I have taken the Indian Pacific from Perth to Melbourne 3 times.
A distance of 3400km one way.
The trip takes 54 hours, 3 nights
3 Likes
Birmingham to Blackpool 1964, about 90 miles probably!
(Return)
3 Likes
Shows the great size difference in our countries.
One way to Melbourne is over 2100 miles.
2 Likes
For me Aberdeen to Rome return. Don’t know how many miles.
It was a Citalia holiday many years ago.
2 Likes
And the size of comprehension. It’s not about size, it’s about what you do with it.
2 Likes
Cardiff to Rome on a school trip.Through France,Switzerland and Italy.I enjoyed the trip more than the destination.
2 Likes
Sounds like you had rich parents.
2 Likes
It took most of the term to pay for it.
2 Likes
On the never never?
1 Like
I did go so it wasn’t on the never never
1 Like
London to Lucerne, Switzerland in 1956, approx 490 miles. A skiing trip with the school’s “HAGS” - History and Geography Society.
2 Likes
Gloucester to Edinburgh on a sleeper. For a job interview. More than 50 years ago, I can’t remember if I changed trains or not.
2 Likes
Ha! I was about to say something similar but it was summer. A school holiday to Lugano but about 1959 (ish).
We left from Folkestone on the cross channel ferry and caught the train in Calais.
On Australian trains it is either quicker to walk or it’s absurdly expensive. For example train from Sydney to Perth takes four days and fares start at $2400. Much cheaper to drive.
An airfare for the same trip starts from about $450 up to $800
2 Likes
When I rode the Indian Pacific for the first time, 1988? one way fare was $199.
Today, sit up fare to Adelaide, $1600, Adelaide to Melbourne $120.
2 Likes
The Ghan and the Indian Pacific are ridiculous prices, as you point out normal fares are much more sensible I think the first class train fare Sydney to Melbourne (1000km) is about $100 but as a pensioner I can half that by using my free ticket to Aubury Wodonga (the Victorian border).
However it is still quicker to drive. EG train to Canberra 4 hours, drive 3hrs, bus 3.5 hours
2 Likes
In the early 70`s Birmingham to Scotland to see my grandparents.
Never again.
2 Likes
From London to Naples when I was a child with my parents. Train from Victoria station to Folkestone, than ferry to Calais, and then the intercontinental all the way to Naples, passing through France. We made this trip about three or four times during my childhood years, it was much cheaper than going by plane, but that was in the 70s. Then we always went by plane. I used to enjoy these journeys apart from the fact that I didn’t sleep a wink with all that noise.
One year, on our return journey, the port authorities in Paris were on strike and we were left stranded, then diverted to Belgium and it took us one day more to get home. A nightmare! I still remember so vividly, my mum trying to help me walk along the platform, stopping me from falling down, when we finally got off at Victoria station, because I was literally sleeping while trying to get my legs moving at the same. 
1 Like
My longest train trip was taken with my hubby (Army Sgt. stationed in Germany) in 1968 from Frankfort, Germany down to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, near the Swiss border. The 1936 winter olympics were held there. I was young, newly married, and absorbed all the new adventure had to offer. I remember returning, the train was half filled with Turkish families heading north with us. Such a fun experience.
Just Googled it, trip was 298 miles each way, taking about 5 1/2 to 6 hours.
2 Likes
London to Leeds. Such a long time ago that it was a steam engine with huge wheels. Maybe wouldn’t seem so huge now. I wasn’t full-grown at the time.
2 Likes
London to French alps by train for a skiing holiday.
Liverpool to Newquay by train in the late 60’s
2 Likes