Bright ideas - Melksham to South Wales?

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Melksham to Llansamlet, Sunday 23rd November, for early evening arrival.  Also need hotel there. Return early evening during the week.  The return is no problem ... the outbound offers me nothing to Llansamlet and is painfully longwinded to Swansea.  Hotels in immediate area look a bit plastic. The AA says 1 hour 47 minutes to drive; think this may be one of my rare forays away from rail.

[chrisr_75]

If you drive (which would be my recommendation) beware the bridge toll booths (new bridge) can get a bit busy early evening on a Sunday, so you may want to consider the timing. Also, there are 2 contraflows currently, 1 close to Bridgend, the other on Kenfig viaduct which seem to be causing some problems currently at peak times and also some emergency eastbound carriageway closures (diverted onto A48) overnight this week, so worth checking www.traffic-wales.com before your journey in case those closures continue.

I can't vouch for the place myself, but I've seen this establishment in Neath recommended by a local car painter (they do lots of very high end cars, so I would imagine their clientele are pretty fussy about their accomm!) http://www.thebluebellneath.co.uk/ Looks a bit less plastic than the usual chain jobbies!

[Richard Fairhurst]

the outbound offers me nothing to Llansamlet

It may not float your boat, but this is the sort of situation when I find a folding bike invaluable. It's only about five miles from Swansea to Llansamlet, and you can do most of it on a traffic-free path.

[John R]

First problem is that Llansamlet is closed on a Sunday and the second is the Severn Tunnel also appears to be closed. You could avoid the tortuous journey via Bristol stations and a bus by taking the train to Swindon and then via Gloucester and Lydney.  (Select via Swindon on the advanced options on National Rail).  Fares seem quite reasonable for the journey but it's still twice as long as driving. You'd get good value out of weekend first though!

[grahame]

Many thanks for the comments / suggestions.

I do indeed fancy a cycle (on a dedicated way, not the road) - however, I have materials etc to take with me in a rucksack weighing around 30kgs and don't think I could balance with that.   And that's also a reason to dread the many-change suggestion from travel line and ticket booking sites.    The "via Swindon" idea's a neat one, I don't mind the (slightly) longer journey than via the bus over the bridge, and I can use the substantial layover to kill two birds with one stone - measure up the front waiting room prior to the installation of Santa's Grotto there on 14th December.   Fare wise - is a Melksham to Swansea ticket valid via that route?.  And I don't know the Gloucester to Severn Tunnel Junction line, so a bit of track bashing that I probably shouldn't admit to!

I may still end up driving - tip on the bridge, and suggested hotel noted, thank you.  This may be the first of a number of visits to the place and if that's so, I'm sure I'll end up varying it.

[John R]

Yes the fare is valid that way. Indeed, I've just checked and you can leave MKM^» (Melksham (Station code) - next trains) at 1733 and arrive Neath at 2119 for 17.70, which is broken down into 6.60 to Swindon and 11.10 advance SWI^» (Swindon - next trains) to Neath. Weekend first would be ^15 extra.