From Cornwall to Yorkshire: Train Travel Through England

January 1, 2024November 18, 2024 Koen 0 Comments

This trip report covers my travels by train through England from the coast of Cornwall to the highest peak of the Yorkshire Dales.

A trip by train across England

Although I have visited the United Kingdom many times before, the last time that I managed to do some serious travels within the country has been quite a while ago.

Now that I had three-month Interrail pass for my summer travels, it was the perfect opportunity to head back to the UK.

As I already had a trip planned to Scotland in September, I decided to focus on England for this Interrail trip in early July.

Having just returned from Bologna after a trip on some of Italy and Switzerland’s scenic trains, I started to plan the last details of my English rail journey.

ribblehead station northern trains england yorkshire — *A Northern train at Ribblehead station on the scenic Settle and Carlisle railway line. ©Paliparan*

Using Interrail in England

Rail passes like Interrail or Eurail offer the greatest value in countries where train fares are high and where there aren’t compulsory seat reservations or additional supplement fees.

As the United Kingdom is such a country, it makes for an excellent destination to discover by train, and I would certainly get my money’s worth by using my Interrail pass on England’s railways.

Of course, the great aspect of using an Interrail or Eurail pass in the United Kingdom is the flexibility.

Although it’s good to have some plans and a template for an itinerary, you are flexible to take an earlier or later train, make a stopover along the way, or spontaneously explore a new destination that wasn’t part of your initial plans.

The Great Western Railway (GWR) website offers complimentary seat reservations not only for GWR trains but also for services operated by other train companies like Avanti West Coast, TransPennine Express, and CrossCountry.

When travelling on London North Eastern Railway (LNER) it’s however best to make a seat reservation on their own website, as it allows you to specify your exact seat on a seating map.

GWR trains London paddington station england — *GWR trains at London Paddington station. ©Paliparan*

Booking my flights to England

Prior to finalising my English train itinerary, I needed to arrange my flights to and from London and establish the dates for my trip.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have the time to travel all the way by train from my home in Romania to England and back, so I had no choice but to fly.

British Airways offered reasonable fares, so I opted to book two one-way economy class flights with them: One from Bucharest to London Heathrow (€82) and another from Heathrow back to Bucharest (£102).

As I had some orphaned Avios remaining with little use to me as I rarely fly with oneworld airlines, I upgraded my one-way flight from Bucharest to London to business class for an extra 10,500 Avios and €5 to cover the extra taxes and fees.

Everything seemed sorted, but two days before departure, I received an email from British Airways notifying me that my flight to London had been cancelled.

Upon hearing from a British Airways call centre agent that there were no available options for rebooking, I took matters into my own hands and arranged an alternative flight to England.

I paid €412 for business class flights with Turkish Airlines to Birmingham, with the intention to send the bill plus a compensation request to British Airways per EC/261 regulations for cancelled flights.

In one of the chapters of this trip report I will tell more about my experiences in getting compensation and a refund for my expenditures with British Airways!

In the end, this is how my flights to and from England look like on a map:

otp bhx lhr — *My flights from Romania to England and back. ©Great Circle Mapper*

My English train itinerary

With my flights set, it’s back to trains!

Since I’ve been eager to try the Night Riviera sleeper train for a while, I knew that Cornwall would be one of the destinations I would visit in England.

I’ll discuss the booking process and additional supplement required for this English night train in a separate chapter of this trip report.

I decided to visit both Penzance and St Ives in Cornwall during my trip, as I thought the two coastal towns would make for a nice contrast.

After my time in Cornwall, I would head back to London on a daytime train, indulging in GWR’s renowned Pullman Dining experience.

From London, my journey took me up north by train with Avanti West Coast and TransPennine Express to Yorkshire, where I planned to spend a night in Dewsbury, of all places.

The main reason to head north was that I wanted to do some hiking in the Yorkshire Dales, which matched perfectly with my plan to enjoy a train ride on the scenic Settle and Carlisle line.

From Carlisle it was then back south again to London with Avanti West Coast, staying the night in Warrington to break up the journey, as it was a lot cheaper than paying the high hotel prices in Britain’s capital.

Once again, my Interrail pass proved invaluable, as it gave me the flexibility to seek budget-friendly accommodation in locations outside the big cities without incurring additional transport costs.

Back in London, I would head straight to Heathrow Airport for my flight home.

england train travel map — *The train journeys I took on my trip to England, with my main destinations and the most important interchange stations listed. ©OpenStreetMap/Paliparan*

Highlights

In this ‘From Cornwall to Yorkshire: Train Travel Through England’ trip report, you can look forward to the following highlights:

– A lot of detailed reviews of British train operators, including GWR, Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, TransPennine Express and Northern Trains.
– A trip on GWR’s excellent Night Riviera sleeper train from London to Penzance in Cornwall.
– Some beach time in Penzance and St Ives in Cornwall.
– Indulging in GWR’s Pullman Dining on a train from Plymouth to London.
– Travelling the length of the beautiful Settle and Carlisle railway line.
– Hiking up to Whernside, the highest peak in the Yorkshire Dales.
– Reviews of my Turkish Airlines business class flights.
– Reviews of a number of business lounges at Terminal 3 of London Heathrow Airport.
– Plenty of beers, pies and fish & chips in pubs and chippies all over England.