BritRail - Suggested Routes

Suggested Routes

A great way to see Britain, and make the most of your BritRail Pass, is by using one of several cities as your hub. There are many beautiful and interesting cities that are both destinations in their own right. ....

They serve as excellent bases for day trips. The fast and frequent 'go as you please' BritRail network makes this travel strategy both possible and practical.

Suggested short trips from hub cities:

Your Hub cities:
-
- London	- Manchester	- York
- Chester	- Edinburgh	- Norwich
- Glasgow	- Shrewsbury	- Inverness
- Birmingham	- Cardiff	- Exeter

USING LONDON AS YOUR HUB CITY:
Our suggestions include:

Destination	Journey	Frequency*	Departure Station
Bath	1 hr 20 min	Every 30 min	Paddington
Brighton	50 min	Every 30 min	Victoria
Dover	1 hr 40 min	Every 30 min	Victoria / London Bridge
Ely	1 hr	Hourly	Kings Cross / Liverpool St
Exeter	2 hr 40 min	2 per hr	Paddington / Waterloo
Cambridge	1 hr	Hourly	Kings Cross / Liverpool St
Canterbury	1 ½ hrs	2 per hr	Victoria
Hastings	1 ½ hrs	Hourly	Victoria
Isle of Wight	2 hrs	Every 30 min	Waterloo
Norwich	1 hr 50 min	Every 30 min	Liverpool St
Portsmouth	1 ½ hrs	3 per hr	Waterloo
Oxford	1 hr	Every 30 min	Paddington
Salisbury	1 hr 25 min	Hourly	Waterloo
Southampton	1 ¼ hrs	4 per hr	Waterloo
Stratford Upon Avon	2 ¼ hrs	Every 2 hrs	Marylebone

* Minimum frequency

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USING YORK AS YOUR HUB CITY:
Our suggestions include:

Destination	Journey Time	Frequency
Harrogate or Knaresborough	30 minutes	Hourly
Leeds	45 minutes	2 or 3 per hour
Durham	50 minutes	2 per hour
Scarborough	45 minutes	Half hourly
Settle & Carlisle Line	Full Day Trip	Check
Manchester	1 ½ hrs	2 or 3 per hour
Hebden Bridge	1 ½ hrs	2 or 3 per hour

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USING EDINBURGH AS YOUR HUB CITY:
Our suggestions include:

Destination	Journey Time	Frequency
Glasgow	50 minutes	2 per hour
Stirling	50 minutes	2 per hour
Perth	50 minutes	2 per hour
Oban	4 hours	4 per day
Aberdeen	2 ½ hours	Hourly

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USING GLASGOW AS YOUR HUB CITY:
Our suggestions include:

Destination	Journey Time	Frequency
Stirling	30 minutes	2 per hour Q
Perth	1 hour	Hourly Q
Oban	3 hours	3 per day Q
Fort William	3 ¾ hours	3 per day Q
Edinburgh	50 minutes	2 per hour Q
Ayr	1 hour	2 per hour C
Inverness	3 ½ hours	Every 2 hrs Q

Q = Glasgow Queen Street Station C= Glasgow Central Station

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USING INVERNESS AS YOUR HUB CITY:
Our suggestions include:

Destination	Journey Time	Frequency
Kyle of Lochalsh	2 ½ hours	3 per day
Wick/Thurso	4 hours	3 per day
Aberdeen	2 ¼ hours	Every 2 hrs

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USING CARDIFF AS YOUR HUB CITY:
Our suggestions include:

Destination	Journey Time	Frequency
Caerphilly	20 mins	Very Frequent
Trehafod	30 mins	Frequent
Pembroke, Tenby	3 hours	Infrequent/check
Shrewsbury (Abergavenny, Hereford )	1 ¾ hours (35min, 1 hour)	Hourly
Llandrindod Wells	3 hours	Infrequent/check
Bath Spa	1 hour	1 or 2 trains hourly

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USING MANCHESTER AS YOUR HUB CITY:
Our suggestions include:

Destination	Journey Time	Frequency
Liverpool	50 minutes	Every 30 min B
Chester	1 hour	Hourly P
Windermere (Lake District)	1 ¾ hours	Every 2 hours P
Blackpool	1 ¼ hours	2 per hour P
York	1 ½ hours	2 per hour P
Llandudno (N Wales Coast)	2 ¼ hours	Hourly P
Buxton (Peak District)	55 minutes	Hourly P

B= Both Manchester Victoria/Piccadilly P= Manchester Piccadilly

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USING CHESTER AS YOUR HUB CITY :
Our suggestions include:

Destination	Journey Time	Frequency
Manchester	1 hour	Hourly
Liverpool	35 minutes	2 per hour
Llandudno	1 ¼ minutes	Hourly
Conwy	1 ½ hours	Every 2 hours
Central Wales Line	Full Day	Check
Shrewsbury	1 hour	Every 1 or 2 hrs
Blaenau Ffestiniog	2 hours	Infrequent

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USING NORWICH AS YOUR HUB CITY:
Our suggestions include:

Destination	Journey Time	Frequency
Sheringham / Cromer (Nth Norfolk)	1 hour	Hourly
Lowestoft	40 minutes	Hourly
Great Yarmouth	30 minutes	Hourly
Cambridge (or Ely)	1 ½ hours (50 min)	Hourly

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USING SHREWSBURY AS YOUR HUB CITY :
Our suggestions include:

Destination	Journey Time	Frequency
Cardiff	1 ¾ hours	Hourly
Aberystwth	1 ¾ hours	5 per day
Harlech/Ffestiniog/ Pwhelli	2 ¾ hrs to 3 ½ hrs	Check
Chester	1 hour	Every 1 or 2 hrs

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USING BIRMINGHAM AS YOUR HUB CITY :
Our suggestions include:

Destination	Journey Time	Frequency
Hereford	1 ¾ hours	Hourly N
Cheltenham	45 mins	2 per hour N
Cardiff	2 hours	Hourly N
Stratford upon Avon	45 minutes	Hourly S,M
Worcester	55 minutes	2 per hour S,M,N
Stamford	1 hour 40 mins	Hourly N
Shrewsbury	1 hour	Every 30 mins N
Warwick	35 minutes	2 per hr S,M

N=Birmingham New Street
M=Birmingham Moor
S=Birmingham Snow Hillk

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USING EXETER AS YOUR HUB CITY :
Our suggestions include:

Destination	Journey Time	Frequency
Exmouth	25 mins	Every 30 mins
Barnstaple	1 ¼ hours	7 per day
Torquay/Paignton/ Dawlish	1 ¼ hours	1 or 2 per hour
Salisbury	1 ¾ hours	Every 2 hours
Penzance	3 ¼ hours	Approx. hourly