Maidstone Stns to Kent Coast Return - routeing advice

[rosschap]

Hello everyone, I hope someone a little more knowledgeable with the routeing guide and fare structure than me can help, I am a LU driver so this isn't really my area of expertise!

I am planning on stopping off at towns along the Kent Coast during one day. I will be travelling after 10.30am (weekday off peak). I will take the train to each station, get off for an hour or two, then go back and get on a train to the next station. My proposed route is Maidstone West - Strood - Herne Bay - Margate - Ramsgate - Deal - Dover Priory - Folkestone Central - Maidstone East.

I am aware that using an off-peak ticket I am able to break my journey (I believe on both the outward and return portions), and I am trying to work out the cheapest ticket I can purchase that will cover me on the route I am taking and allow me to break my journey.

Initially I considered Maidstone Stns - Ramsgate return (£14.20 with 16-25 railcard), however having checked the routeing guide it appears that the only allowed routes are via Strood and via Canterbury West. This is okay on the outward, but on the return I will be stopping off at Deal etc (as above), so I don't think that ticket would be valid.

I then looked at Maidstone Stns - Deal return (again £14.20 return), however this only allows routeing via Ashford Intl and not via Strood, which messes up the outward journey.

The best I can think of is going with the Maidstone Stns - Ramsgate (£14.20 rtn), which is fine for the outward, then purchasing a single from Ramsgate to Ashford Intl (£8.45). According to the journey planner this ticket is valid on trains that stop at Deal, Dover, and Folkestone, meaning I can stop off there and continue to Ashford. Then between Ashford and Maidstone East I will use the return portion of my Maidstone Stns - Ramsgate Ticket.

Sorry that this is confusing... but any advice on the best fare to accomplish this will be appreciated.

 

[30907]

Not an answer, sorry, but if you're wanting to look at towns not just stations, don't miss Sandwich - whereas Ramsgate station is right at the back of town. And I would rate Whitstable above Herne Bay. But you may know both towns already.

 

[Mister Ed]

Using the National Rail Enquiries website, I can get an off peak day return from Snodland at 1115 via Strood (1126/1157) and passing through Margate to Deal (1330) for £14.65 . For the same start and end but via Maidstone East, NRE gives the same fare. So this suggests that both routes are valid for this pair of stations.

The railcard single fare from Maidstone West to Snodland is £2.60, so you could buy this and the Snodland - Deal return fare at the same time at Maidstone West, make your circular trip and then not use the bit beyond Maidstone East (which would otherwise be walk to Maidstone Barracks and train to Snodland).

There are fare advisors on this forum who know the intricacies of the routing guide, but from a layman's point of view this looks like a feasible way for you to make your pleasant trip for £17.25.

 

[Romilly]

There is a Kent Rover ticket that would cover the OP's journeys, but it's £45 for 3 consecutive days of offpeak travel, so I mention it only in case the OP wants to spend a bank holiday weekend on the trains in Kent.