Please Help: Does anyone how to get cheap train tickets from north wales to london

tracym284

I have spent all morning trying find how I can get cheap train tickets from north wales to london but they still seem to becoming in at ridiculous prices. It does not matter when this journey is for. Please an anyone help or give me any tips??

NTM_2

Hi were in North wales.

Log onto national rail website and type in dublin-Euston

It should come in at about £29.00 return , You obviously don't get on at Dublin ! you are just tricking the system, for some reason its realy cheap if you get a ferry ticket , you just join the train say Rhyl or werever you live in North Wales.

Hope this helps.

cc25

I've just returned from a long weekend in London, travelling from Bangor, North Wales. I paid £20.50 return (advance purchase, two single fares, no railcard or other discount).

The method I used to try and find the lowest fares was:-

1. Visit http://www.nationalexpresseastcoast.com/, and type in your journey details in the "Buy Rail Tickets" box on the left of the webpage. I think tickets for specified return dates are usually cheaper than 'open returns', so if you know your return date, type that in. Click on 'search' after the journey details are entered

2. On the webpage that appears next, there is a box on the bottom left which says "Find the lowest fares for your journey" - click on the 'show me the best fares' button in this box

3. A matrix (grid) should then appear, with the cost of the fare for each outward and return journey time in the rows and columns. Pick the box with the lowest fare, and click on the fare you want

As an example, using the above method, the cheapest return fare I could find from Bangor to London Euston, departing Bangor on Fri 27th Feb 08:08hrs , then departing Euston Mon 2nd March @ 14:10 hrs, was £37.50. As you can see from the other fares in the matrix, the times of departure are critical to obtaining the cheapest fare!




Incidentally, also tried NTM's method, which does indeed give a return fare from Dublin Stena Port to London Euston of £29.00! So that is cheaper, provided that the ticket really is valid when you board the train at other stations along the North Wales Coast

AirlieBird

The train ticket might be £29 but how much is the ferry ticket which you are required to hold to validate the train ticket?

Tickets without a through reservation on the boat are not valid for travel. Pre-booking is obligatory for groups. All passengers must have a Sailing Control Ticket.

munsterforever

how can you buy it online?

1ubthrifty

You could also try Wrexham and Shropshire trains, I don't know where in North Wales you are but you can get reasonable prices sometimes.
www.wrexhamandshropshire.co.uk
Tel 0845 260 5900
Good Luck

omelette451

AirlieBird wrote: »

The train ticket might be £29 but how much is the ferry ticket which you are required to hold to validate the train ticket?

The £29 fare includes travel on the ferry. It's a hangover from the BR ferry days: you can still buy through tickets from anywhere in the UK to anywhere in Ireland and v-v. Theoretically you should only be able to get away with this travelling from Holyhead to London - getting on at Rhyl is against the rules, though how strictly it'd be enforced is anyone's guess.

Much better is to wait for advance tickets to be released for whatever day you want to travel. Virgin's new-fangled whizzy service Chester-London usually has a remarkably healthy supply of advance tickets; most of them are available with ATW connections along the coast but if not you can always buy separate ones to and from CTR. Also try splitting at Crewe, if necessary specifying 'London Midland trains only' to get super-cheap walk-on fares if you're willing to get a slightly slower train. The WSMR service from Wrexham, Chirk, etc. is also a good bet.