'UK trains are so expensive it's cheaper for me to fly via Europe to see family'
An 'extreme day trip' fan fits in a quick break on the Continent when heading home to see her family - despite living just a two hour train ride away from them.
Ellie Cresswell regularly finds herself having to travel from her home in London to Manchester, where her family live. When she does, she faces forking out £60 each way.
"We all know how unreliable and expensive the trains are in the UK," Ellie told the Mirror. "Instead now I do an extreme day trip to travel between London and Manchester. I take the first flight of the day out of London to somewhere that also offers a cheap flight out at the end of the day to Manchester. That way I get to spend most of the day in a new destination," the 26-year-old explained.
So far Ellie has visited 53 countries (@adventurewithells)
She likes to fit day trips around her journeys home (@adventurewithells)So far the enthusiastic adventurer has stopped off in Denmark during a trip home, as well as going via Latvia.
"I live in London, but go to Manchester on a bi-weekly basis to visit family, so I try to fit in visiting a new European destination as a day trip for each stopover. Last month I flew from London to Manchester for £37 via Billund Denmark and got to spend the day eating gorgeous Danish pastries, at Legoland Denmark and Lalandia waterpark," the accountant continued.
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Rather than bidding farewell to a chunk of her hard earned cash to run the Avanti West Coast gauntlet, the canny traveller took the long way round and used the cash to enjoy her day out. "I spent about another £30 on spending money (including food) whilst there. However, this was still cheaper than the £100 return fare for Avanti West Coast and I made a great day out of it," she said.
She added: "I've got day trip flights booked to Athens, Lapland and Istanbul in January. For me day trips are a great way to experience and get a flavour of a destination before deciding to commit to a longer stay. For example, one stopover I did in Riga, I had a great time but given it was -18c I decided that visiting for a day trip was more than enough
"I also find that, depending on the cost of living in the country you visit, it's possible to spend less on a day trip than a typical weekend staying at home. It's also a great way to see the world. I've already visited 53 countries so far and cheap and quick travel. I believe is the best way to experience Europe."
As fun as Ellie's daytrips are, they highlight the marked difference in price between plane and train tickets. For a lot of routes, flying is cheaper than catching the train - the Edinburgh to London and London to Manchester routes being prime examples. This has been helped by a halving of domestic air duty by the current government, despite the fact air travel is much more harmful to the environment than going via train.
Commuters have recently been hammered by the highest annual increase since 1996, analysis showed. This year the Department for Transport put up fare caps for 2023 in line with average earnings last previous July, meaning passengers were clobbered for an extra 5.1%. If they do the same again next year, the increase will be 8%.
The UK has by far the most expensive train tickets when bought on the day of travel, although it ranks much better if fares are paid for in advance.
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