Harwich International – Leamington Spa with a break in London

[Kasiano]

Hello, guten Tag and saluton from Germany,

this is my first time on this forum; please bear with me. I travel everywhere by train (and I am quite experienced about train travel in Germany), however the British ticketing system seems to be a separate world.

My question is about buying tickets for Thursday, March 21st. I am going to travel with my wife and our two children (11 and 9). We have a Family and Friends Railcard.

We will arrive in Harwich at 06:30 am with the Stena ferry from Hook of Holland. We then want to take the 07:28 train to London Liverpool Street (however we could leave half an hour later or so if this is much cheaper). In London we are going to meet a friend and spend some hours sightseeing. We then want to proceed to Leamington Spa, ideally with the 15:36 train from London Marylebone (but it could be earlier or later if much cheaper).

When looking for tickets, I found out that tickets for the 07:28 train from Harwich International to London Liverpool Street are £130.50. However if we bought tickets from Harwich International to Leamington Spa leaving at 07:28 from Harwich International, changing trains in London and arriving at Leamington at 11:29, this would cost only £54.30, less than half the money for a much longer distance. But we don't want to arrive in Leamington so early, we want to spend time in London.

Can you advise me which is the best and cheapest way to buy tickets for our plans?

Yours,
Robert

 

[biko]

I would advise buying a SailRail ticket from Stena line. This only costs €59 if I remember correctly and includes both the ferry and train from Harwich to London. You need to pay for the berths on the ferry separately but this is nearly always a lot cheaper than paying for the train separately.

Then you could buy a ticket from London to Leamington. You will probably travel off-peak by then which will save a lot of money as well. Others will be able to give the best options for that part of your journey.

 

[greaterangrier]

Using trainsplit, you can specify additional interchange time - by setting this to 240 minutes it is possible to get 5 hours in London.
This is using the 0728 Harwich International to Colchester 0750, then changing to the 0808 Colchester to Liv St 0900.
The train from Marylebone is the 1402 to Leamington Spa.

For 2 adults and 2 children, this is £36.40!

Tube travel within London is included.

TrainSplit

TrainSplit is a free service that makes it easy to find the cheapest train tickets for your journey.

beta.trainsplit.com

 

[bcarmicle]

Purchasing from the forum for your exact desired itinerary, with an extra specified change time results in a fare of £47.50.

Harwich International > Leamington Spa - Search Results | RailUK Tickets

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tickets.railforums.co.uk

 

[Haywain]

Can you advise me which is the best and cheapest way to buy tickets for our plans?

Part of the problem you have is that the railcard cannot be used for a journey to London at the early time you are arriving. There is, however, a different rule for a longer journey that goes outside the "Network Railcard" area (to Leamington) and this will distort the fares available. Also, Advance fares, which are for fixed times, do allow the railcard discount at all times. It isn't simple, I'm afraid, but we can try and advise you based on your requirements.

 

[Kasiano]

Now this is great advice, bcarmicle! Of course I bought the ticket, and I tried out the "more options" in your ticketing site, so next time I will know how to do it. Thank you very much!

 

[redreni]

Using trainsplit, you can specify additional interchange time - by setting this to 240 minutes it is possible to get 5 hours in London.
This is using the 0728 Harwich International to Colchester 0750, then changing to the 0808 Colchester to Liv St 0900.
The train from Marylebone is the 1402 to Leamington Spa.

For 2 adults and 2 children, this is £36.40!

Tube travel within London is included.

TrainSplit

TrainSplit is a free service that makes it easy to find the cheapest train tickets for your journey.

beta.trainsplit.com

One trip on the tube between Liverpool Street and Marylebone is included.

When the OP arrives at Liverpool Street he said he will meet up with friends and go sightseeing. He won't go directly to Marylebone.

The OP and his family could use their train tickets for one tube journey from Liverpool Street to any station in zone 1 (when exiting the tickets might not operate the barrier but you just say "We are stopping here - we will walk to Marylebone" and they will let you through).

After that the two adults would have to pay for any other trips they might want to make on the tube, buses etc (including to get to Marylebone for their train to Leamington Spa). Accompanied children travel free on TfL if they're under 11 years old.