Inspiration for a two night UK break from Manchester via train

[Sir Felix Pole]

Bristol? I always think it has a similar lively vibe to Manchester and not exclusively for students. Plenty of 'Brunel' attractions to visit during the day, or a more genteel excursion to Bath. I see the XC off-peak return is just north of £100 or slightly cheaper by TfW via Hereford.

 

[D6130]

Bristol? I always think it has a similar lively vibe to Manchester and not exclusively for students. Plenty of 'Brunel' attractions to visit during the day, or a more genteel excursion to Bath. I see the XC off-peak return is just north of £100 or slightly cheaper by TfW via Hereford.

Fully agree! My brother lives in Bristol and we always have a good time there.

 

[bangor-toad]

Hi there,
What about Belfast?

A SailRail return ticket Manchester to Belfast via Cairnryan is £100.
It's an early start but you can do Manchester - Glasgow - Ayr - Coach to Cairnryan - Ferry to Belfast in the day. It's a bit flexible - you're only got one coach per day from Ayr to Cairnryan but you the trains you use between Manchester and Ayr are flexible.

Belfast is an interesting place with lots to do and the nightlife is pretty good.

Cheers,
Mr Toad

 

[D6130]

Belfast is an interesting place with lots to do and the nightlife is pretty good.

I can second that!

 

[TheSmiths82]

I thought I would update on what I have decided to. In the end it all came down to the price of the trains and the costs of hotels etc. I know I said I didn't want to go up north, but I ended up booking to go to Harrogate and then onto Newcastle. There is a gig on in Newcastle which I want to go, so Newcastle ended up selling itself, I also want to go to the Beamish museum etc.

Harrogate is a new place for me, I have been before passing through but it was a long time ago. I am only spending one night there but hopefully I will be able to some nice walks before the sun goes in. I am getting a local bus from Leeds to Harrogate, they are every 10 minutes and takes around an hour. The bus ride itself might be quite interesting. Then the next day a local train to York, where I need to change to get a LNER to Newcastle. I rarely travel with LNER so that will be a change too. Total transport costs will be £68 but I could have probably got this a bit cheaper if it wasn't half term and I booked it a bit earlier.

 

[TheSmiths82]

Hi there,
What about Belfast?

A SailRail return ticket Manchester to Belfast via Cairnryan is £100.
It's an early start but you can do Manchester - Glasgow - Ayr - Coach to Cairnryan - Ferry to Belfast in the day. It's a bit flexible - you're only got one coach per day from Ayr to Cairnryan but you the trains you use between Manchester and Ayr are flexible.

Belfast is an interesting place with lots to do and the nightlife is pretty good.

Cheers,
Mr Toad

I have been to Belfast before via the Birkenhead ferry, I ended up spending 5 nights there as I got caught up in a storm so decided to spend an extra night there in the hope the ferry crossing would be smoother (that back fired!).

I found the place very interesting, and will go back again some time in the future. I didn't have the time on this trip to go so far, as I only have three days and I didn't want to spend the entire time travelling.

 

[Ken H]

I thought I would update on what I have decided to. In the end it all came down to the price of the trains and the costs of hotels etc. I know I said I didn't want to go up north, but I ended up booking to go to Harrogate and then onto Newcastle. There is a gig on in Newcastle which I want to go, so Newcastle ended up selling itself, I also want to go to the Beamish museum etc.

Harrogate is a new place for me, I have been before passing through but it was a long time ago. I am only spending one night there but hopefully I will be able to some nice walks before the sun goes in. I am getting a local bus from Leeds to Harrogate, they are every 10 minutes and takes around an hour. The bus ride itself might be quite interesting. Then the next day a local train to York, where I need to change to get a LNER to Newcastle. I rarely travel with LNER so that will be a change too. Total transport costs will be £68 but I could have probably got this a bit cheaper if it wasn't half term and I booked it a bit earlier.

Its a fair trek from Leeds Railway Station to the bus station. But on the way take 5 to look in the Corn Exchange. And if its raining going tgrough the market will keep you drier. And the bit of the covered market nearest to Vicar Lane is lovely.
Surrounding Harrogate centre there is a grassed area called the Stray. Lovely for an amble.

 

[TheSmiths82]

Its a fair trek from Leeds Railway Station to the bus station. But on the way take 5 to look in the Corn Exchange. And if its raining going through the market will keep you drier. And the bit of the covered market nearest to Vicar Lane is lovely.
Surrounding Harrogate centre there is a grassed area called the Stray. Lovely for an amble.

I noticed that looking at Google Maps, but I get to Leeds around 11am so I should have time to make my way down to the bus station slowly while taking in some of Leeds. If the single walk up there to Harrogate is cheap on the day I would just get the train, but it was ridiculously expensive to buy a through fare from Manchester to Harrogate, and I don't want to risk buying a second single in case my train to Leeds is late (getting the slower Northern service as it was 1/4th of the price) and is only 15-20 minute slower.

At least the Harrogate bus is very frequent, so I don't need to worry about missing the connection.

 

[D6130]

At least the Harrogate bus is very frequent, so I don't need to worry about missing the connection.

If you decide to take the bus, sit upstairs as close to the front as possible....and look out for red kites in the vicinity of Harewood House and village.

If you take the train - which is every 30 minutes - look out for them in the vicinity of Arthington Viaduct, between Bramhope Tunnel and Weeton.

 

[Starmill]

You can use Trainsplit and set it to Flexible after the results come up, to reduce many of the prices mentioned, including Cardiff.

 

[TheSmiths82]

Thanks, I can get a single for £2.40 so I may as well book it anyway and if I miss it I will just get the bus.

 

[Forty29]

Hi hope you enjoy your trip. For a future trip suggestion in the summer try Brighton a great base for scenic bus trips like the open topper along the seven sisters cliffs to Eastbourne or up to the South Downs national park at Devils Dyke. Great nightlife with an eccentric variety of people, great seaside resort's and the Volks electric railway voted best heritage line . Just a thought.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

For a future trip suggestion in the summer try Brighton a great base for scenic bus trips like the open topper along the seven sisters cliffs to Eastbourne or up to the South Downs national park at Devils Dyke.

Can Manchester -> Brighton be done straightforwardly for under £100 return without having a railcard?

 

[TheSmiths82]

Can Manchester -> Brighton be done straightforwardly for under £100 return without having a railcard?

Been a few times before, it is easy to do for less than £100, you can get to London for about £50 off peak open return by getting a train to Crewe then the London North Western service to Euston. The trains are quite expensive to Brighton though but it is still easily possible to do for less than £100.

I do get quite a decent discount on Avanti services too via a marketing scheme I with. Hotels can be expensive in Brighton in the summer though but I think you can get cheap student digs.

 

[Ant1966]

I am hoping to go away for a couple of nights in the Easter Holidays. I am running out of ideas where to go to as I have stayed in most of the northern cities in the past 18 months including Edinburgh (perhaps a southern city as it is in Scotland). I must be able to get there for less than £100 return and if I can get an open off peak return for that then the place will score bonus points but I ideally want to spend a lot less. Can anybody think of a liveliest place in terms of pubs that is not centred around students with a lot of things to during the day too? Edinburgh ticks all those boxes but been there very recently). I will be staying during the week and hotels need to reasonable cheap too (e.g no more than £60 for a Travel lodge a night). Ideally it would be nice if it was close to the coast too but given I am going in April the weather will be hit and miss.

I was thinking Norwich could tick the boxes, and I have seen some reasonably priced singles (£40 each way) but I am not sure if I want to travel on a class 158 for that distance and I have a feeling the night life might be a bit too student centric and while I like lively venues I am a bit too old for that. Cardiff is another option but the tickets are expensive (£108 open return) and I wouldn't want to travel on a two carriage 158 but the hotels are cheap and I can try and avoid those trains.

Bournemouth or Brighton are other options and I can get there for £100 return, but I can imagine those places are miserable if the weather is bad. I did think of Glasgow, but as my last train journey was to Edinburgh it would be too similar and I can imagine the weather is awful in Glasgow in April.

Can anybody think of any where else to add to my list? Please exclude any where north of Manchester as I have most likely been there in the past 18 months. To decide I will come up with a scoring system on the following criteria:-

• Cost of trains and hotels
• Choice of hotels
• Things to do during the day
• Nightlife
• How close it is to the coast (if the weather is reasonable then I might want to visit the seaside)
• How scenic the journey is
• If the tickets are fixed singles or an open return.

Thanks for any suggestions. I am aware Liverpool ticks most of the above items, but I have been too many times recently and need a change

Plenty of interesting nightlife and things to do in Brigton. Norwich also good, a bit quieter but more beautiful, imo. We have kids at Uni in both places so have spent plenty of time in both.