Traveling the UK by train?

What do you LIKE to visit? That's a better question than what do you NEED to visit - you might not be interested in the same things as me. Get a guidebook to the UK and read about what there is to see, then plan out your route. Train is the nicest way to do it and there are trains to most places you will want to see, or if anywhere doesn't have a railway station, research what local buses are available from the nearest station. There are coaches such as National Express, and those are cheaper, but train is nicer - you can walk around if you feel stiff on a long journey, seats are a bit bigger, and you can get a snack from the buffet car if the train has one. Long-distance trains usually do.

If you don't live in the UK, buy a BritRail Pass and then you can go wherever you like without thinking about buying tickets. Otherwise, plan where to go in advance and buy tickets online in advance - you can make big savings that way.

If you plan your journey's carefully and look for off peak fares then you can see a lot of the UK quite economically. A good website is Train or National Rail - as a tourist you may also be able to get a tourist railcard that will give you a discount.

Places to see, York, Durham, Oxford, Cambridge, the Settle to Carlisle line is not to be missed and you should try to do some coastal journeys like south Devon or North Wales.

Trains get you from A to B you will not see the country traveling by train, for that you will need to get off the rails and onto the roads.coaches also use the motorway network so not much use either...so with either you are only going to get from A to B once there you need to have researched, decided what you like and use local transport

This gives you some things about the UK http://projectbritain.com/ get a map and use the two together to work out wheat you want to see and where it is

Train would be my second option apart from aircraft charter.

I find inexpensive bicycles a healthy leg stretch for touring

between stations. Scheduled public transit may have rack

for exterior carry of bikes to speed an outing. Were I a UK

resident primary transit would be street legal KTM 500.

Latter requires AFX dual-sport helmet, Icon field armor

over tweed suit, MooseRacing ATV boots, and Proflex

armored anti-vibration gloves. Suggest one Giant Loop

Coyote Saddlebag (30+ liter carry) and Ruf Duck 2-piece

wet weather wear housed within boot soft luggage. Any

disused rustic property becomes an access resource.

Previous rides have tented under abandoned bridges,

tunnel roofing, and other primitive prospects as listed.

Download 2015 Google Earth to plan your next journey.

No. I'm not British. I ride the Salish Sea region.

If you live outside Britain buy the hugely good value Britrail Pass before arrival www.britraiul.com

Our rail network is dense and frequent and we still have quite a number of lines serving the remoter rural areas.

They are very scenic too. Rail is a very good way of seeing the country as you travel. I don't know about your tastes and interests, but here are some good places to visit:-

London

Oxford

Bath

Lincoln

York

Whitby

Edinburgh

The Highlands of Scotland

Some particularly scenic lines passing through particularly beautiful areas with many stations serving

small towns and villages are:-

Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh (Scotland)

Inverness to Wick/Thurso (Scotland)

Glasgow Queen Street to Fort William (Scotland)

The Mid Wales Line ('Heart of Wales Line') - Shrewsbury to Swansea via Llandidrinod Wells (Infrequent - Check times)

Carlisle to Leeds via Settle. Settle is a great place for hiking in the Yorkshire Dales National Park

London Paddington to Penzance and asociated branch lines in Cornwall

The Mid Sussex Line.Horsham (Trains start at London Victoria) to Barnham via Arundel (Arundel is well worth a visit)

The Uckfield Line Oxted to Uckfield (Trains start at London Bridge) Hever Station for Hever Castle is on this line

Timetable Information www.nationalrail.co.uk

If you are unable to buy a Britrail Pass try booking your tickets well in advance via the National Rail site, for the best deals and get yourself a railcard for a further 34% discount on your tickets www.railcard.co.uk

Once you are in Britain you can buy National and regional Rail Rover tickets instead of buying individual tickets for each journey. These too are excellent value. They can be bought from any station ticket office

(tavy's answer is a bit of a generalisation. If you follow my advice you will find that rail travel is excellent value)

Trains are a very good way of getting to places on the rail network.

Where do you want to go that is off it?

Trains are ok in UK.

London, either Oxford or Cambridge,York are all historic cities, but depends what you like.

You cannot get to remote spots in Scotland by train.

Look at the train fare, it will be hugely expensive.

buy a britrail pass