Bath by public transport from London

Travelling independently by train (or bus) between Bath & London

For a day trip to Bath from London it is very simple - a bit of a no brain decision. Take the train from London's Paddington Station. Trains leave broadly every 30 minutes and take approximately 90 minutes to perform the journey. This is at least 30 minutes faster than any vehicle will take to do the same journey.

There is so much to do in Bath, many people find they would like one or more full days to do the World Heritage Site justice.

If you are looking for an affordable way of having a 2 or more night stay in Bath (and why wouldn't you want to?) then one option is to book this 1-day tour of Bath including Stonehenge, but not use the coach travel back to London. Make your own 2-day tour to Bath from London.

London to Bath by train Make a Bath mini-break Purchasing train tickets Cheapest train fares National Express buses Bath 2-day break

London to Bath by train

Architecture building, Bath, Somerset — Captivating Bath

Frequent trains run from London's Paddington Station taking approximately 90 minutes to do the journey. There are normally two trains an hour operating up until very late evening.

The station at Bath is formally called Bath Spa. It is very central, only 5-10 minutes' walk from the Roman Baths.

By leaving London after 9.30am during weekdays you can purchase day return tickets much cheaper than prior. At weekends, cheap fares are available at all times.

Note, visiting Bath using a guided tour from London will be little different in price to going independently and you will also stop off somewhere like Stonehenge or Windsor as well. Downside is none of the tours stay longer than 3 hours in Bath, most a lot less than that.

By going independently with trains running late in the evening you get much longer than the typical tour itinerary at Bath and of course the flexibility to do what you want to do in the time you want to spend.

UK trains from London - more information

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Make your own 3-day mini-break of popular English towns by train

Bath rail map — Where to go by rail in SE England

It is quite an attractive proposition to take a 3 or 4 day tour of the main English attractions in Southern England. There are frequent trains connecting Salisbury, Bath and Oxford.

Salisbury is a good base for visiting Stonehenge in addition to its own charms. Oxford is a few miles from Blenheim Palace, Cotswolds and Stratford Upon Avon.

There are good minibus tours from both Bath and Oxford that explore the Cotswold villages where public transport for visitors is not viable.

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Purchasing train tickets

The three types of tickets are broadly:

Advance purchase: Buy in advance, sold in limited numbers and subject to availability. These tickets will have restrictions specified when purchasing.
Off peak: Buy any time, travel off-peak. The definition of off peak can vary from ticket to ticket. These tickets may require you to travel at specific times of day, days of the week or on a specific route. Where there is more than one Off-Peak fare for a journey, the cheaper fare with more restrictions will be called Super Off-Peak.
Anytime: Buy any time, travel any time. (The standard ticket.) Anytime fares are fully flexible tickets, with no time restrictions on when you can travel.

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Getting the cheapest fares

For longer distance trains, travelling by rail can be very expensive purchasing standard fares, often more expensive than flying. Advance purchase tickets on these longer distances on the other hand can be bargains.

The cheap tickets are normally released 3 months prior to your departure date and the best deals often sell out quickly.

For the overseas visitor this can present problems as there are with few exceptions no true e tickets delivered by email at present. Tickets can be sent to UK addresses by UK post and also internationally for a fee.

You can however order tickets on-line and pick up the tickets from machines at key mainline stations. Although most central London stations have these machines, Luton and Stansted Airports do not, but Heathrow and Gatwick Airport have.

At train stations there are manned ticket offices and also ticket machines. All major credit cards are taken as well as cash.

For fares and timetables use 'The Trainline' website where you can also order tickets for delivery to your home address.

TRAIN TICKETS

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National Express coaches London to/from Bath

The bus service between London and Bath is in comfortable touring coaches complete within on board washroom facilities. Travelling by coach is normally much cheaper than by rail, but for a day trip the 3-4 hour journey makes it a long, long day.

Coaches broadly run every 90 minutes. Most schedules call in on London Heathrow Airport on the way.

Tickets bought online are true e tickets, visitors from overseas can pay by credit card and have their tickets delivered by email in a couple of minutes. On National Express, a return ticket can be not much more than a single ticket at standard fare rates.

The London Terminus is at Victoria Coach Station. Formally the baggage allowance that goes into the hold is 2 cases, neither of which should be heavier than 20kg. Drivers load the bags and they are not weighed, most drivers are very flexible as long as you are not taking obvious advantage.

National Express buses - more information

NATIONAL EXPRESS BUS TICKETS

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Create your own 2-day tour of Bath from London

A very economical way to spend 2 days in Bath is to take a regular day tour that also stops at Stonehenge for an hour on the way to Bath on the outward leg.

By taking this day tour from London below, you can leave the tour at Bath and get the train/coach back to London one or two days later, finding your own accommodation and train ticket back to London.

Because the cost of the tour (that includes admissions) is comparatively cheap, it works out economically viable to leave the tour at Bath and not use the tour coach to return to London.

This tour is the only tour this is really possible with - with other tours they cannot guarantee Bath will be the last stop.

In the winter months (November to March) the tour doesn't run daily.

Luggage is carried; departure is from Victoria Coach Station, London.