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can anyone give advice as to the cheapest, best and most efficent way to travel in the UK. We will be in this area for 2 weeks and so far all modes of transportaion we have researched seem very expensive. Any advice helps! Thanks.
Yeah, transport's nearly always expensive in the UK unfortunately :s Might be best for you to hire a car out. If you don't drive then by coach would be best, though they're not as fast as trains.
Depends on how much you will travel. Every day throughout two weeks, or just a few times whilst based in a couple of cities? You could always buy a BritRail pass if you want to travel a lot. Or go by cheap National Express coachliners.
Also, where will you travel? In the countryside, car is often the easiest way to travel, but between cities, trains and buses are perfectly OK.
As the others said, it depends where you plan to visit. In London, the tube is the quickest way to get around. In other big cities, bus is usually best. Between cities, train is usually the best bet. To get around the countryside, villages and small towns you'll need to hire a car. But don't have a car in the cities, they're choked with traffic and parking's impossible.
I also recommend coaches: they`re not as slow as people say: e.g. between Edinburgh and Glasgow they run every hour, between Dublin and Belfast too, and it`s cheap.
Buy your tickets on-line ... these prices are much cheaper than the standard fares.
Depending upon your journey, check out coaches and budget flights. Hiring a car for one or two days can see you into remoter countryside. Petrol is expensive, so factor that in and let the long hauls be done by public transport.
If all this is too expensive, hitch-hiking is cheap and safe if with a partner. A step up from this is car share.
Try: megabus national express citylink
easyjet ryanair
liftshare
Info: traveline
Also consider tour buses (backpacker etc, like Haggis, MacBackpackers, Heart of Scotland, etc etc) ... cheap if you like hostels and can avoid blowing money on beer.
Hostels are a good economy, since you can cook your own food - a significant saving that can compensate for other costs.
All the above is covered in more detail in my Scotland pages ... or just Google search the key words.
To explore places locally, try bike hire, if you are up for it, which will get you to interesting places and give lots of fresh air ... compensating for the other transport.
I hope this is some help. Feel free to ask for detail.
Best wishes - M
ohh, ps - don't forget ... http://www.steamtrain.info/ for mallaig but it aint cheap!
I heard that hitch-hiking in Britain doesn`t work: all people who tried it, were standing for days without getting anywhere. And when you rent a car: consider that you must learn to drive on the "wrong" side!!!
In addition: There is an "art" to hitch hiking - and so most people I see who try do not deserve lifts. You have to put effort in - and not "expect" by right to be helped.
It certainly gets easier the further you get away from stressed and selfish folk (so hitching in Scotland is good!)
If hitching is not reliable enough - look at car sharing agencies.
For information on how to get lifts hitching, write to me.
