This weekend I'm planning a day trip to the South Downs, travelling out from Cambridge to Winchester early on Saturday morning, and returning later that evening from Petersfield to Cambridge.
Are there any useful tips that I should consider when buying tickets for this type of journey? Clearly two singles are not the way to go; I've looked at buying a return to the point where the legs diverge (Woking in this case) and then two singles from there; and I've also looked at finding a station well beyond both Winchester and Petersfield for which it's valid to travel to via either route.
In this particular case, I think that last option is the best choice, with a Cambridge to Fareham return costing £37.60 with Network Railcard, and valid on either route (and in fact I can get it a little bit cheaper at £33.55 if I buy a Cambridge to London travelcard at £14.85 and a Boundary Zone 6 to Fareham return at £18.70).
Whilst this doesn't seem too bad, at only a couple of pounds more than the equivalent split for a "normal" return to Winchester, are there any other things I should investigate to see if I can get the price any lower? Both for this specific journey, and for future reference, more generally for any kind of journey where the return leg starts at a different location to where the outward leg finished.
Are there any useful tips that I should consider when buying tickets for this type of journey? Clearly two singles are not the way to go; I've looked at buying a return to the point where the legs diverge (Woking in this case) and then two singles from there; and I've also looked at finding a station well beyond both Winchester and Petersfield for which it's valid to travel to via either route.
In this particular case, I think that last option is the best choice, with a Cambridge to Fareham return costing £37.60 with Network Railcard, and valid on either route (and in fact I can get it a little bit cheaper at £33.55 if I buy a Cambridge to London travelcard at £14.85 and a Boundary Zone 6 to Fareham return at £18.70).
Whilst this doesn't seem too bad, at only a couple of pounds more than the equivalent split for a "normal" return to Winchester, are there any other things I should investigate to see if I can get the price any lower? Both for this specific journey, and for future reference, more generally for any kind of journey where the return leg starts at a different location to where the outward leg finished.
