The ultimate train travel guide: explore more, stress less, save the planet

The why’s the easiest part – travelling by train is unlike any other travel (except maybe by boat). Sure, by car or bus, you spot the odd roadside view, but by train? It’s almost all view. Whether you’re travelling alone, or with a partner, or a group – you’ve the option to settle into the excitement with everyone else. Instead of, of course, driving. You’ve freed up some itinerary planning, avoided traffic jams, got time to start the novel before you’ve even arrived, and can even enjoy a little beverage en route.

Get the most out of your time

It also opens up some other possibilities, such as stopping off on the way at some spots you’ve been wanting to check out. For instance, if you’re skirting the coast, like a ride from Bristol to Brighton, via Portsmouth, you’ll find places to pop off and explore the coast – grab some lunch at fresh seafood joints, and arrive well-fed, and less ruffled.

Milk your benefits

If you’ve got a bit of clout at work, why not push to use Climate Perks? Used by the likes of The BBC, The Guardian, Financial Times and many other large companies – including here at Canopy & Stars, Climate Perks is a scheme where employees are given paid travel time if they elect to travel via land or sea, rather than by air. You can get up to two days per ‘travel time year’.

Slow Travel

We’ve talked about it before, we’ll talk about it again – Slow Travel is a trend that’s showing no signs of… slowing down. Arguably, it’s not even a trend anymore, so much as it’s a movement. An offshoot of the slow food movement, it’s all about combatting time poverty – handing you back your precious time to enjoy. All the while, using methods of travel, particularly trains, to be more at one with the journey.

You don’t need a bachelor’s in aerospace engineering to book a train, whipping online to grab some last-minute seats is very doable. But there are a few good tips to get the most out of your train travel, especially if you’re planning in advance:

• Book tickets in advance: UK train tickets are released 12 weeks in advance, so if you’ve plans to go somewhere, set yourself a ticket alert through trainline. That way, you’re getting the best price available.

• Look for deals and discounts: one way to save some cash when buying train tickets, is to use split ticketing – which is where you buy tickets for the constituent parts of a journey, rather than the whole thing. So, if you’re headed from Bristol to London, you can buy a ticket from Bristol to Bath, Bath to Chippenham, Chippenham to Swindon and so on. And as long as the train calls at all the stations you book for, it’s legit. You can also look for things like group discounts.

• Snacking: if you bring a picnic for the journey, perhaps even a flask of some tea & coffee, you might well be able to save a fair bit of cash by not buying food on the way with an inflated price – and probably isn’t up to par anyway.

• Reserve a seat: It’s always wise to reserve a seat for a comfortable journey, whether you’ll run into the issue of someone sitting there is, well. Beyond anyone’s control but the conductor.

• Pre-book a taxi: if you’re headed somewhere rural, there’s every chance that there isn’t an actual taxi rank at the station you end up at, so it can be an idea to book in advance to avoid a drizzly wait.

• Speak to an owner: it’s possible that the owner of the space you’re headed to is able to either pick you up, or drop you off at your station, check in with them to see if it’s possible, and if not, and it’s close enough – check to see if you can walk it!

• Get on yer bike: Bring a bike with you! Or ask owners if they have some to rent. A lot of Canopy & Stars places have loads to do in the local area, and having a low cost, low emission way to explore is really useful.

• Pack light: The easiest way to pack light, is to check what your space does and doesn’t have. You’ll be surprised what’s been left for you to use!

• What’s nearby: You can check the ‘Location’ and ‘Experiences’ tab for your space before you go to find out what shops and pubs etc are in walking distance. Or, if your space is wonderfully remote, work out where you can stop along the way to pick up some supplies.

• Wiggle room: Be sure to leave time for getting to and from the station, with enough to collect your tickets! Seems simple enough, but many a train’s been missed by a few seconds.

• Something to lug around: Have a good think about the luggage that you’ll be bringing, because unlike the airport, there’s often more steps, and fewer escalators.

• Be welcomed: Lots of owners provide a welcome pack before your arrival, which can include things like maps of the local area, with walks highlighted, rules for the space or guides to the local area – have a look through before you go to check anything important and enjoy a read on the way down to decide what you fancy doing.

• When in Rome: If you’re en route to Europe, check out The Man at Seat Sixty-One for detailed advice on routes (the site may be a little old school, but it’s a fantastic resource).

• Be entertained: Obviously a book, listening to music, or seeing your friends is secondary to the endless yearning you have to listen to our podcast, and read our content, so, be sure to have it downloaded to use offline.