Southampton to Oxford

[lovetotraveltx]

After we dock in SOU with the Queen Mary 2 we are going directly to Oxford for 2 nights. Do I just take a taxi to the station and catch the next train or bus to Oxford, or is this something we should plan ahead?

 

As an aside, should we try to do a tour of Stonehedge, assuming they would hold our luggage on the bus, or just travel straight there?

 

Thank you!

[John Bull]

You'll get train fares to Oxford at less than half-price if you pre-book from about 8 weeks out. About £15 vs about £36. But cheap tickets are only for the train time that you select.

There'll be taxis at the cruise terminal, fare to Southampton central station about £7 from Ocean cruise terminal (berth 46) or under £10 from QE11 cruise terminal (38/9)

 

There are no buses to Stonehenge from Southampton or anywhere else, it's out in the sticks on Salisbury Plain.

From Southampton Central take the half-hourly train to Salisbury, about 35 minute journey, fare £9.90

Leave your luggage at the Railway Tavern, at the end of the Station Approach (if too early for pub opening hours just ring the bell).

Then take the Stonehenge ho-ho from the Station Approach. Buy your Stonehenge admission tickets from the driver, because tickets bought on the ho-ho are "anytime admission" - no need to pre-book timed admission tickets. Ho-ho takes about 30 minutes to Stonehenge. Allow yourselves 1 to 2 hours at Stonehenge, then back to Salisbury on the ho-ho.

You might want to spend an hour or two in this laid-back historic city & its wonderful cathedral, then back to the station, collect your bags & take the train to Oxford. There are no cheap advance tickets on this route - but you wouldn't want to commitment of committing to a set train time anyway. Fare about £35. No direct service, but an hourly or better service via a change at Basingstoke, total train journey just under 2 hours. 

So Southampton to Oxford via Stonehenge & Salisbury would be an excellent day, but it would take a full day.

 

Alternatively book a Southampton hotel - drop your luggage & take the train to Salisbury, Stonehenge ho-ho tour, then train back to Southampton, & train Southampton to Oxford next morning. 

Because of the train fare structuring, it works out cheaper as well as simpler. Return tickets Southampton to Salisbury cost only about £1 more than a one-way ticket, and advance train tickets Southampton to Oxford are cheaper than Salisbury to Oxford.

 

http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/

  

https://goo.gl/maps/qayYGCYj6RQhG8g1A

(Railway Tavern - spin the camera to see the Station Approach & bus at the station entrance).

 

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic-g186216-i15-k11358916-Left_Luggage_Salisbury_CHANGED-United_Kingdom.html

 

http://www.thestonehengetour.info/the-stonehenge-tour

 

Complicated, innit 

 

JB 

Edited July 28, 2019 by John Bull

[lovetotraveltx]

17 hours ago, lovetotraveltx said:

After we dock in SOU with the Queen Mary 2 we are going directly to Oxford for 2 nights. Do I just take a taxi to the station and catch the next train or bus to Oxford, or is this something we should plan ahead?

 

As an aside, should we try t

Thank you for all this information. I booked other tickets on RailEurope from Oxford to Birmingham and they were much more then if I would have used the link you gave me above. Guess I should have asked first 😞

[lovetotraveltx]

Any idea when I can comfortably catch a bus or train on Disembarkation Day? Thank you!

[John Bull]

17 minutes ago, lovetotraveltx said:

Any idea when I can comfortably catch a bus or train on Disembarkation Day? Thank you!

 

 

Most ships start unassisted disembarkation (haul your own bags from your cabin) at about 7am. 

At that time formalities in the cruise terminal are pretty quick, and there's usually a long line of taxis. 

From even the furthest cruise terminal to rail or coach station is no longer than 10 minutes.

So you can consider a bus or train from 7.45am onwards, mebbe 7.30 with a little risk.

 

The first tranche of assisted disembarkation usually starts about 7.30.

If you're allocated to a later departure time, at Guest Relations  you can normally be shunted to an earlier one by citing your onward travel arrangements.

But as the morning wears on, so there's an increased risk of a backlog at luggage reclaim or immigration and possibly a line for taxis. (As at airports, customs is a walk-thru unless one of her majesty's finest decides to pick on you),

Last passengers off are usually 9am to 9.30 - if you book a coach or train for after 10am you're likely to be kicking your heels at the station.

 

All that said, if you have a wide choice of travel times it's less-stressful to book train or coach closer to 10am

 

JB 

[tartanexile81]

We use the train a lot after our cruises and last time we went from Southampton to Oxford to visit family. We booked on the train operator's website - www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk. We always book 12 weeks out and if you do a few dummy bookings before that you get a feel of the lowest price you can expect to pay. Sometimes tickets get released at a full price then drop down a few hours or sometimes a couple of days later. I always book the same train - the 9:46 - as it gives us enough time to get off the ship and to the station.  You can also get the coach and the coach station is also just a short distance from the port. It would be cheaper. 

 

I wouldn't bother going to Stonehenge but I know tourists like to see it.

[josh_hutchings]

yep train is the best way. i find www.thetraineline.com as the best place to book train tickets. very easy to use even on a mobile