All line rover

[nightall]

I'm thinking of doing my first all line rover in the week before Easter with my son taking advantage of our family rail card discount.
Can anyone offer advice on using one? We would like to ride the sleeper (with berth supplement) to Mallaig, it looks possible to bus and ferry across to Kyle of Lochalsh then ride to Inverness and back south the next day but is this practical/reliable?
Other requirements are sleeper to penzance/ Cumbrian coast and Ravenglass & Eskdale /Settle&Carlisle. We have covered our local lines in East Anglia fairly well so looking to trial some new areas.

Any tips for must see lines or good b&bs near a station greafully received

 

[StephenHunter]

You can't go all the way to Mallaig by the sleeper - it only goes as far as Fort William. The West Highland Line is spectacular though.

 

[nightall]

You can't go all the way to Mallaig by the sleeper - it only goes as far as Fort William. The West Highland Line is spectacular though.

True, I know we would need to complete the journey on another service. The timetable is a little disappointing though, if we did a return to Fort William we wouldn't get back till 1728. That's why I was looking at ferry and bus to Kyle of Lochalsh

 

[Bertie the bus]

In my opinion, doing the scenic Scottish lines on an ALR is a real waste of money. The services are sparse and you could use up several days of an ALR trying to do just some of them. There is probably more than enough of interest in England and Wales for a 7 day ALR without really touching Scotland at all.

Most of the routes outside of the ones around Glasgow are definitely worth doing. Some are absolutely spectacular but my suggestion would be do them with a Spirit of Scotland Travelpass. You could probably do most on a 4 days in 8 or all of them on an 8 days in 15. The 4 or 8 days can be consecutive.

 

[HST43257]

If you want to do West Highland and Kyle Lines quickly an option is Sleeper to Spean Brudge then a shortish connection onto a bus to Kyle before a very short connection onto an Inverness service, with a backup 1h46 or something later. Do Fort William to Mallaig on the Jacobite another time on the steam.

Having done the ferry route, I can say that you’ll be lucky to:
1) Have an ontime SR train giving you time to buy and board the boat
2) Have peaceful waters not restricting which boats run etc
3) Have an ontime boat journey that will make the bus
4) Have 2 working, ontime buses to get you from Armadale to Broadford and Broadford to Kyle

 

[ChrisC]

In my opinion, doing the scenic Scottish lines on an ALR is a real waste of money. The services are sparse and you could use up several days of an ALR trying to do just some of them. There is probably more than enough of interest in England and Wales for a 7 day ALR without really touching Scotland at all.

Most of the routes outside of the ones around Glasgow are definitely worth doing. Some are absolutely spectacular but my suggestion would be do them with a Spirit of Scotland Travelpass. You could probably do most on a 4 days in 8 or all of them on an 8 days in 15. The 4 or 8 days can be consecutive.

Completely agree. I did an 8 Days in 15 Spirit of Scotland in 2019. The scenic Scottish lines are spectacular and lines to take your time over stopping off at interesting locations, not somewhere to rush around to cover lines quickly in a couple of days. I based myself in Inverness for the majority of the time and a couple of nights in Glasgow. I did find accommodation in Inverness quite expensive but it was worth it as it’s a lovely city to stay in.

 

[Andy Pacer]

Completely agree. I did an 8 Days in 15 Spirit of Scotland in 2019. The scenic Scottish lines are spectacular and lines to take your time over stopping off at interesting locations, not somewhere to rush around to cover lines quickly in a couple of days. I based myself in Inverness for the majority of the time and a couple of nights in Glasgow. I did find accommodation in Inverness quite expensive but it was worth it as it’s a lovely city to stay in.

I'd also agree. I've done a few ALRs and always entered Scotland, but usually just up towards Dundee or around Edinburgh.
I'm doing a Spirit of Scotland in June which will (hopefully) see me getting up the West side for the first time.

 

[Cheshire Scot]

Completely agree. I did an 8 Days in 15 Spirit of Scotland in 2019. The scenic Scottish lines are spectacular and lines to take your time over stopping off at interesting locations, not somewhere to rush around to cover lines quickly in a couple of days. I based myself in Inverness for the majority of the time and a couple of nights in Glasgow. I did find accommodation in Inverness quite expensive but it was worth it as it’s a lovely city to stay in.

Another vote for this option, leave the slow, very scenic routes with infrequent services for a more leisurely trip - I think I am correct in saying the Spirit of Scotland also includes the relevant bus and ferry routes for the Mallaig to Kyle via Skye option (as well as other routes) and if you do venture north of the border make best use of your time by sticking to the faster more frequent routes.

 

[spyinthesky]

Done a few ALR’s and I would certainly agree with the Spirit of Scotland.
As for the ALR, I wouldn’t dream of doing another until the raft of cancellations cease. I have one always planned and every time I check against a days running it fails. I know there is flexibility to change but getting stuck in some places puts me off.

 

[wireforever]

I have used the ALR to travel on the Highland Chieftan from Kings Cross to Inverness and return next day to travel to Newquay Cornwall and used the Spirit of Scotland on a separate trip to explore Scotland.The Highland line and Far North line are well worth doing

 

[Mike99]

I agree with others about Scotland but planning an ALR is an enjoyable, for some, part of the whole experience. It does therefore cause problems of what to fit in and achieve. If your going for mileage and lets say scenery, then in the past on an ALR I have stayed at the Ibis (Bradford ) Shipley, (good eat as much buffet breakfast) 200 meters from Shipley station, Shipley gives good links to several places such as to Carlisle via Ribblehead, regular trains to Leeds for all sorts of options, including Peterborough for access back to East Anglia. A round trip could be up to Carlisle round the coast to Lancaster then back to Shipley via Oxenholme and Settle or from Preston via Blackburn and Bradford or Leeds. So many options and permutations. It all depends what you want to do or see, don't forget a trip from St Pancras to Ashford International is quite exciting if that's your pleasure and only takes 30 - 40 minutes and I've just thought, from London Paddington through the Severn Tunnel to South Wales is something different if you or your son haven't done that before.

 

[Techniquest]

Good lines to do, well there are certainly plenty of options! Unlike other people, I would do the line to Mallaig if you can, it's absolutely amazing and should certainly feature in your plan. Trying to rely on ferry connections etc, I'd not risk it. The Kyle line is nice, could be worth the Inverness sleeper and doing that one at the least? Still means much of a day in Scotland, but that's not a bad thing. Maybe even go via Aberdeen on the way back south, to mix things up a bit?

Other ideas, well there was one line that came to mind straight away and that is the Gunnislake branch. It's a bit unusual with its reversal part-way along, but it is nice and scenic. Ditto for the Looe branch, the long descent from Liskeard is an experience in itself but the main bit of the branch is nice and scenic.

Plenty in Wales to suggest, and I always recommend the Heart of Wales line. It's no West Highland Line, don't get me wrong, but it's still nice to do. The Blaenau Ffestiniog branch, from what I remember of it, is pretty nice too.

I'm trying to remember all the nice places I've stayed at to recommend, the B&B in Ashford for example was really nice. I want to say Corner House B&B but I might be wrong. If you happen to end up in my city, No 21 on Aylestone Hill is absolutely beautiful, not cheap (nothing in Hereford is for accommodation) but it was incredibly nice when I stayed on a night out a few years ago and it is easy to get to from the station. A lot of places I've stayed in are hotels, so there's not much I can recommend there. One I can though is also in Kent, The Railway Hotel in Faversham. Literally across the road from the station, so it's extremely convenient for Kent trips.

If I remember anything else of special interest, I'll have to get back to you as nothing is coming to this very tired mind right now! Less than 2 hours ago I finished an 8.5 hour walking trip around Zagreb, nowhere near enough coffee for that and the body is exhausted. I was meant to be hitting up the gym tonight, but 23 miles of walking has taken it out of me in this heat! Maybe in the morning I'll have some more ideas, in the meantime I'm off to find the pool

 

[jfollows]

If you were to want to go to Skye, you could consider booking a taxi for Armadale to Kyle.
The first time I went I relied on the bus service, and it worked, but I went to Portree for a couple of nights inbetween.
The second time there were four of us and I booked a taxi which met us at Armadale, took us to Portree (again), then took us back to Kyle a couple of days later.
Most recent time was more than a few years ago now, however I only suspect the bus service is worse now.
Just a thought and observation. I looked online and it worked like a charm.

(Obviously you could get a single taxi to go direct from Armadale to Kyle, it's just that I like Portree and had the time to stop off there for a couple of days and recommend it.)

 

[HST43257]

If you were to want to go to Skye, you could consider booking a taxi for Armadale to Kyle.
The first time I went I relied on the bus service, and it worked, but I went to Portree for a couple of nights inbetween.
The second time there were four of us and I booked a taxi which met us at Armadale, took us to Portree (again), then took us back to Kyle a couple of days later.
Most recent time was more than a few years ago now, however I only suspect the bus service is worse now.
Just a thought and observation. I looked online and it worked like a charm.

(Obviously you could get a single taxi to go direct from Armadale to Kyle, it's just that I like Portree and had the time to stop off there for a couple of days and recommend it.)

Only issue with taxi direct to Kyle is that it gives you a hell of a lot of time to kill, and I’m sorry to say that you can’t spend even that long in the Co-op there.

Could well be quite expensive if you went on taxi is well, it was in my experience!

 

[benjones]

Can you use priv discount on all line rovers ?

 

[Ken H]

If one is doing an ALR over bash, is it considered 'cheating' to use a bus to link things. Like, for instance getting the bus from Skipton to Colne. Or Malton to Whitby perhaps?

 

[jfollows]

Can you use priv discount on all line rovers ?

Always been possible.
First one I did in 197x was with a friend who used priv discount.

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[benjones]

Always been possible.
First one I did in 197x was with a friend who used priv discount.

Purchase flexible walk-up fares for any British train journey

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www.brfares.com

View attachment 111943

Nice one ! Gonna give it a bash some point this summer i reckon

 

[Cheshire Scot]

Plenty in Wales to suggest, and I always recommend the Heart of Wales line. It's no West Highland Line, don't get me wrong, but it's still nice to do. The Blaenau Ffestiniog branch, from what I remember of it, is pretty nice too.

Option to do one way on Ffestiniog to/from Porthmadog as a circular trip.

 

[eastwestdivide]

If one is doing an ALR over bash, is it considered 'cheating' to use a bus to link things. Like, for instance getting the bus from Skipton to Colne. Or Malton to Whitby perhaps?

If you're paying, you make the rules!

 

[xotGD]

If I was to do an ALR then it would have to involve 6 overnights in a row in the seats on the Caledonian Sleeper. I would be a total state after this, but it would rack up some 92 and 73 mileage.

Daytime would be fill in moves, yellow penning some gaps in my atlas.

This is all hypothetical, as I have no actual plans to do this!

 

[Andy Pacer]

If I was to do an ALR then it would have to involve 6 overnights in a row in the seats on the Caledonian Sleeper. I would be a total state after this, but it would rack up some 92 and 73 mileage.

Daytime would be fill in moves, yellow penning some gaps in my atlas.

This is all hypothetical, as I have no actual plans to do this!

I've heard people plan to do this and usually give up after one or two nights from sheer exhaustion!

 

[xotGD]

I've heard people plan to do this and usually give up after one or two nights from sheer exhaustion!

Lightweights!

Back in the day we would do 7 overnights on a Freedom of Scotland.

 

[NorthWestRover]

Not in sleepers either!

 

[paul1609]

If you want to do West Highland and Kyle Lines quickly an option is Sleeper to Spean Brudge then a shortish connection onto a bus to Kyle before a very short connection onto an Inverness service, with a backup 1h46 or something later. Do Fort William to Mallaig on the Jacobite another time on the steam.

Having done the ferry route, I can say that you’ll be lucky to:
1) Have an ontime SR train giving you time to buy and board the boat
2) Have peaceful waters not restricting which boats run etc
3) Have an ontime boat journey that will make the bus
4) Have 2 working, ontime buses to get you from Armadale to Broadford and Broadford to Kyle

I did the Spean Bridge connection coming back from an Outer Hebredes walking trip last year and it is easy. However if you have not done it before Id say that it's absolute must do to continue on to Skye to at least Portree and if possible Staffin. I'd rate it as the no 1 uk trip for scenary. However that does make it rather unsuitable for an alr.

 

[HST43257]

I did the Spean Bridge connection coming back from an Outer Hebredes walking trip last year and it is easy. However if you have not done it before Id say that it's absolute must do to continue on to Skye to at least Portree and if possible Staffin. I'd rate it as the no 1 uk trip for scenary. However that does make it rather unsuitable for an alr.

I guess it’s easy for me to say miss FTW-MLG as I’ve already done that section but it’s certainly easier to get up there by car for the Jacobite imo, which is the best way to do that section I’d say.

 

[Merle Haggard]

Lightweights!

Back in the day we would do 7 overnights on a Freedom of Scotland.

Yep, we used to do a round trip to Carlisle every night (although one night we tried Newcastle for a change and woke up at York...)

 

[Cheshire Scot]

Yep, we used to do a round trip to Carlisle every night (although one night we tried Newcastle for a change and woke up at York...)

Newcastle! With a ticket valid only as far as to Berwick - did you excess or were there no checks?

I did Carlisle and back many times, also the Highland overnight, and once or twice the 01.00 to Oban, but I never considered Berwick (other than for a quick daytime round trip), overnight the last up call around midnight or not much later, then probably nothing back until after 03.00.

 

[Techniquest]

Option to do one way on Ffestiniog to/from Porthmadog as a circular trip.

That's true, it's something on my list to do but somehow have not yet done it. I've done a XPT, I've done a LA Metrolink day out, but somehow I've not done something within 150 miles of the house. Weird!

I've heard people plan to do this and usually give up after one or two nights from sheer exhaustion!

In 2011 I did similar to what xotGD reckoned he'd do on an ALR. 5 nights in a row on sleepers, the final night was a Saturday so no sleeper services. Memory is failing me tonight on what I did for that night, no wait it's just come back to me. I had planned to do 442s on overnight Gatwick Express services. Thankfully I didn't as unknown to me at the time there were riots in Tottenham that day. I definitely don't remember what that was about, but that was a lucky escape!

I was absolutely exhausted by that day, I would highly recommend anyone (seriously) suggesting doing it that they check themselves into a mental health ward. That many nights up and down the WCML is enough to make anyone question their sanity. It did my 2011 mileage a lot of good at the time, granted, and all that 90 mileage! Of course, these days all those figures count for nought, I don't have them all any more. Different priorities these days!

All this talk of ALRs and overnight moves reminds me of two things. One would be one of my crazier overnight moves, which involved going around a Stagecoach bus depot getting bus numbers (just don't ask, I'm not sure I had a working brain back then!) in Exeter. I suppose I could also mention overnights in London on Night Buses, how I ever did those without gallons of coffee I will never know. I think there was an occasion I did that twice in a row, now that was stupid!

Anyway, the other thought was that 2011 night not on the sleeper involved a B&B around 5 minutes walk from Darlington station. Definitely one I recommend!

 

[geoffk]

Option to do one way on Ffestiniog to/from Porthmadog as a circular trip.

Need to check that the Ffestiniog is running a normal service as currently they seem to be running only "excursions".