Great Western Coffee Shop

Hello,
So with this nice weather I though it would be nice to go on the Cornish branches lines once its cooled off a bit.

I am planning on going from Penryn (my nearest station) to Looe returning to Liskeard, then getting the direct HST from Paddington to Newquay at Liskeard. Then getting the HST back to Par then changing for Truro.

Would the best way of doing the tickets (planning on getting them on the day) be to get a Penryn - Looe return then a Par - Newquay return?

Although where would I get the ticket to Newquay as I wont be getting on the train at Par but Liskeard?



I also plan on a different trip from Penryn to Penzance and getting a train up to St Ives then walking back to Lelant Saltings on the coast path and getting the train to St Erth, which avoids walking on the main road back to St Erth then going back to Penryn.

I guess with that I would get a Penryn to Penzance return then at St Erth get a return for St Ives.


Thanks,
Mark

I suspect that you're best off with a 'Ride Cornwall Ranger' - ^10 for anywhere in Cornwall after 09:00, including Plymouth - Gunnislake. Details at http://www.railrover.org/pages/ride-cornwall-ranger.html (http://www.railrover.org/pages/ride-cornwall-ranger.html).

Well spotted, WP, you've saved someone a small fortune there!

Only because I wanted to do something similar a couple of years ago!

I hadn't thought of that. Thanks for the suggestion  :)

Penryn to Looe is ^9.50 off peak day return, (^6.25 with D+C railcard)
Par to Newquay is ^4.50 off peak day return (^2.95 with D+C Railcard)

So unless you have a Devon and Cornwall Railcard (or any other railcard I'm guessing to be the same price, subject to time restrictions) a Ride Cornwall will be best buy.

Devon and Cornwall railcards are ^10 for a year, and to buy you need to visit a staffed station with proof you live in Devon or Cornwall. The D+C railcard allows the holder to take a second person at the discount, and up to 4 children for ^1 each.
I've made my ^10 back several times over simply on leisure travel and have only held my card since January,

You can still get a partial railcard discount on a Ride Cornwall too. The discounted price is ^8.30

To add. The Ride Cornwall Day Ranger is valid any time on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays. It is also valid on all First and Western Greyhound bus services in Cornwall, as well as direct bus services between Plymouth and Cornwall. Not valid on local bus services around Plymouth.

thanks everyone for the replies! Very helpful  :)

With all the good weather it reminds is there still a form of Thames Valley rover if so what area does it cover?

http://www.railrover.org/pages/thames-rover.html

"It extends from Moreton-in-Marsh, Banbury and Bicester in the north to Basingstoke, Guildford and Redhill in the south and from Bedwyn in the west to London Paddington in the east and includes Reading, Didcot, Oxford and Newbury plus the Thames valley branch lines."

Mondays to Fridays the ticket is not valid until 09.30 or on inter-city services that depart London Paddington and Reading between 16.00 and 19.15

And for a day out there's the Thames Branches Day Ranger. A more restricted area of validity versus the Thames Rover:

http://www.railrover.org/pages/thames-branches-day-ranger.html

With both the 3 or 7 day Thames Rover and the Thames Branches Day Ranger it's worth noting the evening peak restrictions.

For the genuinely desparate, a return Temple Meads to Severn Beach costs a mere ^3 for a 26 mile round trip. Don't expect a beach, although there is a Severn. It has its charms.

Hexcuse ME!

The Severn Beach Line is listed by Thomas Cook as one of the Great Railway Journies (see here (http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/west/series6/railway.shtml)). I think you'd have to be pretty tired of life not to find the combination of North Bristol's cityscape, the Avon Gorge, industrial Avonmouth and the Severn Estuary exhillerating. And at three quid, it's quite a bargain. And you'll be home in time for a swift couple, followed perhaps by a slower couple, at the Barley Mow. What's not to like?

If you're looking for more entertainment, do it twice!

I went out to the 'Beach' at the start of this current heatwave. As it turns out that was a mistake. Not because I was disappointed about the environs, but because I took my bike with me, intending to travel to another country (which I gave up on), and cycling home to Shirehampton aggravated my war wound* and laid me up for a few days.


*I have a broken final vertebrae in my coccyx. GP said gentle exercise. Turns out that doesn't include attempts to cycle to Chepstow.

Oh dear damned if you do, damned if you don't.  Too much exercise and you're in trouble, but then the war wound prevents you sitting around on your bum as well!

Is Severn Beach more mud kind of beach than sand?
I spent some days last week on the Somerset coast at the Haven in Doniford Bay, and was amazed they advertise as being near to the beach, which was just a mud beach!

A Bemmy Boy!

I speak in jest, and agree that it is a trip well worth making for its own sake. The only ugly bit is Avonmouth, and that is fascinating.

There is talk of cruise liners calling into Avonmouth. I have pointed out in Another Place that the savvy travvy (Mrs FTN and myself are veterans of 4 cruises thus far) will realise that rather than taking a fifty quid excursion to Bristol or Bath, he can catch the train for a mere ^3.00, see Bristol in its pomp, and still be back at the Royal in Gloucester Road Avonmouth in time for pre-embarkation cocktails, canap^s, and dancing (alright, cider, crisps and a fight/shag/both).

Spike Milligan was right. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. You can get it out with Optrex*"

(*Other eyecare products are available)

S'okay. I got one of those comedy inflatable doughnut cushions for sitting around on.

In answer to richwarwicker. It's pretty much mud at low tide all the way from Severn Beach to Porlock.

Other Barleys Mow are also available - I meant the one in The Dings!

My education continues...

Well worth a quick stroll over the rickety stainless-steel bridge from Temple Meads, I'd say... of course, some people prefer the Kernigguts Templar. Hey ho.

I blow my nose at your so called Arthur King. You and all your silly English Kerniggits! I don't want to talk to you no more, you empty headed animal food trough wiper! I fart in your general direction! You're mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberries.  :P

Sorry to the OP. Blame Red Squirrel for giving me the lead in to Monty Python.

Come on, BNM. "We're Kerniggits of the Round Table, we dance whenever we're able". Or so I thought over drinkie-poos last Wednesday.

That's enough music for now, thank you lads!

Indeed, on a recent holiday to Tenerife, my tour operator was selling full day coach tours of the Island for 75 Euros per person, (children 50% discount). Considering there was my wife, 2 children and myself I did a little research on the routes they tour, and took the decision to hire a car. The car cost me 35 Euros per day which was a mid sized hatchback, and petrol was around 1 Euro a litre. Based on this I was amazed to see the coach tour leaving our hotel full everyday (our hotel was the last pickup). I hired for 4 days, and used around 30 euros petrol.
People will buy whatever the tour operator / cruise company are selling regardless of price for their excursions which totally amazes me.