Travelling in the UK

I have realised that I have not travelled a lot since arriving in the London in November 2005. Travelled within the UK that is. That needs to change.

I would like to see the Klimt exhibition at Tate Liverpool. So I check nationalrail.co.uk for fares to Liverpool. I have learned that is Sunday is definitely not day to travel. So I check Saturday 23rd and 30th August. The fastest connection? 5 hours 5 minutes. Leaving Euston at 7:00. If you don't want to stay overnight you probably want to take the 16:55 back to London which arrives at 23:01. That's 6 hours 6 minutes. So that would be a journey of more than 11 hours. For £62.60.

Bus then? National Express takes you there for only £24. Bargain. The journey takes 10 1/2 hours. Ridiculous.

London is about as far from Liverpool as is Frankfurt from Hannover. The journey with Deutsche Bahn takes 4 1/2 hours. Return that is. The ticket costs £50. Oh yes, did I mention that it is a direct train?