UK Collections By Public Transport: A Guide

re: Port Lympne
Although the bus stops going into the park well before closing, it still stops on the road outside the park. At least it did the two times I have been there. It is about a mile walk through the expansive grass drive from the park entrance to the main road, but still shorter than the route you suggested.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
Highland Wildlife Park

Outside the summer months, I would suggest that catching the earliest possible train to Aviemore and catching the local bus service, or catching an early train to Kingussie and walking the 4 miles to the Wildlife Park, are your best bets.
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:eek: Yikes, are you distantly related to Shackleton?:)
 
Not so far as my family history research has shown ;)
 
TeaLovingDave said:
Selly Oak is a decent alternative if you don't want to walk too far, I imagine - I don't bother as the time taken to wait for a train to Selly Oak and then walk from there to BNC can be longer than the walk from New Street would take!
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I think Selly Oak is a shorter distance but it's not that much difference really, ether way this doesn't bother me because I just use the buses! :p
 
Shorts said:
:eek: Yikes, are you distantly related to Shackleton?:)
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I feel a new thread coming on:

What's the furthest you've walked/ cycled/ etc to reach a collection?

I once cycled Atherstone - Twycross, returning to Polesworth.

(And I am no Bradley Wiggins!)
 
Most done for one collection - 10.5 miles for Hamerton Zoo (1 mile walking from my house to Darlington railway station, 0.25 miles from Peterborough railway station to the bus station, 4 miles walking from Alconbury Weston to Hamerton Zoo, 4 miles walking back from the zoo, 0.25 miles walking back from the bus station, 1 mile walking back home)

Most done in a single day of multiple collections - 7.4 miles on the final day of my trip to the southwest, when I did Living Coasts and Shaldon (1 mile walking from the Premier Inn in Newton Abbot to Newton Abbot railway station, 1.1 miles walking from Torquay railway station to Living Coasts, 1.1 miles walking back from Living Coasts, 1.6 miles walking from Teignmouth railway station to Shaldon, 1.6 miles walking back from Shaldon, 1 mile walking home from Darlington railway station)

Weirdly, I was more tired after the latter of those two days - probably because I had been walking more often during the day, even though I had walked less distance overall.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
Dudley Zoological Gardens

An example of why it is not always best to trust the directions listed on a zoo website - the Dudley Zoo webpage claims that the nearest railway stations are Dudley Port, at 3 miles away, and Sandwell & Dudley, at 5 miles away. Quite apart from the fact that each of these stations are nearer than that, there *is* a much closer railway station to the zoo - Tipton, at 1.5 miles -and as any of the half-hourly services between Wolverhampton and Birmingham New Street which call at the two suggested stations also stop there, it seems illogical not to make use of this station.

So, get a train to Tipton - from there it is a half-hour long walk along good footpaths to the zoo. The walking route is linked below, albeit set as a cycle route as for some reason Google Maps does not like that route when walking is selected!

http://goo.gl/maps/CtxTu
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Hear, hear. For years I have wondered why the zoo does not recommend travelling to Tipton.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
Welsh Mountain Zoo

This is another walk which can be a little steep - although nowhere near as steep as the walk to South Lakes - but fortunately the paths are decent throughout.

When you arrive at Colwyn Bay railway station, you will have to walk through the town and up the hill to the zoo. In the summer months there is usually a free shuttle bus from the railway station to the zoo, which runs roughly every 20 minutes, but I naturally cannot vouch for this running in 2014.

The walk, if you do indeed find you have to do so, should only take about 25 minutes and covers a shade over a mile.

http://goo.gl/maps/kPA1U
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If you should be travelling by bus from another North Wales resort (in May I stayed in Llandudno for my four days at the zoo) get off at West End (Kings Road) and the zoo is a fairly short walk up the hill. The bus service was excellent - every 12 minutes Monday to Saturday and quite regular on Sunday.
 
SHAVINGTONZOO said:
I feel a new thread coming on:

What's the furthest you've walked/ cycled/ etc to reach a collection?

I once cycled Atherstone - Twycross, returning to Polesworth.

(And I am no Bradley Wiggins!)
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I visited Twycross twice in 1996, travelling from Bolton. On the first occasion I was planning to travel to Polesworth and then walk but my train was late into Tamworth and I missed the connection. For some reason I decided I'd walk to Polesworth anyway and take it from there. It took me 3 hours to reach the zoo. Heading back I set off to walk what appeared to be a quicker route and eventually managed to catch a bus along the way. The next time I walked via Newton Regis, a very pretty village I had encountered on the way back previously, and it took a mere 2 hours to reach the zoo.

Walking from Crewkerne to Cricket St. Thomas was not much fun either!
 
I think a lot of these have easier routes, for BNC, Dudley and Paignton there are buses that stop pretty much outside the gates, I think most zoos have this these days.
 
lamna said:
This should come in very handy.

Does anyone know when Blackpool switches over to their summer closing time and what that is?

I'm planning to go fairly soon but I'd rather not hang around Blackpool for three hours in the dark.

Their website only shows the winter closing time, Google claims it's 5.45.
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Blackpool normally change to Summer time opening times around April/May time. I visit quite a lot however it's very nice in Winter too.
 
although it is not open yet, the RSCC is not far away at all from sandwich station.
 
All this walking and cycling is jolly good but for those less energetic (or with children/pushchairs) you haven't mentioned the 274 bus which will drop you a couple of minutes from London Zoo's entrance. It goes from Baker Street (and beyond) from the west and Camden Town or Angel from the east, costs very little on your oyster card, and the relevant stop is clearly announced on the loudspeaker (I know people worry about getting off at the wrong stop on buses!).
 
Put quite simply, I did not know about that bus :p mostly due to the fact that the aforementioned "Camden Town is in Zone 2 whilst most of the major railway stations are in Zone 1, so the Tube is pricier" thing means I have never had cause to learn about it.

Good to know though.

At some point I intend to edit various entries with the improvements and alternate suggestions people have made, so anyone else with suggestions feel free to post!
 
Does anyone know how I would get from Temple Meads to the Cribb's Causeway?

I'm pretty sure I can walk to The Wild Place from there. Is it the number 1?
 
lamna said:
Does anyone know how I would get from Temple Meads to the Cribb's Causeway?

I'm pretty sure I can walk to The Wild Place from there. Is it the number 1?
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You could walk it from there but some of the roads you would have to cross are pretty busy with no pedastrian crossing on them!
 
It's possible to get the X31 bus to ZSL Whipsnade from Luton Train station (on the main Brighton-London St. Pancras-Bedford/Leicester/Sheffield line). It goes via Dunstable and Hemel Hempstead, but buses to the zoo only call there every two hours. I believe the buses run every hour in the high season, but don’t quote me on that. I can’t say how good the service is though as I’ve not yet tried it out yet, but hope to soon.

http://www.intalink.org.uk/Timetables/tt/X31_A_ATG.PDF
 
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