Villa holidays by train

Where to Travel by Train

While staycations may have surged in popularity in the last couple years, the demand for UK holidays shows no sign of slowing down - great for those who love to travel but are also trying to live more sustainably. But if you're keen to explore somewhere a little further afield, you can easily visit various European gems on the Eurostar too. The train company publishes their carbon emissions which show a dramatic drop in emissions versus arriving by plane - 96%!

So, where can you travel by train with Oliver’s Travels? See below for a list of places and how long it would take to get there from Newcastle, Manchester or London.

Top 10 Tips for Travelling by Train

• Use RailEurope for all train tickets across the UK and Europe – they’ll even see if split ticketing is cheaper, so keep an eye out for the PriceHack logo. 
• Buy a UK advance fare ticket about 8-10 weeks before departure – this is when you’ll snag the cheapest tickets.
• For Eurostar, book as far in advance as you can – also check lastminute.com as you can sometimes find cheaper prices via their website.
• There are so many railcards that you can use across the UK to travel by train, including ones for 16-25 and 26-30 year olds, seniors, family and friends, two together and disabled persons railcards. These can save you up to 1/3 off your regular rail fares!
• Check National Rail to see the live departure board and make sure your train is running on time before setting off for the station.
• Buy a BritRail pass if you’re an overseas visitor and are going to be making multiple trips across the UK – just double check that it’s the most cost-effective option, as sometimes advance fare tickets are actually cheaper.
• Use a cashback site like TopCashback to get money back when booking through a train ticket provider. Sometimes you can earn more than 3% back, and every little helps!
• You can take food and drink on the Eurostar and regular UK trains, so snag a meal deal and some snacks for your journey to avoid paying the – frankly scandalous - onboard trolley prices.
• Download the Citymapper app when visiting various cities across Europe. It will tell you the quickest and also cheapest routes to help with navigating public transport overseas.