Buxton Travel Forum

I am having a terrible time finding accurate information about transportation for my trip to London. I don't want to stay in London because it's too expensive. I want to stay in a surrounding county, I chose Derbyshire because of the beautiful pictures I've seen and that it contains many of the sightseeing places I want to go including Lyme Park. However, I can't find how far it is from Derbyshire to London. How far is it? What are the different transportations to get there and how much do they cost? Is there another surrounding county you would recommend?

Actually 175.6 miles ;-)

http://www.multimap.com/map/aproute.cgi?qs=q&starttime=17%3A42&client=public&itineraryxylist=405779%2C373569%3B530119%2C180516&rn=GB&rt=route.htm

Try:
www.virgintrains.co.uk
www.thetrainline.co.uk
www.gobycoach.com

Coach is likely to be cheapest but if you book well in advance you can get trains for next to nothing and they should be cheaper...

Sorry, last part should have been...

....and they should be quicker...

Hmmm, I wouldn't call Derbyshire one of the home counties, as it straddles the Midlands and is a good 2 hours by train from London.

It does have a great deal of scenery in its favour, though most of this is in the Peak District which is between Manchester and Sheffield, even further from London! Lyme Park is practically on Manchester's door.

If your intention is to stay in scenic countryside near London, my personal recommendation would be West Sussex. Arundel and Petworth are magnificent small towns amid wonderful countryside near to the South Downs.

About 2 hours by train -have a look at Kent or East Sussex , half hour in and you get the South Downs.

Its also about 30 pounds at best on the train. Plus you have to use Richard Bransons Virgin trains which are quite frankly - crap.

don't let all the talk about trains scare you. i've been going to enland at least 2x per year now for 7 years- and i've yet to have a bad experience on a train! the english who ride everyday see the bad stuff - but my experieces have all been positive. Beautiful way to see the sights - particularly the trip from london to the peak.

I would strong recommend tideswell as a place to stay - do some web searched and find out when their 'well dressing' festival is - there are a number of wonderful little b/b in the tideswell area. I also really like Foolow.

In my opinion the peak is one of the most beautiful places on earth - wander atop the old quarries, bring some waterproof walking shoes and several pairs of socks - and drink lots of tea! have a wonderful time.

email me if you want any more specific tips.

-bill

Unless you are travelling into london at 8:30 on a monday the trains in england are excellent. We do like to moan! The main problem with them is the cost - years of underdevelopment mean customers have to pay the price now. Branson is doing a better job than any government for the last 40 odd years!

I didn't really read your first post properly - I reccomend you stay in the south really. The cotswolds (in gloucestershire/ oxfordshire) are beautiful and you could do a lot worse than staying in my home town cheltenham as a base to explore the surrounding coutryside...

HM...having worked for Railtrack during privatisation I'm not sure I agree...I don't think standing in the vestibule time and time again between York and London is "good".

But don't let that scare you. If you hop on in London you will get a seat...and Derbyshire is gorgeous, just like Yorkshire. Not that close to London though but you get to see the "real" England rather than the "epicentre of the world" that is London :-)