Need help with travelling in the UK ! ( urgent)

Original post by cherilim

Hi everyone!

Im going to be visiting 3 universities soon during my trip in the UK. However, I have never been there before and I dont know what transport are the best for going to the respective universities. Please help me out !

Im planning to visit Unviersity of Lancaster, University of Keele and University of Strathclyde , Glasgow.

I will be coming from London Heathrow Airport and I dont know if I should take a train or flight to Glasgow International Airport .

Also , I do not know what trains I should take to go Lancaster University from London Heathrow ( or if I need to change that is) and from Lancaster University to Keele.

As you can tell I am panicking as I write. - I really have no clue.

What is the best possible way to save time ( since Ill only be there for 5 days) to visit all the universities?

Thank you to any kind soul who replies to my very taxing questions.

Hello, since you plan to go to keele, it makes more sense to do it by train, so go from heathrow to keele to lancaster to glasgow. Depends on your flight time, it would be about 3 hours from heathrow to keele so do that one day. Then its around two/ two and a half hours from keele to lancaster so that's another day, then lancaster to glasgow is about two hours. Then you could fly from glasgow to london or it would take the best part of the day but you can get a train from glasgow to london euston then one from there to heathrow.
This website has a journey planner that covers all the uk trains http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/details?outboundJourneyId=1&outboundFareId=4&outboundResponseId=4&isOutboundJourneySelected=true

Reply 2

HedgePig

14

If your first stop is Glasgow, I’d definitely fly to Glasgow from Heathrow, especially as you are already at the airport. It should be much quicker than going into London and then catching a train (the train ride itself will be anything from four and a half to more than seven hours) At Heathrow, you’ll have to clear immigration and probably customs too (and if so, then check in your bag again) so allow plenty of time between flights. I’d suggest 3 hours although you may well not need so much time. It’s just possible that you can check your baggage all the way through to Glasgow if you are on the same airline and then clear customs there.

From Glasgow onwards as you head south, train or possibly coach (bus) would work since your journeys will be shorter. Train will usually be quicker than coach although the British rail system is rather Byzantine.

I like the Rome2Rio app for getting an idea of what the travel options are, although Google maps is fine too.

Reply 3

OP

Original post by claireestelle

Hello, since you plan to go to keele, it makes more sense to do it by train, so go from heathrow to keele to lancaster to glasgow. Depends on your flight time, it would be about 3 hours from heathrow to keele so do that one day. Then its around two/ two and a half hours from keele to lancaster so that's another day, then lancaster to glasgow is about two hours. Then you could fly from glasgow to london or it would take the best part of the day but you can get a train from glasgow to london euston then one from there to heathrow.
This website has a journey planner that covers all the uk trains http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/details?outboundJourneyId=1&outboundFareId=4&outboundResponseId=4&isOutboundJourneySelected=true

hi there! so do you mean it's more efficient to travel to Keele first ? do I take the British rail?
Thank you for responding !

Reply 4

Original post by cherilim

hi there! so do you mean it's more efficient to travel to Keele first ? do I take the British rail?
Thank you for responding !

yes if you're coming in from london i'd do that, i think if you do it all by train its all with virgin trains

Reply 5

OP

Original post by HedgePig

If your first stop is Glasgow, I’d definitely fly to Glasgow from Heathrow, especially as you are already at the airport. It should be much quicker than going into London and then catching a train (the train ride itself will be anything from four and a half to more than seven hours) At Heathrow, you’ll have to clear immigration and probably customs too (and if so, then check in your bag again) so allow plenty of time between flights. I’d suggest 3 hours although you may well not need so much time. It’s just possible that you can check your baggage all the way through to Glasgow if you are on the same airline and then clear customs there.

From Glasgow onwards as you head south, train or possibly coach (bus) would work since your journeys will be shorter. Train will usually be quicker than coach although the British rail system is rather Byzantine.

I like the Rome2Rio app for getting an idea of what the travel options are, although Google maps is fine too.

oh I see. because from the articles I read they stated that flying to Glasgow from London is quite a hassle. British airways is the recommended airline to fly to Glasgow right ?
thank you for your reply!

Reply 6

OP

Original post by claireestelle

yes if you're coming in from london i'd do that, i think if you do it all by train its all with virgin trains

ah okay . do you think 1 city a day is enough though or would it be too rushed? like 1 day for keele, 1 day for Lancaster and 1 for Glasgow. would you recommend the sleeper train?

Reply 7

Original post by cherilim

ah okay . do you think 1 city a day is enough though or would it be too rushed? like 1 day for keele, 1 day for Lancaster and 1 for Glasgow. would you recommend the sleeper train?

the sleeper train is quite late at night, its up to you if you're comfortable with that. 1 day would be enough i think

Reply 8

OP

Original post by claireestelle

the sleeper train is quite late at night, its up to you if you're comfortable with that. 1 day would be enough i think

oh okay I think . do you know any websites where I can check what hotels are near each universities respectively?

Reply 9

Original post by cherilim

oh okay I think . do you know any websites where I can check what hotels are near each universities respectively?

theres loads online just look up hotels on google.

Reply 10

OP

Lancaster University Student Ambassador

Original post by claireestelle

theres loads online just look up hotels on google.

okay thank you so much for your help I really appreciate it!!

Reply 11

HedgePig

14

If you have just arrived at Heathrow then I think flying to Glasgow (outbid Heathrow of course) should be easier than anything else.

For hotels, I like booking.com to see where they are located but I’m sure there are other sites that work just as well. I’ve also had generally good experiences with AirBnB and you can also see where things are located.

Original post by cherilim

Hi everyone!

Im going to be visiting 3 universities soon during my trip in the UK. However, I have never been there before and I dont know what transport are the best for going to the respective universities. Please help me out !

Im planning to visit Unviersity of Lancaster, University of Keele and University of Strathclyde , Glasgow.

I will be coming from London Heathrow Airport and I dont know if I should take a train or flight to Glasgow International Airport .

Also , I do not know what trains I should take to go Lancaster University from London Heathrow ( or if I need to change that is) and from Lancaster University to Keele.

As you can tell I am panicking as I write. - I really have no clue.

What is the best possible way to save time ( since Ill only be there for 5 days) to visit all the universities?

Thank you to any kind soul who replies to my very taxing questions.

Hey there, thanks for considering Keele. :biggrin:

Just to let you know Keele doesn't actually have a train station. :colondollar:

(We're named after a small village)

You're best either travelling to Stoke and getting the 25 bus to campus (these run every 10 minutes on weekdays and extra services are often put on during open days); or you can travel to Crewe and get the 85 (though the 85 will be a bit longer). Depending on where you're coming from it can sometimes be cheaper to go to Crewe, but since it seems you'll be coming from London it'll probably be easier getting to Stoke, the very frequent London-Manchester trains stops at Stoke.

Hope this helps,
Mark - second year at Keele

(let me know if you have any more questions about Keele :smile:

)

Reply 13

11

Original post by cherilim

Hi everyone!

Im going to be visiting 3 universities soon during my trip in the UK. However, I have never been there before and I dont know what transport are the best for going to the respective universities. Please help me out !

Im planning to visit Unviersity of Lancaster, University of Keele and University of Strathclyde , Glasgow.

I will be coming from London Heathrow Airport and I dont know if I should take a train or flight to Glasgow International Airport .

Also , I do not know what trains I should take to go Lancaster University from London Heathrow ( or if I need to change that is) and from Lancaster University to Keele.

As you can tell I am panicking as I write. - I really have no clue.

What is the best possible way to save time ( since Ill only be there for 5 days) to visit all the universities?

Thank you to any kind soul who replies to my very taxing questions.

Hello @cherilim,
I'm so glad that you're considering visiting Lancaster, I'm a second year student there!
Lancaster and Glasgow are on the same trainline - it takes 2.5 hours from London Euston to Lancaster and a further 2 hours from Lancaster to Glasgow. Hopefully you'll be able to see these both in a quick time as they're well connected. The trains for this route as virgin trains. Alternatively, Manchester airport is near Lancaster (about an hour). They're quite easy to get to from eachother. However, to travel from London Heathrow to London Euston could take quite a while in its self (I'm from London and it's quite a trek!). It takes about 50 minutes and cost cost you £25.
I would recommend looking at the website 'trainline.com' to figure out how to get to the other universities as well as the app 'citymapper' which will be great from navigating across London (it's free and it may also work for Glasgow).
For more details on how to get to Lancaster internationally you can look here: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/student-based-services/international/travelling-to-lancaster/
I hope this helps!
If you have anymore questions pleaser let me know, I'm sure it must be difficult to try and organise your visit but we can't wait to see you!
Charlotte :smile:

Reply 14

OP

Original post by Lancaster University Student Ambassador

Hello @cherilim,
I'm so glad that you're considering visiting Lancaster, I'm a second year student there!
Lancaster and Glasgow are on the same trainline - it takes 2.5 hours from London Euston to Lancaster and a further 2 hours from Lancaster to Glasgow. Hopefully you'll be able to see these both in a quick time as they're well connected. The trains for this route as virgin trains. Alternatively, Manchester airport is near Lancaster (about an hour). They're quite easy to get to from eachother. However, to travel from London Heathrow to London Euston could take quite a while in its self (I'm from London and it's quite a trek!). It takes about 50 minutes and cost cost you £25.
I would recommend looking at the website 'trainline.com' to figure out how to get to the other universities as well as the app 'citymapper' which will be great from navigating across London (it's free and it may also work for Glasgow).
For more details on how to get to Lancaster internationally you can look here: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/student-based-services/international/travelling-to-lancaster/
I hope this helps!
If you have anymore questions pleaser let me know, I'm sure it must be difficult to try and organise your visit but we can't wait to see you!
Charlotte :smile:

Hi Charlotte !
thank you for your reply
just wondering,do you know any hotels i should check out that are near lancaster university?
also, do you happen to know how to go Lancaster university from keele?
much thanks!
- cheri

Reply 15

OP