London to Poole
May 7, 2003, 10:32 am
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: London
Programs: Mucci. Nothing else matters.
Posts: 38,644
One of the easiest ways will probably be by train from Waterloo to Poole. It's direct (no changes) and takes about 2 hours. See http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/planmyjourney/ or http://www.thetrainline.com/ for timetable and ticket information.
There are also coaches that go from Victoria coach station to Poole. The direct ones take 2h45m. See http://www.nationalexpress.com/neh.cfm .
Hope this helps.
There are also coaches that go from Victoria coach station to Poole. The direct ones take 2h45m. See http://www.nationalexpress.com/neh.cfm .
Hope this helps.
May 7, 2003, 7:01 pm
#4
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, Earth (PIT)
Programs: Airline/TSA Avoidance Platinum, Hotel Disloyalty Silver, Hertz 1.7*
Posts: 5,277
Train would be my choice. We passed through on the way to and from Weymouth in March. The trains both times were new and clean. South West Trains does have some older rolling stock too, but if you pick through the schedule carefully, you may be able to pick out the newer ones. I'm not sure if we lucked out or if all the trains going through to Weymouth are newer. If the latter is true, just choose those ones from the schedule.
If you know precisely when you want to go, you may wish to book ahead of time from the US. This can be done, although it's not necessarily the most convenient thing in the world. We booked some of our train travel ahead because there are now many advance purchase fares that work similar to airlines. The sites to try (they should give you the same results) are http://www.thetrainline.co.uk and http://www.qjump.co.uk I used the latter. Customer service (which answered my email in the middle of the night UK time within about 15 minutes of my sending it!) said I could choose any of the available stations to pick up all tickets that I booked through the site. (They can't mail them, though.) It worked out well. Trouble is, Waterloo is not one of the stations. (If you're going to be in London for a few days, this may not be a problem.) Booking ahead also automatically gets you a seat reservation, thus making travel at rush hours possible if necessary.
If you know precisely when you want to go, you may wish to book ahead of time from the US. This can be done, although it's not necessarily the most convenient thing in the world. We booked some of our train travel ahead because there are now many advance purchase fares that work similar to airlines. The sites to try (they should give you the same results) are http://www.thetrainline.co.uk and http://www.qjump.co.uk I used the latter. Customer service (which answered my email in the middle of the night UK time within about 15 minutes of my sending it!) said I could choose any of the available stations to pick up all tickets that I booked through the site. (They can't mail them, though.) It worked out well. Trouble is, Waterloo is not one of the stations. (If you're going to be in London for a few days, this may not be a problem.) Booking ahead also automatically gets you a seat reservation, thus making travel at rush hours possible if necessary.
May 10, 2003, 3:50 pm
#5
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: London, England.
Programs: BA
Posts: 8,476
CrazyOne:
All the trains through to Bournemouth, Poole and Weymouth are the same type; they do look reasonably modern (they date from 1988, but were refurbished inside and repainted outside recently). And it's certainly the way I would go if not driving.
All the trains through to Bournemouth, Poole and Weymouth are the same type; they do look reasonably modern (they date from 1988, but were refurbished inside and repainted outside recently). And it's certainly the way I would go if not driving.