Hi everyone, I’m looking for the best options for a day trip to London with the family.
We’re in north Birmingham (Sutton Coldfield) travelling with 3 children under 10. We did it last April, parking at Birmingham International for the day and travelling from there - the youngest was still 4 so we only paid for four of us, and with a Family Railcard the total ticket price came to £54, on Avanti both ways, which was a bargain.
Looking to do the same again - train at roughly 7:30 out, and departing back around 19:30-20:00 - on the days we can do it (midweeks up to late August) it’s generally coming out north of £100 and in some cases up to £150. In reality, working out at £20-£30 return each is not horrendous - on the contrary in fact! - but it slightly sticks in the craw knowing how cheap we had it last year and I’m looking at all available options to keep the cost sensible.
Doesn’t need to be the absolute cheapest possible, but just not overpaying.
Fridays seem slightly cheaper (can be had for £60 return) but those days are less convenient with me working early most Saturdays and needing to be back not too late, and Tuesdays-Thursdays (when we’d prefer to go) are more expensive.
We’ve ruled out the cheap but slow LNWR alternative via Northampton. Speed is important with the kids.
We’re also only 20 minutes from Tamworth, and the LNWR Trent Valley train from there is pretty good - just under 1.5hrs and relatively cheap - but there are fewer alternatives if something goes wrong. Also getting a car park space at Tamworth on a weekday can be a nightmare and I’m not sure we can have seat reservations on that route either.
So there are a couple of options, but I’m also considering driving closer to London and getting the train in from somewhere en-route - I guess from somewhere like Milton Keynes or Watford or somewhere. I’d rather it not be the Tube, I’d prefer “normal” rail; needs to be easily accessible from the M1 or M40 and have a big enough car park to not need to stress about it being full. Any suggestions as to where might be good locations to do that?
(And yes I accept that overall journey time may be in that case comparable to a slow train via Northampton anyway - but the kids will be in their “own” environment with entertainment and comfort in the car, not annoying other passengers, etc, so it may be worth it.)
Open to all suggestions! Thanks.
We’re in north Birmingham (Sutton Coldfield) travelling with 3 children under 10. We did it last April, parking at Birmingham International for the day and travelling from there - the youngest was still 4 so we only paid for four of us, and with a Family Railcard the total ticket price came to £54, on Avanti both ways, which was a bargain.
Looking to do the same again - train at roughly 7:30 out, and departing back around 19:30-20:00 - on the days we can do it (midweeks up to late August) it’s generally coming out north of £100 and in some cases up to £150. In reality, working out at £20-£30 return each is not horrendous - on the contrary in fact! - but it slightly sticks in the craw knowing how cheap we had it last year and I’m looking at all available options to keep the cost sensible.
Doesn’t need to be the absolute cheapest possible, but just not overpaying.
Fridays seem slightly cheaper (can be had for £60 return) but those days are less convenient with me working early most Saturdays and needing to be back not too late, and Tuesdays-Thursdays (when we’d prefer to go) are more expensive.
We’ve ruled out the cheap but slow LNWR alternative via Northampton. Speed is important with the kids.
We’re also only 20 minutes from Tamworth, and the LNWR Trent Valley train from there is pretty good - just under 1.5hrs and relatively cheap - but there are fewer alternatives if something goes wrong. Also getting a car park space at Tamworth on a weekday can be a nightmare and I’m not sure we can have seat reservations on that route either.
So there are a couple of options, but I’m also considering driving closer to London and getting the train in from somewhere en-route - I guess from somewhere like Milton Keynes or Watford or somewhere. I’d rather it not be the Tube, I’d prefer “normal” rail; needs to be easily accessible from the M1 or M40 and have a big enough car park to not need to stress about it being full. Any suggestions as to where might be good locations to do that?
(And yes I accept that overall journey time may be in that case comparable to a slow train via Northampton anyway - but the kids will be in their “own” environment with entertainment and comfort in the car, not annoying other passengers, etc, so it may be worth it.)
Open to all suggestions! Thanks.
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