HW: Advanced FestieTransport

[Ian Abrahams]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Rich Warren" <rich.warren at BTINTERNET.COM>

>One thing that would be useful to those of us getting the train down to
Devon for the Festie is the >location of the nearest railway station.

>After all if we don't book tickets at least 2 weeks in advance we will get
stung for huge amounts of >money due to the painful way the rail ticketing
system works.  Even the cheapest tix available for a >randomly guessed
station in Devon are currently 43 return to London :-(

At a *guess* without knowing the exact location of the festival, my hunch
would be the nearest station will be Exeter and you'll probably need to hire
a car for onward travel or investigate the bus routes and be prepared for a
fair journey after Exeter. Rail prices are higher on a Friday, but a useful
tip if you can be specific about which trains you will use is that a 1st
Class Apex (a 7 day advance sale ticket) will not be more than a couple of
pounds more than an open 2nd class ticket and gives a much better travel
environment. Of course, a 2nd class Apex will be about half the price..you
need to book this about 4-6 weeks early to have a good chance of getting one
as tickets are limited. This is available on the Paddington to Exeter route,
there is also Waterloo to Exeter, but journey times are (I think) much
longer.

If driving down, I know some people have recommended the A303 route which
goes past Stonehenge. I travelled back from London to Cornwall this way
once..it's not much fun as the road changes from single lane to dual
carriageway and back an alarming number of times and needs a lot of
concentration if the weather is poor. In my opinion the M4, M5 route is much
better (and about the same number of miles), though if the festival is out
towards, say,  Seaton, the A303 will get you closer quicker.

Ian