Round UK ‘circumnavigation’ by train

Hi all. I couldn’t immediately find a thread covering the above topic. What I have in mind is an around England, Scotland and Wales trip, as close to the coastline as possible, with overnight stays as required, but not using branch lines or doubling back anywhere, so I realise that on that basis some parts will necessarily be a bit inland. Although sleeper trains would reduce time, they would miss out parts of the coastline on which other services run, so they and the Great Britain type tours wouldn’t be appropriate. I would start from Morpeth or Newcastle, and finish back there. It’s not important whether it’s clockwise or anti-clockwise, although the timings on some sections might influence that decision.

If there’s an existing thread on that sort of thing, I’d be grateful for a link, otherwise happy to receive itinerary suggestions, estimates of how long it’s likely to take (which is not an issue - I’m retired ), comments on whether rover or separate tickets are likely to be the best option (I have a railcard), etc.

Many thanks in advance!

Edit: an AI answer suggests that this would take a week, with an All Line Rover likely to be the best option.

My instant thought is that, once you've decided your ground rules, and assuming it's rail all the way (no bus or other non-rail gaps) with no branches/dead ends/doubling back, the itinerary will be fairly set, just a matter of which way round you go. Perhaps the only decision is whether you confine yourself to National Rail, or use others (e.g. the Ffestiniog). But I think that either way, you'll be a long way from the coast much of the time.

In some ways, an all line rover is overkill unless you intend to spend all day going on long distance trains. For example, the time in Scotland is cheaper, and potentially just as flexible on a cheaper Highland Rover. Similarly there are day tickets covering Cornwall. The 'trunk' journeys can be made using advance fares.

Mainliner said:

but not using branch lines or doubling back anywhere,

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How strict are you on that rule? That means skipping out Cornwall and most of Devon and most of the Welsh coast for a start, if absolutely not wanting to double-back, unless using buses or preserved railways.

A S Leib said:

How strict are you on that rule? That means skipping out Cornwall and most of Devon and most of the Welsh coast for a start, if absolutely not wanting to double-back, unless using buses or preserved railways.

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Also means walking/bussing between the two Dorchesters, and also the two Yeovil stations

A S Leib said:

How strict are you on that rule? That means skipping out Cornwall and most of Devon and most of the Welsh coast for a start, if absolutely not wanting to double-back, unless using buses or preserved railways.

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I don’t want to double back, but I’ve done Devon and Cornwall and the Far North line before, so I don’t mind skipping those. Re the latter, I’d go Inverness-Kyle, bus down through Skye and then go Mallaig-Glasgow.

Happy to use preserved railways, e.g. Porthmadog-Blaenau.

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JonathanH said:

In some ways, an all line rover is overkill unless you intend to spend all day going on long distance trains. For example, the time in Scotland is cheaper, and potentially just as flexible on a cheaper Highland Rover. Similarly there are day tickets covering Cornwall. The 'trunk' journeys can be made using advance fares.

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Thanks, I’ll do some comparisons!

Acathater said:

Also means walking/bussing between the two Dorchesters, and also the two Yeovil stations

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Happy to do that!

Mainliner said:

bus down through Skye and then go Mallaig-Glasgow.

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Buses from Kyle/Broadford to Armadale ferry pier are few and far between and don't have perfect reliability so I'd advise you to be absolutely sure of your itinerary through this section before setting out, as there are practically zero guarantees that you'll make the connections - the bus, ferry and train companies don't talk to one another very much. E.g. the only connection I can find involves a 9am bus from Kyle, a 20 min connection at a road near Broadford, and then a 10 min connection to the ferry at Armadale.

Though it can be expensive, there are prebookable taxis that can fill in this gap reliably. The Scottish Grand Tour rover ticket gives an entire 10% off local taxi bookings. Plus hotel options at Kyle/Mallaig/Broadford etc, which also add in a safety buffer, but availability and price can be brutal at the more pleasant times of the year to travel.

While it's a beautiful bit of the country, you can save a lot of money and stress by opting for the Fort William - Inverness coach (via Loch Ness) and choosing to do a 1 or 2 day trip out to Mallaig (from Fort William) or Kyle/Skye (from Inverness) instead if you are set on riding those rail lines (which are certainly worth the time).

A S Leib said:

How strict are you on that rule? That means skipping out Cornwall and most of Devon and most of the Welsh coast for a start, if absolutely not wanting to double-back, unless using buses or preserved railways.

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Similarly, would Norwich - Great Yarmouth via Acle - Reedham (via Berney Arms) - Lowestoft - Ipswich count as doubling back twice even though there are no intermediate stations between the termini and the diverging junctions? If you rule them out then that is large chunks of Norfolk and Suffolk excluded.
Thinking about it, even Peterborough - Norwich - Ipswich would involve a doubling back at Norwich....

The West Coast is the trickiest I think - you'll need to take the other modes to fill in the gaps if you really don't want to double back:-

Bus Inverness to Fort William or Bus / Ferry Kyle Of Localsh to Mallaig via Skye as discussed above.

Bus Stranraer to Dumfries.

Bus Lancaster to Knott End. Ferry Knott End to Fleetwood, Tram Fleetwood to Blackpool.

Bus Bangor to Caernarfon, Welsh Highland Rly. Caernarfon to Portmadoc. or Festiniog Rly Blaenau to Portmadoc.

Bus Aberystwyth to Carmarthen.

If you wanted to do Devon and Cornwall again it is possible to do the 'Atlantic Coast' route by bus (eventually!) - Okehampton to Bodmin via Bude, Camelford and Wadebridge. Barnstaple to Taunton via Lynton and Minehead is also possible by bus.


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Acathater said:

Also means walking/bussing between the two Dorchesters, and also the two Yeovil stations

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Also the two Burscoughs, Corkickle & Whitehaven.

If the occasional bus or ferry is allowed, then can I suggest McGill's bus from Largs to Wemyss Bay, because it would be a shame to miss out Wemyss Bay station.