Getting around southern England with luggage but no car before TA

[2Oldpeopleinlove]

We will be moving among a few of our favorite cathedral cities for five days before boarding QM2 in Southampton. In the past, we have always rented a car and done our “cathedral and pub tours” on our own schedule, and ranging much farther. This time, we won’t have that luxury, we will have more luggage than in the past, and depending on tomorrow morning’s appointment, one of us may be hobbled by recent toe surgery. 
 

Given all that, and given a limited budget (I.e., private car hire may well be out of the question), does anyone have any suggestions based on your greater familiarity with public transport around Gatwick, Salisbury, Winchester, and finally Southampton? Or should we go the rental car route…less relaxing in some ways, but maybe still our best bet?

 

Thanks for any advice.

[exlondoner]

5 minutes ago, 2Oldpeopleinlove said:

We will be moving among a few of our favorite cathedral cities for five days before boarding QM2 in Southampton. In the past, we have always rented a car and done our “cathedral and pub tours” on our own schedule, and ranging much farther. This time, we won’t have that luxury, we will have more luggage than in the past, and depending on tomorrow morning’s appointment, one of us may be hobbled by recent toe surgery. 
 

Given all that, and given a limited budget (I.e., private car hire may well be out of the question), does anyone have any suggestions based on your greater familiarity with public transport around Gatwick, Salisbury, Winchester, and finally Southampton? Or should we go the rental car route…less relaxing in some ways, but maybe still our best bet?

 

Thanks for any advice.

If it’s not a strike day, which can be checked on the National Rail website, all the above can be reached easily by train from Soton. Stay in Southampton, having arrived in the train from Gatwick, then you can abandon your luggage there, while you take day trips to the others. Bath would also be possible. If you can book tickets as early as possible.

[2Oldpeopleinlove]

Thank you very much! But we’ve booked hotels in all three cities as we are fairly obsessed with getting to Evensong services. We’ve been to all these cities before and prefer to be fully in them for a couple of days each. So the question is about getting from one to the next. We’re probably going to go back to renting a car unless there’s some great alternative we don’t know about.

[exlondoner]

8 minutes ago, 2Oldpeopleinlove said:

Thank you very much! But we’ve booked hotels in all three cities as we are fairly obsessed with getting to Evensong services. We’ve been to all these cities before and prefer to be fully in them for a couple of days each. So the question is about getting from one to the next. We’re probably going to go back to renting a car unless there’s some great alternative we don’t know about.

You can still use the train. There will also be buses/coaches between the three, but I don’t know anything about them.

[NE John]

1 hour ago, 2Oldpeopleinlove said:

Thank you very much! But we’ve booked hotels in all three cities as we are fairly obsessed with getting to Evensong services. We’ve been to all these cities before and prefer to be fully in them for a couple of days each. So the question is about getting from one to the next. We’re probably going to go back to renting a car unless there’s some great alternative we don’t know about.

I really had a good experience renting a car, even though it was the first time I drove in the UK. We arrived the day before the TA and dropped luggage off at our hotel, returned the car, and spent a great day in Southhampton. The rental car drop off lot is very close to the docks if you plan to arrive the day of TA. 

Having been to an Evensong at Westminster Abbey and attended a Sung Eucharist at Bath Cathedral, those experiences are very top-shelf. 
As usual, there are good YouTube videos on tips for Americans who want to drive in England and those were helpful. 
 

[2Oldpeopleinlove]

Thank you, John! I think this is what we’ll do,partly because I may be on at least a cane next week. My John has driven thousands of miles in the UK, so we’re good. I just thought it might be more fun for him not to have to drive for once. 
 

we will stay in Southampton the night before the TA, so we’ll drop the car at the airport and taxi to our hotel. 

[D&N]

@2Oldpeopleinlove

You say hotels are booked. I assume due to your aims for evenings you would travel in mornings.

If you can state what days of week you need to move from where to where, and what the earliest time you would want to be on move in morning, I can look up your public transport options.

I take it Gatwick is the start point and travel would be required a suitable time after arrival of a flight?

I suppose ideal travel time might be to fit between latest time of hotel check-out in a city to earliest check-in at the next hotel.

Only other complication would be if your trip included any public holidays, which might affect the schedules and of course you'd need to watch for strikes etc nearer the time.

 

You could probably do it yourself using:  https://www.traveline.info/

I'd be inclined to double check info on other sites; such as:  https://www.southernrailway.com/ 

Buses should be fairly accurate as the major operators pass their data directly to Traveline. But most bus operators have their own sites as well, often including downloadable pdf timetables.

 

If info isn't available yet for your dates, check the same day of week in data that is already published. That might change before you travel but it should give a good indication of whether you can achieve your aims using public transport.

[2Oldpeopleinlove]

Thank you so much for your information! Very kind of you. We will look into it. However, I am thinking that any idea of hauling large luggage around in public transport with my foot in some kind of protective device will be too much, particularly given the dates in December. 
 

The replies here have been generous, but I think I’ve talked myself into returning to a car rental. Thanks!

[John Bull]

Just in case you haven’t completely made your minds up, and your hotels are cancellable ………..

 

Train strikes are now basically finished, after a couple of years of disruption.

 

Except on Sundays there are hourly direct trains from Gatwick airport South Terminal to Southampton Central. Choose one of three hotels across the road from So’ton Central - Ibis, Ibis Budget and Novotel.

Direct trains from there to Salisbury (35 mins) and ho-ho from Salisbury station if you want to visit Stonehenge, and 3 trains per hour from So’ton to Winchester (15 to 20. mins):

just one hotel for the duration, train fares about £40 per person, 5 minute taxi ride to your shipcity ride to your ship-

 

cheap, easy, convenient

 

JB 🙂

[Globaliser]

37 minutes ago, John Bull said:

Train strikes are now basically finished, after a couple of years of disruption.

 

That's an interesting thing to post today, which is the first day of nine days of industrial action by train drivers, including strikes on 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 8 December; and also the day on which their union has announced that they have a ballot mandate for another six months of strikes.

[John Bull]

8 minutes ago, Globaliser said:

 

That's an interesting thing to post today, which is the first day of nine days of industrial action by train drivers, including strikes on 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 8 December; and also the day on which their union has announced that they have a ballot mandate for another six months of strikes.

hi, G.,

 

I don’t think the OP is travelling in December.😉

I said train strikes are now “basically” finished because the union with the vast majority of railway workers has agreed terms with an overwhelming number of members voting in favour.

The drivers have a more= militant but much smaller union, they will now certainly agree terms in a month or three.

 

JB 🙂

[Globaliser]

1 hour ago, John Bull said:

The drivers have a more militant but much smaller union ...

 

Opinions may differ on which union is more militant, but one thing that the last two years have shown is that if the RMT strikes, most TOCs can run some services; but if ASLEF strikes, almost all TOCs grind to a halt. The next week will underline that.

 

ASLEF is the drivers' union.

 

You and I and most of the country all hope that ASLEF will reach an agreement soon so that we can return to depending on rail transport and not have to resort to roads. But if ASLEF don't, they already have a ballot mandate for strikes for the next six months. That period runs well into the start of grockle season next year.

 

CCers reading this thread can therefore work out for themselves whether it is accurate to say now that our rail strikes are "basically finished".

[Harters]

On 12/1/2023 at 5:09 PM, John Bull said:

Train strikes are now basically finished, after a couple of years of disruption.

 

The recent ballot brings to a close the RMT's dispute over the 2022/23 pay issue, Just in time for negotiations to start on the 2024 pay negotiations. And, if the government (under the guise of the train operators) sticks to its position as previous, then a new round of strikes later next year seem to me inevitable. 

[Queenvee]

Interesting topic and one that I've grappled with in the past!  I've chosen to rent cars previously, but last month I spent a few days in Brighton prior to embarking on QM2 TA.  It was easy to take a train from Gatwick to Brighton but my plan of taking a train from Brighton to Southampton was squashed by train works (apparently Sundays are the days when train service is often disrupted).  What would have been a quick and inexpensive train ride turned into a two hour, £180 cab ride from Brighton Central Station to Southampton's Mayflower terminal.  Searching train options showed 4+ hour journeys, involving 2 or 3 changes often including a "replacement coach service"; coach options were worse and required going to London's Victoria Station.  I called a few car services (versus taxi) and they all quoted fares in the £170 range.  So, a taxi it was.  Lesson learned about weekend travel! 

 

I'll be on the QM2 again next November and am planning on spending a few days in the South Downs/Eastbourne area. Instead of a Sunday to Sunday crossing, mine is Wednesday to Wednesday so I think it'll be easier to take a train to Southampton (unless I decide to rent a car;  good to know the rental return place is near the pier).

[Ombud]

Has anyone used www.gwr.com to get to & from Bath from Southampton? According to the website it's just £32.50

 

(Also sorry I'm adding onto another's thread)