The unknown

Sometimes the unknown can be great but other times the unknown can be a little intimidating or very scary...or worse dangerous when travelling.

What are the things to watch out for if travelling alone:

• not able to speak the local lingo at all - don't go! If you are ill, is the ultimate test of your language skills in some countries.  In others it is no big deal as English is widely spoken (eg Brussels, Netherlands etc). My French is rusty and my Dutch relatively poor! 
• phobias, fears of heights etc!  Some places are full of bridges which are not protected by very high walls.  First class or at least curtains are highly desirable on some train journeys or at least an ability to look inwards!  Avoid window seats! - I'm still not brave enough to go to the Kingdom of Fife or Aberdeen from Edinburgh on the train or coach!  Dogs or spiders don't do it for me either!
• too much baggage - something will be lost
• hostile bad weather...I can cope with my Poundland brolly being broken, but something more expensive?
• security checks.  Visiting some London musea and the Scottish Parliament is a dry run for this without travelling abroad!
• tram lines!

Tips for East Coast Rail travel in the UK

An occasional blog with tips for the solo traveller who is not an expert (e.g. Simon Calder, Bear Grylls etc.) and needs to be frugal.

Tips for East Coast rail travellers

As a train traveller, non-driver etc. and with trips to London (Kings Cross), Edinburgh and Yorkshire, I can formulate views and tips on East Coast Railways. These are they:
1. When travelling First Class find out what the cooked option is! I wish I did but usually forget. Don’t go for the first thing you see when there is no menu available. And always watch out for the Croissant at breakfast rather than the toast (not hot enough but nice).
2. Can recommend the bacon roll – not too salty or smoky and now with butter.
3. Reward Points are a valuable resource for travelling. Such as for buying First Class lounge passes.
4. If I had a choice between the First Class lounge for the day (breakfast ‘til late) or First Class train travel then I would usually pick the latter if using reward points to pay for them. Travelling solo with lockers either being not available when leaving premises or very expensive in the case of London – means you need somewhere to sit safely, relax, eat etc. without having to takes shopping into the loos…The lounges sort this out with free basic Wi-Fi too. Premises refer to some shopping centres, musea etc.
5. The solo tables are never big enough to eat , drink and use a 15.6” laptop satisfactorily
6. Be aware of chaos on the trains – restrictions can be dropped but always check with twitter, Facebook etc. AND an East Coast customer representative. I did the other day and unfortunately had to leave London over six hours early rather than risk large delays.
7. East Coast seems to be more secure on both Standard and First Class
8. First class is more value for longer journeys like Edinburgh to London: less packed and more relaxing.
9. There is barely enough time if you have lots of luggage to get from Concourse to platform to seat at some stations.
10. Changing trains at York is fraught with a long walk from time to time. And changing or finding trains at Edinburgh and Glasgow is not straightforward.
11. Getting on the train at Haymarket rather than Waverley usually leads to a more comfortable train journey. However Waverley is a much nicer station.
12. Advanced booking of hotel and free late checkouts form hotel can mean you get an extra half day free of luggage if staying overnight. This allows much more time to visit places around Glasgow, Edinburgh, London etc
13. Finally allow yourself an hour for contingencies, waiting etc as certain tickets mean you must catch the specified train. Missing trains can lead to a more flexible journey which is an expensive but better for tourists.