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If you’ve ever traveled around Britain by train before, you’ll probably be surprised at how shockingly expensive the one-way fares were.
Unlike mainland Europe, where you can sometimes get dirt-cheap deals for as little as $10 even if you book relatively early, train travel between major cities like London and Edinburgh can cost A as much as $100.
There’s a running joke that it’s actually cheaper to fly from Britain to Spain to meet your friends there for the weekend than to just take the train to London. It would be hilarious if it wasn’t 100% true.
This isn’t the end of the market monopoly on the British rail system, but there could be a way to travel around Britain without losing all your holiday money (on tickets alone).
Here’s how to travel around Britain without going broke
Rail Europe, one of the largest booking platforms for European rail travel, has just… integrated the BritRail Pass in the portfolio, making it a lot easier for customers to book the rail pass.
In its most complete form, the BritRail Great Britain Pass allows you to travel across the entire National Rail network. This means you can hop on and off National Rail trains throughout the day, from England, Wales and Scotland.
Northern Ireland, the fourth largest British territory, is not included.
The pass is also valid for travel from airports to citiessuch as the Heathrow Express, the Gatwick Express and the Stansted Express. It doesn’t stop there: sleeper services, such as the historic Caledonian Sleeper, which connects London to Scotland, are also included.
The BritRail Great Britain Pass can be purchased with multiple durations, ranging from 3-day access to months:
How does the BritRail Great Britain Pass work?
If you book the 3-day pass, you will in practice receive 3 days of unlimited travel for one month, from the day of activation of the pass.
Unless you’re on sabbatical and traveling extensively around Britain for a month, chances are you’ll be in town for 2 or 3 days. If you do a lot of city hopping, the 8-day pass will prove to be more than enough.
For the 2-day deal, the starting fee is just £96 (British Pounds), or about $128 in US dollars.
Even leaving your London base for just one or two days to visit and return to a historic city like Bath or York is likely to be significantly cheaper than booking separate return tickets.
There are 2 BritRail passes to choose from:
- A consecutive pass: valid for a certain number of days in a row. For example, if you use your 4-day pass on Monday, it will be valid until Thursday.
- A Flexi Pass: your travel days do not necessarily have to be consecutive. If you book a 2-day Flexi Pass you get 2 days of unlimited travel over a one-month period.
What is the difference between a consecutive and a Flexi pass?
In short, the Consecutive Pass is the right option if you are making several day trips from one city and want to see many different places in a short time.
It is the best alternative to renting a car.
On the other hand, the Flexi Pass is tailor-made for slow travelers, who are not necessarily in a hurry to see the whole country, and will temporarily base themselves somewhere (be it London, Manchester or Edinburgh) while taking spontaneous day trips.
How much does the BritRail Great Britain Pass cost?
Consecutive pass (standard adult, 2nd class)
- 2 days: $126
- 3 days: $188
- 4 days: $233
- 8 days: $338
- 15 days: $503
- 22 days: $629
- 1 month: $743
Flexi Pass (adult standard, 2nd class)
- 2 days in 1 month: $165
- 3 days in 1 month: $246
- 4 days in 1 month: $307
- 8 days in 1 month: $437
- 15 days in 2 months: $649
Discounts available
Before you book, check if you qualify for these discounts:
- Travelers between 16 and 25 years old are eligible for a 20% discount on their rate
- Children under 5 can already travel on any British Rail train
- Children aged 5-15 years can travel for free when accompanied by a parent with a pass holder
- Senior travelers aged 60 and over get a 15% discount when booking
- Groups of 3-9 people can save up to 20% if you travel together
In addition, customers can also get up to 20% off the regular price between January 1 and February 28, or between November 1 and December 31.
We are no longer in low season, but if you are planning to visit Britain next winter, you should take that into account.
Regional passes are available
In addition to the British Pass for Great Britain, Eurail now markets several regional passes, aimed at travelers targeting specific areas or countries within Great Britain, such as England, Scotland or South West and South Wales.
These are:
- The BriRail England Pass
- The BritRail Sotuh West and South Wales Pass
- The BritRail Spirit of Scotland Pass (standard class only)
- The BritRail London Plus pass
Receive your British ETA for travel to Great Britain
Traveling to Great Britain soon?
You should know that the entry rules for American travelers have changed: from now on, as a holder of an American passport, you must apply for a mandatory travel authorization for arrival in Great Britain.
Don’t even try to board your flight without it: the airline staff won’t let you through.
