Penzance to Wick end to end

[tighcorrie]

Have often seen suggestions on this forum of how to do this trip in one go. Thought I would share how I did it last week. It was in the final 2 days of an all-line rail rover, 1st class. £429 with senior railcard.

It took me 5 minutes under 25 hours, but it is possible to squeeze it in in just under 24 hours by leaving Penzance later. However, you'd be stressing all the way as connections rely on all trains running on time and there's no margin for delays! I think going the reverse way, from Wick to Penzance, is possible in under 24 hours but I didn't consider that, partly because I live in Scotland and wanted to end it there, and partly because it would mean being chucked out of the sleeper at Crewe at around 5am. No thanks!

I avoided going through London as that would mean leaving the mainstream rail system and I wanted to be able to say I'd done the end to end 920-odd miles without a break. Which I did. As follows, though no doubt the new timetable will mess with some of these times.

Done on a Friday:

1400 Penzance to Reading : First Gt Western
1911 Reading to Birmingham New St : Cross Country
2124 Birmingham New St to Crewe : Virgin Trains
2354 Crewe to Inverness : First Scotrail Caledonian Sleeper
1038 Inverness to Wick : First Scotrail
Journey ended at 1455

Whatever you might say about Virgin Trains, I was impressed that I got offered hot food and free drinks in 1st class despite it being past 9.30 at night out of Brum!

I was pleasantly surprised that, at no stage in my journey, did I have any delays or problems. Considering I have, in the past, been abandoned at Crewe with the sleeper not showing up, that was good going. Nothing quite like Crewe Station at 1am with no train, no staff and no information! Not this time though.

Very enjoyable and satisfying trip. Strongly recommended.

 

[strange6]

Very enjoyable and satisfying trip. Strongly recommended.

A very well done! Thanks for sharing that with us; I just may do it myself one day!

 

[Track Basher]

I did it for £25 (return) on a Young Persons Railcard offer in 1986.

 

[strange6]

I did it for £25 (return) on a Young Persons Railcard offer in 1986.

Well, with a name like yours, I'm not at all surprised!

 

[Track Basher]

Lived in Lancashire and did Southampton, Norwich, Penzance, Hastings, Thurso and lots of other bits very cheaply all in the same week. It was £15 return to Thurso on the offer.

 

[9K43]

I would love to go from PNZ up to Wick on my railcard at a cost of nothing, and the return would be the same.
I would also avoid London and use the WCML.
This year I still have to use 6 instances of travel for my free passes.
They have also sent me my new free pass for June 11 to June 12.
Only took 27.5 years to get.

 

[317 forever]

Well done on completing the journey with such an effective itinerary!

Digressing a little, I have wondered whether it is possible to travel from Land's End to John O'Groats on just First and Stagecoach local buses (ie excluding Megabus)? I doubt it due to Arriva in the Midlands and North West.

 

[route101]

Well done on completing the journey with such an effective itinerary!

Digressing a little, I have wondered whether it is possible to travel from Land's End to John O'Groats on just First and Stagecoach local buses (ie excluding Megabus)? I doubt it due to Arriva in the Midlands and North West.

I know its possible from john o groats to manchester .
Last year i done Glasgow to Thurso in a day with the flat fare promo tkt.

 

[westcoaster]

You could do Penzance- Thurso by only using first group trains but would zig zag all over the country;
Penzance- reading- gatwick airport- st pancras intl- kings cross- hull- Manchester- edingburgh/ Glasgow- Inverness- Thurso. You couldn't go straight to londan as you would have to use the tube.

 

[Mojo]

You couldn't go straight to londan as you would have to use the tube.

I am sure you could find a combination of First buses to get you across London

 

[d1015fan]

a trip I have always said I would do so one day maybe.

 

[me123]

You could do Penzance- Thurso by only using first group trains but would zig zag all over the country;
Penzance- reading- gatwick airport- st pancras intl- kings cross- hull- Manchester- edingburgh/ Glasgow- Inverness- Thurso. You couldn't go straight to londan as you would have to use the tube.

Hmm... perhaps an interesting marketing proposal for Firstgroup? I'd be very interested to see if you could do the end-end journey by local buses. My try and work it out at some point if I'm bored enough!

 

[Captain Chaos]

You could do Penzance- Thurso by only using first group trains but would zig zag all over the country;
Penzance- reading- gatwick airport- st pancras intl- kings cross- hull- Manchester- edingburgh/ Glasgow- Inverness- Thurso. You couldn't go straight to londan as you would have to use the tube.

I have actually been tempted to do this. Got my first group boxes through the other day so it won't cost me anything bar accommadation or a sleeper berth. Just need to timetable it and find the time to do it.

 

[Ivo]

You could do Penzance- Thurso by only using first group trains but would zig zag all over the country;
Penzance- reading- gatwick airport- st pancras intl- kings cross- hull- Manchester- edingburgh/ Glasgow- Inverness- Thurso. You couldn't go straight to londan as you would have to use the tube.

I am sure you could find a combination of First buses to get you across London

Could always go for a nice long plod

 

[me123]

Digressing a little, I have wondered whether it is possible to travel from Land's End to John O'Groats on just First and Stagecoach local buses (ie excluding Megabus)? I doubt it due to Arriva in the Midlands and North West.

I gave it a go, and the answer is a most definite NO. I struggled to get through the North of England on those two companies alone (although I did get quite some way before I came into any real problems). Although it may be possible here (I've neither got the time, local knowledge, or energy to find out/care), you definitely cannot get from Devon into Cornwall on First or Stagecoach. The best I can do is as follows. It takes the best part of a week, and relies on a number of local operators, but is mostly First and Stagecoach - only seven journeys are operated by other companies!

Between John O'Groats and Inverness, I've had to use intercity buses, but to be fair I've only stayed on them when they're going through towns, hence the number of changes. And I'm a bit irritated that you have to do an overnight in Penzance to get to Lands End!

09:18 X99 John O'Groats-Dunbeath a10:18
10:22 X99 Dunbeath-Tain a11:49
12:24 X25 Tain-Invergordon a12:54
13:09  25 Invergordon-Inverness a14:10
15:00  10 Inverness-Aberdeen a18:41
18:45  7A Aberdeen-Stonehaven a20:06

==New Day==

08:30  24 Stonehaven-Brechin a09:27
10:06  21 Brechin-Forfar a10:32
10:40  20 Forfar-Dundee a11:16
11:35 99A Dundee-St Andrews a12:47
13:37  64 St Andrews-Glenrothes a15:35
16:30  30 Glenrothes-Dunfermline a17:48
18:25  55 Dunfermline-Edinburgh a19:16
20:20 62A Edinburgh-Galashiels a22:07

==New Day==

06:15  95 Galashiels-Carlisle a08:22
08:55  74 Carlisle-Caldbeck a09:26
09:30 73A Caldbeck-Keswick a10:10
10:25 556 Keswick-Lancaster a13:09
13:27  41 Lancaster-Preston a14:48
15:05 125 Preston-Bolton a16:43
17:25  22 Bolton-Stockport a19:32
20:30 199 Stockport-Buxton a21:34 (Trent Barton)

==New Day==

06:40 *** Buxton-Nottingham a08:55 (TransPeak) (Operated by Trent Barton)
09:30   1 Nottingham-Loughborough, a10:32 (Nottingham City Transport)
10:40   2 Loughborough-Leicester, a11:45 (Kinchbus)
12:10 158 Leicester-Nuneaton, a13:17 (Arriva)
13:46  56 Nuneaton-Coventry, a14:47
15:05  16 Coventry-Stratford, a16:26
17:25  50 Stratford-Chipping Norton, a18:17
18:25  S3 Chipping Norton-Oxford, a19:33

==New Day==

07:00  68 Oxford-Swindon, a08:22
08:30  55 Swindon-Chippenham, a09:40
09:54 231 Chippenham-Bath, a10:58
11:30 184 Bath-Frome, a13:07
13:19 161 Frome-Wells, a14:24
14:25  29 Wells-Taunton, a15:58
16:15 20A Taunton-Honiton, a17:37
17:45 52B Honiton-Exeter, a19:01
19:35   2 Exeter-Newton Abbot, a21:00

==New Day==
(Sat)

07:30  88 Newton Abbot-Paignton, a08:52
09:35 X80 Paignton-Plymouth, a10:56
11:33 592 Plymouth-Liskeard, a12:20 (Western Greyhound)
12:30 593 Liskeard-St Columb, a13:25 (Western Greyhound)
15:01  91 St Columb-Truro, a15:40
17:40 X18 Truro-Penzance, a18:39

==New Day==
(Sun)
06:15  1 Penzance-Land's End, a07:04

 

[scotsman]

You could do Penzance- Thurso by only using first group trains but would zig zag all over the country;
Penzance- reading- gatwick airport- st pancras intl- kings cross- hull- Manchester- edingburgh/ Glasgow- Inverness- Thurso. You couldn't go straight to londan as you would have to use the tube.

Or, you could use the Caledonian Sleeper

 

[317 forever]

I gave it a go, and the answer is a most definite NO. I struggled to get through the North of England on those two companies alone (although I did get quite some way before I came into any real problems). Although it may be possible here (I've neither got the time, local knowledge, or energy to find out/care), you definitely cannot get from Devon into Cornwall on First or Stagecoach. The best I can do is as follows. It takes the best part of a week, and relies on a number of local operators, but is mostly First and Stagecoach - only seven journeys are operated by other companies!

Between John O'Groats and Inverness, I've had to use intercity buses, but to be fair I've only stayed on them when they're going through towns, hence the number of changes. And I'm a bit irritated that you have to do an overnight in Penzance to get to Lands End!

09:18 X99 John O'Groats-Dunbeath a10:18
10:22 X99 Dunbeath-Tain a11:49
12:24 X25 Tain-Invergordon a12:54
13:09  25 Invergordon-Inverness a14:10
15:00  10 Inverness-Aberdeen a18:41
18:45  7A Aberdeen-Stonehaven a20:06

==New Day==

08:30  24 Stonehaven-Brechin a09:27
10:06  21 Brechin-Forfar a10:32
10:40  20 Forfar-Dundee a11:16
11:35 99A Dundee-St Andrews a12:47
13:37  64 St Andrews-Glenrothes a15:35
16:30  30 Glenrothes-Dunfermline a17:48
18:25  55 Dunfermline-Edinburgh a19:16
20:20 62A Edinburgh-Galashiels a22:07

==New Day==

06:15  95 Galashiels-Carlisle a08:22
08:55  74 Carlisle-Caldbeck a09:26
09:30 73A Caldbeck-Keswick a10:10
10:25 556 Keswick-Lancaster a13:09
13:27  41 Lancaster-Preston a14:48
15:05 125 Preston-Bolton a16:43
17:25  22 Bolton-Stockport a19:32
20:30 199 Stockport-Buxton a21:34 (Trent Barton)

==New Day==

06:40 *** Buxton-Nottingham a08:55 (TransPeak) (Operated by Trent Barton)
09:30   1 Nottingham-Loughborough, a10:32 (Nottingham City Transport)
10:40   2 Loughborough-Leicester, a11:45 (Kinchbus)
12:10 158 Leicester-Nuneaton, a13:17 (Arriva)
13:46  56 Nuneaton-Coventry, a14:47
15:05  16 Coventry-Stratford, a16:26
17:25  50 Stratford-Chipping Norton, a18:17
18:25  S3 Chipping Norton-Oxford, a19:33

==New Day==

07:00  68 Oxford-Swindon, a08:22
08:30  55 Swindon-Chippenham, a09:40
09:54 231 Chippenham-Bath, a10:58
11:30 184 Bath-Frome, a13:07
13:19 161 Frome-Wells, a14:24
14:25  29 Wells-Taunton, a15:58
16:15 20A Taunton-Honiton, a17:37
17:45 52B Honiton-Exeter, a19:01
19:35   2 Exeter-Newton Abbot, a21:00

==New Day==
(Sat)

07:30  88 Newton Abbot-Paignton, a08:52
09:35 X80 Paignton-Plymouth, a10:56
11:33 592 Plymouth-Liskeard, a12:20 (Western Greyhound)
12:30 593 Liskeard-St Columb, a13:25 (Western Greyhound)
15:01  91 St Columb-Truro, a15:40
17:40 X18 Truro-Penzance, a18:39

==New Day==
(Sun)
06:15  1 Penzance-Land's End, a07:04

Thank you for such a fascinating itinerary! I admit I do not intend such a trip myself. I think you could actually travel from Bolton to Nuneaton via Manchester, Warrington, Chester, Wrexham, Oswestry, Shrewsbury, Stoke (Hanley), Stafford and Tamworth on First and Arriva buses. (Actually I am unsure whether Tamworth-Nuneaton is Arriva or Stagecoach). This could restrict you to 4 companies, or even 3 if Arriva ever take over Western Greyhound!

 

[Mojo]

Local FirstGroup operators hold quite a few contracts for National Express coach services. Other than looking at the operator's name and address on the side of the vehicle itself, is there a way to find out (eg. website) which company operates each route? I wonder if it's possible to it if you include First-operated National Express coaches?

 

[me123]

Thank you for such a fascinating itinerary! I admit I do not intend such a trip myself. I think you could actually travel from Bolton to Nuneaton via Manchester, Warrington, Chester, Wrexham, Oswestry, Shrewsbury, Stoke (Hanley), Stafford and Tamworth on First and Arriva buses. (Actually I am unsure whether Tamworth-Nuneaton is Arriva or Stagecoach). This could restrict you to 4 companies, or even 3 if Arriva ever take over Western Greyhound!

I wouldn't expect anyone would spend a week travelling on local buses!

The aim of the itinerary was to stick to the brief as much s possible (ie, only First and Stagecoach). My lack of knowledge of the North of England may mean that I've missed a possible route; but it's just so dense that it would have taken me quite a while! I'm quite surprised that you'd get stuck in the South West, though. I'd have expected First Devon & Cornwall to actually link the two counties at some point...

 

[Ivo]

I'd have expected First Devon & Cornwall to actually link the two counties at some point...

Last I knew they did! Unless this has changed recently (OK, in five years; fine), the 80/81 (?) links Polperro/Looe with Plymouth.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
EDIT: Just checked. Looks like it's twice a week... 81B only. But the 81 does link Plymouth with Torpoint via the ferry, so it still works.

 

[me123]

Last I knew they did! Unless this has changed recently (OK, in five years; fine), the 80/81 (?) links Polperro/Looe with Plymouth.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
EDIT: Just checked. Looks like it's twice a week... 81B only. But the 81 does link Plymouth with Torpoint via the ferry, so it still works.

Fair does. But get from there to the rest of the First Cornwall network...

 

[Birdbrain]

I'm sure there used to be a svc 1 From Penzance to Lands End at 1840 and one around 2150 which would eliminate the need for the last day? These late departures might be in the summer timetable only though.

 

[Blindtraveler]

I know its possible from john o groats to manchester.

and from Manchester it is doable northwards too, but as you'd guep, slow.

Not sure how the lands end-manchester goes or how long it takes but from Manchest, you'd go:
Preston
Lancaster
up through the lakes via Kendal, Keswick to Carlisle, all with stagecoach.
Then up the A7 with first x95 to edinburgh, through fife, most likely via glenrothes to dundee. think ya may hit problems here as your next move to remain with simply local stagecoach busses would need to be to Aberdeen. Think to make the journey work you'd need to permit use of other local companies in Scotland but not for long as aberdeen-inverness and onwards are all stagecoach.

Good fundraising idea.

If I was going Wick to penzance I'd go sleaper from INV to EUS then FGW from there, or more accurately from Padington.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

If I was going Wick to penzance I'd go sleeper from INV to EUS then FGW from there, or more accurately from Padington.

Which is what I did - both ways!

 

[Blindtraveler]

sensible man! You'd need a bed though definately!

Me123, failed to notice earlier your moves from aberdeen to dundee, hadnt thought of that. in response to the question of who would be mad enough to do a week on local busses, your answer is me. I'd willingly do it for charitty.

 

[me123]

It would be a very good one for charity, actually!