St Neots to Fort William

[thegrimeater]

Morning all,

I've got some time off and fancy doing the Jacobite. It will be two adults travelling out on the 21st July and returning on 23rd July. National Rail Enquiries provides an itinery which depards St Neots at 11:41 and arrives in Fort Bill at 22:06 with a fare of £286 total price.

Would any of you lovely people know a good split to get it cheaper and potentially leave a little earlier so as to arrive into Fort William at a better time?


Thanks in advance

 

[CallySleeper]

Re: arriving at Fort William earlier, unfortunately because of the nature of this journey the only other alternative is to use the Cally Sleeper and arrive into Fort William on the morning of the 21st. Unfortunately the 22.06 arrival is the only other possible connection unless you were to break your journey overnight, for example in Glasgow. The sleeper train is more expensive than the itinerary below; but if you're interested then I can get a quote for you.

Also, the prices quoted here are for two adults who hold a Two-together railcard - £30 for a year for two people travelling together get 1/3 off standard adult fares. The 33% discount on this trip would immediately cover the cost of the card.

Monday 21st July
09.41 St Neots - 15.22 Glasgow Queen Street OR
11.41 St Neots - 17.22 Glasgow Queen Street £60.80 (for either journey)
18.06 Glasgow Queen Street - 22.06 Fort William £17.60

Wednesday 23rd July
07.42 Fort William - 11.45 Glasgow Queen Street £26.60
13.00 Glasgow Queen Street - 18.22 St Neots £35.60

Total for this journey - £140.60

*Prices don't include the cost of the railcard, or indeed the Jacobite.
**All these tickets are quoted from eastcoast.co.uk, they offer a small (2-11%) discount on tickets booked for their services; i.e. the Peterborough - Edinburgh part of your trip.
***A later return journey is possible as follows:
11.40 Fort William - 15.45 Glasgow Queen Street £37.20
16.15 Glasgow Queen Street - 21.49 St Neots £35.60
Total - £72.80

So slightly more expensive. But if you wanted some time in Glasgow on the return journey then this is possible by booking the 07.42 ex FTW and the 16.15 ex GLC - for the same price as the 13.00 service. Similarly on the outward journey you can leave St Neots 2 hours earlier at no extra cost.

 

[Adam0984]

If you can get to Milton Keynes there's a 0641 departures arrives at 1611 changes at Glasgow Ctl and Dalmuir according to NRE £140.50 each

 

[andythebrave]

I'd recommend switching from rail to coach at Glasgow; a sensible departure from St. Neots followed by the 15:00 Citylink 915 from Glasgow to Fort William which arrives at an entirely reasonable 18:08 and has the bonus of running through the beautiful Glencoe. £45.60 for the two of you for the coach.

 

[thegrimeater]

Cheers guys, you've given me food for thought.

I will have a chat and book things this week.