as the train slips out of London in the mid-evening. The berths are made up when you get to the train, so there's actually not a lot of sitting space in the cabin. You pretty much either have to lie down or else go to the resto for a while.

I don't know what dates you are looking at, but I just checked and there were plenty of Aberdeen/London and London/Aberdeen bargain fares available for the next few months. If you are fixed to a particular day or even week you may be out of luck, but if you have some flexibility you should be able to pick up a good fare.

For example, £19 ex-London on 27Aug, £29 ex-Aberdeen on 21Aug.

There also seem to be more fares available for Fort William, but not until September.

z

[Gary]

Thanks Zag for the help. All booked for August with cheapo flights etc. Have a day to trek around to Aberdeen.

G