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In the UK, getting to the start of a long-distance trail can be a tricky and expensive business. Public transport can feel complicated at first, especially if you’re hiking solo or planning a route without a car, but once you understand how the rail and bus networks connect, it becomes much easier to explore trails all over the UK.
Fortunately, some trails start in towns or cities with good rail links, but even then, you’ll often need connecting trains or buses to get where you need to go. And what about getting to the start of trails that have no rail links or regular bus services, like the Pembrokeshire Coast Path, for example?
That’s where a bit of planning helps. I’ll show you how to put a route together, where to find information and how to get the best price train tickets.
Planning Your Journey to the Trail
Choose Your Travel Dates Carefully
First off, it’s a good idea to sort out your travel dates because the more flexible you can be, the more likely you are to find good-priced railway tickets. Bear these points in mind:
Save Money By Travelling Off-Peak
If you have a long journey ahead and you need an early start, you’ll find tickets are significantly more expensive during peak times, which usually apply on weekdays before 9 am. However, there are no peak prices at the weekend or on bank holidays, making this a more cost-effective option.
Remember, though, there may be fewer services at weekends, particularly on Sundays and Bank holidays, which usually run to Sunday timetables.
Avoid School Holidays and Major Events
In my experience, booking a hike during school holidays or when big events are on is the worst! Popular trails can be busier, and it’s more difficult to book accommodation, especially B&Bs and budget hotels like Travelodge.
To avoid major annual events like the Edinburgh Festival or the London Marathon (for travel to trails like the West Highland Way or the Thames Path) you can check your dates on the Visit Britain website. And, if you prefer to hike quieter trails with easier-to-find accommodation, visit the government website for school terms and holiday dates.
How To Find Train Stations Near Hiking Trails
To work out a route, start with a Google search to see if there’s a railway station at the start and finish of the trail — if there is, you’ve hit the jackpot; otherwise, keep reading!
If you’re not so lucky, you might find some useful information on a website like Tripadvisor, or you can check a guidebook (or one of my trail guides). However, you’ll always find the most up-to-date information on the Network Rail Maps.
To find the nearest station, download the relevant maps (the Principal Route Map is especially useful) and use them alongside a road map or OS Maps to locate it.
Once I’ve found the closest stations, I use the Interactive Map to find out which train operators run the routes between my start and finish points. Finally, I use the journey planner to look at suggested routes and times. This is a good way to find out if there are any cheaper tickets, journey times and so on. However, before I book anything, there’s more research to do.
How To Find Buses to Trailheads and Rural Routes
How close is the nearest railway station to the start of the trail? Do you need a connecting bus service? If you do, it’s wise to check there is one — trails with rural starts and finishes may not be well-served. The best website for this is BusTimes.org — enter the town/village of the railway station and the nearest place to the start of the trail to see what comes up.
If your trail starts in a National Park, you could also try their individual websites for transport links, like this one for Dartmoor, which often highlight seasonal routes as well as local services.
You might be lucky and find a service straight away, but you’re just as likely to draw a blank. If this is the case, you can go back to the Network Rail maps to see if there’s another local railway station with a better connecting bus service. But, once again, you might come up with nothing.
What If There’s No Public Transport?
If there is no service, there are a couple more options to try. You could start by searching the closest town or village for taxis and Ubers (heads up — there are no Ubers in Cornwall!), though this is likely to be an expensive option for solo hikers. You could also ask on Facebook groups where someone might offer help.
For me at least, rural trail starts and finishes usually involve some walking — not such a chore, but often a bit of a pain after a long journey. Off the top of my head I’ve walked to the start of the Cotswold Way (that’s a glorious walk), The Ridgeway, The Pembrokeshire Coast Path, Offa’s Dyke Path, and no doubt many more. Check out my trail guides — if I’ve walked to the start, there’ll be a downloadable route.
At this stage, I finally feel confident enough to book my travel!
How To Find Cheap Train Tickets for Hiking Trips
In a word or two, you use ‘split-ticketing’ — rather than buy a single ticket for the whole journey, you split your ticket and buy a number of tickets for different sections of the route, all without leaving the train.
This faff is thanks to the number of train operators you might travel with on any given journey. It sounds complicated, but thankfully there are dedicated websites that work out the ‘splits’ for you, including:
All you do is enter your start and finish point and you should get a number of suggestions, prices and travel times. You can buy your tickets through these websites, however, if you have a railway ticket office near you, I recommend printing off the split journey and taking it to the office to buy them. They’re really helpful, can offer advice, and sometimes find even cheaper tickets.
Cheap Ticket Release Dates
Many rail companies release a limited number of cheaper tickets 12 weeks in advance — once they’re gone they’re gone, so it’s worth checking regularly.
Advance Single Tickets
Advance Single Tickets are the cheapest tickets available, but they have restrictions: you have to travel on the specified train time and route (unless it’s a train issue — a delay or cancellation for example), and they’re non-refundable. I used to buy these a lot, and still do in some circumstances, but I have lost money due to last minute change of plans that were out of my control.
Railcards
Finally, don’t forget to check if you’re eligible for a railcard which can save you 33 – 50%, even on cheap tickets. There are lots of different types available, from age-group cards (students or over-60s, for example), cards for small groups and families, to veterans and regional cards for local residents.
It can take a bit of extra planning, but travelling to hiking trails by public transport is often part of the adventure — and it opens up far more trails to explore. I wouldn’t travel any other way.
I hope you’ve found this guide useful. If you have any travel tips to share, I’d love to hear them in the comments.
Have a great hike — and safe travels!
More Planning Tips
My guides and resources are for everyone from beginners to seasoned hikers — why not start here?
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