Cheapest way to travel between Birmingham/Coventry and Bournmouth

Pugnacity

Does anybody have any money saving advise on travelling between the West Midlands (Birmingham or Coventry) and Bournemouth. It seems so expensive in comparison to trips of similar distance.

The cheapest I can find is by travelling to London first with an open return on London Midland (£9.90 during Easter Hols) and then getting the National Express to Bournemouth for £6.50 one way.

I actually intend on travelling onto Swanage for £5 single on Route 50 Wilts & Dorset bus, but if anyone has any advise on travelling here cheaper, please advise! (Total trip cost: £32.90 return)

And I don't drive so public transport is my only option at present!

Thank you in advance.

Livingthedream

Hi, just 2 options to give you something to think about;

1. Go via 'London' (On most Train fare search engines, use advance/more options) on random school holiday dates there's fare for £16.50 each way.
2. Use Megabus 'Birmingham to Southampton' on random school holiday dates there's fare for £12 each way, then local bus to Swannage/Bournemouth.

dzug1

Megabus/train may help - they run between London and Bournemouth, London and Coventry and London and Birmingham - and also Coventry/Birmingham and Southampton. They won't always be cheapest, but some of the time they will

And Greyhound compete with National Express between London and Bournemouth

£32.90 return for a trip of that distance actually sounds dirt cheap to me though - what are you comparing it with?

wealdroam

Pugnacity wrote: »

Does anybody have any money saving advise on travelling between the West Midlands (Birmingham or Coventry) and Bournemouth. It seems so expensive in comparison to trips of similar distance.

The cheapest I can find is by travelling to London first with an open return on London Midland (£9.90 during Easter Hols) and then getting the National Express to Bournemouth for £6.50 one way.

I actually intend on travelling onto Swanage for £5 single on Route 50 Wilts & Dorset bus, but if anyone has any advise on travelling here cheaper, please advise! (Total trip cost: £32.90 return)

And I don't drive so public transport is my only option at present!

Thank you in advance.

What date are you planning to travel?

A single trip or return?

Pugnacity

wealdroam wrote: »

What date are you planning to travel?

A single trip or return?

Thanks, I will try some of the suggested ideas. I was planning a return trip:
Depart Mon 18th April
Return Thursday/Fri 21st/22nd April.

bb21

Alternatively just to give you more ideas you can get between London Victoria and Southampton Central using cheap Advance singles from Southern, and also get a discount by booking on their website, if you prefer to stay on the railway for as much as possible. These Advance fares are currently available at £2.45/£3.65 for 18th/21st. They are not available for 22nd as there is engineering work. I assume that you have a railcard from the prices you have already quoted.

Between Southampton and Bournemouth you can travel on Bluestar 6 (half-hourly) to Lymington, then get the X1/X2 by Wilts & Dorset (half-hourly) to Bournemouth and then use the 50. All bus journeys are covered by an Explorer, which costs £7 if bought onboard a Bluestar bus, or £7.50 onboard a Wilts & Dorset bus.