Travel to and within Birmingham for a day

[ProbablyIdiot]

Hello
I'm planning a trip to Birmingham with a few friends in a few weeks and need advice with tickets. We all need to travel to Birmingham (from different parts of Worcestershire), then have a travelcard-style ticket to use whilst we are in Birmingham. We will need tickets that are valid in afternoon peak times, but could get away with travelling after morning peak. My questions are as follows:

• Will we need swift cards?
  • If so, how do you get a swift card?
• Can railcards be used in this scenario?
• Will we need to buy seperate tickets to get to birmingham, or would it be included in the travelcard?
• What tickets would be the best to buy?

I know this is a lot of questions, so if you have answers for only one or a few of them, don't hesitate to answer.
Thanks in advanced!

 

[Kite159]

Within Birmingham the best ticket will probably be the 'network daytripper' (valid on trains, buses & trams). Although you will need to buy a separate ticket from wherever you are starting from within Worcestershire to wherever the boundary station is (Longbridge/Dorridge/Stourbridge etc).

 

[jfollows]

The West Midlands Day Ranger is good for rail only, anyway.

West Midlands Day Ranger | National Rail

Special offer: West Midlands Day Ranger. The portal into UK rail travel, including information on ticket purchase and promotions, train times and delays, and more.

www.nationalrail.co.uk

Railcards and no afternoon restrictions.

 

[Skymonster]

If you can do your Birmingham travel on bus and/or tram, the West Midlands PlusBus ticket is phenomenal value for money especially with a railcard, and will get you as far as Wolverhampton and Coventry (but not on the trains).

 

[ProbablyIdiot]

Within Birmingham the best ticket will probably be the 'network daytripper' (valid on trains, buses & trams). Although you will need to buy a separate ticket from wherever you are starting from within Worcestershire to wherever the boundary station is (Longbridge/Dorridge/Stourbridge etc).

I think this is the best option - far cheaper than the day ranger, and sadly I do need train travel not bus.

 

[Tram203]

Excellent value the Daytripper tickets.

£8.80 for unlimited travel within the area of validity after 0930 Mon-Fri (no restrictions at weekends or bank holidays).

Be sure to specify "rail bus and tram" if purchasing at a ticket office - it didn't matter thankfully, but one time I simply asked for "Daytripper please" and was issued the £8.50 rail only variant.