Planning a journey... why so hard?

[frivolous_fay]

We have a walking holiday arranged for May, in the wilds of Wales somewhere. Trying to find the best combination of cheap / quick to get there... but it's working out really complicated!

I looked at megatrains - we could travel from London to Bristol for around £8. So far, so good. But the connection to a station close to our destination (Aberystwyth) would take a further 8 hours. :rolleyes: Umm... something quicker, maybe?

As we live in Luton, I looked at flights. Surely it's possible to fly from London to Cardiff? That'd be a start....

Couldn't get any results searching for flights. Googled 'fly from London to Cardiff' and got flybmi.com. On further inspection, it transpired that bmi don't fly to Cardiff. Tried lastminute. The only flight they could came up with was one with klm for around £1,100. :eek: (Via Holland, naturellement)

http://www.lastminute.com/lmn/lfe/flights/specialoffers/flights_calendar_view.jhtml?CATID=85&_requestid=24919

I seem to be getting nowhere. Can anyone give me a hint where to look next, or am I really stuck with such an epic train journey? :o

(PS We have the option of a lift, but it will mean a huge detour for the driver, and most likely an extremely long, queasy journey which I am desperate to avoid)

Any pointers gratefully appreciated!

[maclean2]

Hi - have you thought of travelling by coach?

www.nationalexpress.com

Takes 7 hrs London-Aberystwyth via Birmingham

Train changing in Birmingham takes nearly 5 hours

[lellie]

cardiff to aberystwyth would take longer than the train - as you have to go from cardiff to shrewsbury - then across from there to aber. The only train into aber goes via birmingham really. so aim to get there cheapest then get the train from there - it is slow. Or get a coach.

[brazilianwax]

Hi there -

This may be a silly question, but could you not drive there? Hire car maybe??

There used to be a flight service from London City airport to Cardiff, but this stopped in 2005 because no-one used it. :rolleyes:

Main route is the Paddington to Cardiff/Swansea train, but this doesn't really help you get to Aber.

I wouldn't do this trip on public transport - it would take forever. I live just outside Cardiff and work in London - I drive back and fore cos getting from the station at either end doubles the jouney time!

Claire

[philhuff]

Not much help now, but if you can't find an airline that fly's to a specific airport, go to that airports website - they usually list the airlines that have scheduled services to or from the airport.

[jamesn]

Try Virgin Value London to Wolverhampton then a connecting train to Aber.

[black-saturn]

Theres a National Express coach to Cardiff from London which takes about 4 hours and some of them are available for £1 as it's one of their pound saver routes. Then it would be a case of getting from Cardiff to Aberystwyth. Theres a huge bus station at Cardiff and I'm sure there were buses to Aber last time I was there. Might be a case of giving National Express a ring.

I did this search for you on the National Express website:
http://www.nationalexpress.com/bp/b2.cfm?id=76184607

but I made the dates up as I don't know exactly when your going.