Manchester Travel Forum

I'm planning to visit Manchester for the first time in July and want to know a couple things.

1) How can I get the cheapest train ticket (direct journey) from London to Manchester? Can I just go to the train station on the day to purchase them?
2) Can I make my base in Manchester and make day trips to the Lake District, Glasgow, etc?

Cheers,

The cheapest train tickets between Manchester and London go on sale about 3 months in advance. The most expensive train tickets would be sold at the train station on your chosen day of travel.

There are alternatives to the train from London - both National Express and MegaBus run services between the two and these could be cheaper but also take longer.

With regards day trips - to the Lake District, yes, although you might well want to spend longer. Glasgow is too far for a day trip. Other day trips would include York and areas in the Yorkshire Dales.

Feel free to contact me directly if you have further questions and I will see what I can help with.

I too will help where I can.

www.nationalrail.co.uk has all times and fares/ticket types for all UK trains.

Although there are often cheap fares available in advance for online purchases this does not apply to all trains on all routes. Buying online has often been problematical for VT-ers from abroad: cards/addresses are not accepted etc. The tickets will not be posted to you, and you will have to ensure you take the same card with you as used to purchase the ticket.

Nor must you necessarily pay the most expensive fare on the day. You can buy cheaper advance tickets up to 6pm the night before (at the station, if they are available). There are often 'saver' tickets which can be bought on the day itself, although these may not be available for all trains.

You need to look at the nationalrail site and work out what is the best option for you.

You also need to check out the fares/times for daytrips if you intend to base yourself in Manchester (or anywhere else). UK public transport is neither cheap nor particularly convenient.

You might also consider a Britrail card if you intend to make lots of train journeys. I rarely recommend these, but in the UK they can save you quite a bit. www.britrail.com for info

hi,
my advice would be to forget the train and take the bus,it is much cheaper and to be honest not a great deal slower especialy at weekends when much maintainance is done on the west coast line,so you could find yourself on a bus anyway !!.
On national express its about £22 one way and there are many buses each day,If your taying in manchester why not pop across to liverpool,there is much to see there and its only about 45 mins.
Enjoy yourself,and feel free to ask for any assistance,

www.nationalexpress.com is the main UK bus (coach) carrier. Fares are almost always lower then trains, but journeys are frequently considerably longer. Booking well in advance can get excellent fares, from 1GBP.

www.megabus.com is an alternative carrier. Cheaper, but with far fewer routes.

Thanks for the helpful tips! If I should use the bus, which service is the most comfortable one?

There's no real difference to speak of. Both carriers use standard coaches.

Northern Rail have some good value ranger tickets for when you are in Manchester and want to get out and see the area. Have a look at www.northernrail.org/offers/dayrangers

Dont forget to visit Liverpool while your here during the capital of culture year... an 45 minutes away by train and lightyears ahead on things to actually see and do than Manchester.
This aint a dig at Manchester lots of lovely places to visit in the outskirts and always a cracking night out but what is there to actually see and do?

I believe this will be a good link to visit. I bought my tickets at 8 GBP (2 ways) using the following link. You will have to print your train tickets at home. It's much cheaper than a regular paper train ticket.
http://www.mobitix.thetrainline.com/vt/advancePurchase.aspx