Half-price train journeys are on sale for routes across Britain. Discounted fares throw up options for February half-term entertainment and weekend breaks.
The Great British Rail Sale runs until 12 January for bargain tickets on select departures from 13 January-25 March. You can travel between Exeter and London Waterloo for just 6p per mile, for example.
Below is a sample of the cheap tickets, along with ideas for how to use them to plan a day trip or an overnight escape.
London King’s Cross to Edinburgh
Edinburgh could be a family hit for half term (Photo: Getty)The 4- to 5-hour journey costs just 8p per mile when booking the cheapest tickets in the sale. Adult fares are available for £27.85 during February half term (16-20 Feb for many families in England). Giants, an exhibition running at the National Museum of Scotland from 31 January, may appeal to budding paleontologists with its 3D sculptures, skeletons and fossils.
Other family city break highlights might include a nuclear bunker tour – the Cold War installation was built for a secret network and recently restored for visitors – and a self-guided heritage walk (try curiousabout.co.uk for downloadable guides). Stay at Eden Locke on George Street where a family studio for three is available from £153 per night.
Newcastle Central to York
Newcastle residents can book a train to York for less than a quarter of the price of tickets outside the sale (£4.80 versus £22.40). The Jorvik Viking Festival (16-22 Feb) might appeal for half term, or a pub-hopping tour between some of the city’s oldest examples could offer a weekend diversion. January is also one of the quieter times of year to enjoy the sights, such as the mediaeval Shambles shopping street, the 7th century cathedral and York Castle Museum. Ibis Styles York Centre is an affordable option if you choose to stay overnight, with doubles from £67.
Exeter Central to London Waterloo
Include Richmond in your London weekend break for its park and good-value accommodation (Photo: Getty)Travellers in the south-west can also save more than a quarter on single tickets to London. At the time of writing, there was a £10 direct service available on 17 March, St Patrick’s Day. The city’s selection of Irish pubs offer revelry, join a St Patrick’s Day brunch on the Thames or book dinner in one of Richard Corrigan’s establishments, such as Daffodil Mulligan in Shoreditch.
It’s half an hour by tube from central London to Richmond where you can stay a few minutes’ walk from the park at Bingham Riverhouse. Doubles from £171.90 per night.
London King’s Cross to Cambridge
A walk from the railway station can take in the city’s handsome colleges (Photo: Getty)Tickets from King’s Cross to Cambridge are available from £7.60 in the sale; they are usually around £25 at weekends. Cambridge University Botanic Garden is an eight-minute walk from the railway station and has free drop-in tours for winter (running until 1 March) featuring, for example, snow drops and ornamental trees. Stroll from there, via the Backs (a riverside walk passing some of the best-known colleges), to the daily market for baked treats, cheese and hand-made gifts.
Drop in at the Fitzwilliam Museum (its Made in Ancient Egypt exhibition runs until April; tickets from £14.50) or Kettle’s Yard, where there’s a free exhibition of artist Harold Offeh’s work featuring videos of his performances and projects.
Cardiff Central to Paddington
Families in Wales could make the most of a 50 per cent discount on adult rail tickets with a half-term trip to London. There’s an Aardman exhibition at the Young V&A with a chance for visitors to create their own stop motion animation, an adaptation of the I Want My Hat Back trilogy at Little Angel Theatre in Islington and the Imagine children’s festival at the Southbank Centre runs until 21 February with several free events, including dance, an interactive architecture trail and a design day. Z Hotel Leicester Square has a family room for two adults and one child, with breakfast, from £229 a night.
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London St Pancras to Canterbury
Warm up in cafés such as Kitch or Tiny Tim’s Tearoom and shelter from winter showers in the cathedral during a day trip to Canterbury (half-price tickets are £8.10). If the weather is kind, a walk to Chartham Vineyard could be in order where tours and tastings (£20pp) run on Saturdays from February.
Other simple pleasures in the city include punting on the River Stour or walking in Blean Woods Nature Reserve.
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