Tulip Time!

A stunning day of wall to wall warm sunshine, blackbirds busily gathering nesting materials and tulips bursting into vibrant life....

A tip for anyone thinking of booking train tickets - do your research, don't just accept the return ticket price offered when booking on any of the online train websites.

After being invited to visit an old friend in Carlisle, I went online today and was quoted a return train ticket price from Bristol to Carlisle of £136! But after quite a bit of looking around, I managed to get the price down to £96. How? In the most bizarre fashion, by buying 6 individual single tickets!

My first train is from Bristol to Birmingham, and even though I stay on the same train, it is cheaper to buy a single ticket from Bristol to Cheltenham, and then a second ticket from Cheltenham to Birmingham! They've even given me the same seat number reservation so I don't need to change seats half way through the journey. I've then bought a single ticket for the second leg from Birmingham to Carlisle, and the same pattern for the return journey.

Bonkers! It took a bit of time to do the research, but worth it to save £40!!


(I know this photo isn't centred, but when I cropped it to make it so, I lost the swirly effect of the petals, so off-centre it is!)