West Midlands to Cumbria/Lake District with Virgin

[snuk]

Hi all,

Not sure if I've asked this question before or not - if I have, please accept my apologies.

What are my options for travelling from the West Midlands to the Lake District with Virgin on a Pendolino, ideally in first class but also in standard if the cost is prohibitive.

My nearest station is Nuneaton - it would be great if I could get a direct Pendolino from Nuneaton to Carlisle but I don't see it happening some how - so I'd be willing to change at New Street, Stafford or Crewe perhaps - or any of the Trent Valley stations. My journey would probably end at Carlisle - unless there are some cheaper tickets to Glasgow or something?

I might even consider running down to Euston first - as I would like to visit there as well at some point - never been - perhaps I could combine the two cheaper than doing both separately.

Would it be possible to do Nuneaton-London Euston-Carlisle-Nuneaton in a day? Perhaps I could do Nuneaton-Euston with London Midland on a cheap ticket and then Euston-Carlisle first class and then back to Nuneaton by any means?

Looking at the VT map it appears that only routes E and F run through the Lake District with route F starting from New Street via Crewe to Carlisle but it appears that VT run Super Voyagers on this route.

Route E runs Pendolinos but looking at the map I'd have to start from Euston?

There are two trips I would like to take - NUN-EUS frst class on Pendolino on a Saturday morning early start and back to NUN with London Midland to keep costs down. And my second trip would be as above NUN-???-Carlisle on Pendolino - but perhaps I could combine the two?

Any ideas greatfully appreciated.

Kindest regards,

Steve.

 

[bengolding]

Done the Nuneaton-NW journey several times. I get the only direct northbound VT to Liverpool at 06:39 (the next VT north isn't until18:12), and there is a handy 10 minute connection at Crewe for the EUS-GLC Pendolino. At thta time of day though, when I go First I have to pay for First Anytime tickets. At other times, taking the LM to Crewe offers no good connections at Stafford or Crewe as well as it being a much longer journey via the woods (opposed to 35 mins on VT). There is an hourly xx20 VT service from New St to the NW, and you can get the xx42 XC service from Nuneaton to connect into this. At off peak times, the xx20 BHM-Scotland services have good deals in First.

For your weekend journey, there are usually very cheap First Advance tickets available on the early Saturday VTs to Euston. If I were you, I'd try and get a First Advance on the 08:58 arriving Euston at 10am, as you will get a complimentray breakfast until the end of this month. You can of course return on a cheap LM direct train later.

 

[Pumbaa]

I put this elsewhere, and you mentioned cost prohibitions. A word of warning - travelling through Preston from the south is hideously expensive.

The cheapest option (and I've done this many a time) is to get to Manchester via Crewe, which can be done from Nuneaton on LM to Crewe, or the North Wales service that stops there sometimes, then Manchester Pendo service as this runs 10 mins behind the North Wales service, change at Manchester to TPE to Preston, then onto Virgin there. About £30 cheaper if booked properly, if an hour or so longer.

 

[snuk]

Many thanks for the replies. Especially interested in travelling on the 0858 from Nuneaton to London Euston, assuming they are not too busy - might plan that for Sat 20th.

Steve.