Rail

Travelling by train can be one of the fastest, easiest and most enjoyable ways to experience the Great West Way, especially using our Discover pass. It includes unlimited off-peak train travel from London Paddington/Waterloo along the route to Bristol Temple Meads via Reading and or Basingstoke routes with options to branch off towards Oxford and Kemble. It also includes unlimited travel on the bus services along the route. Choose from a one, three day or week-long ticket to enjoy your Great West Way adventure.

If you’re travelling from London to Bristol, you can sit back, relax and enjoy the view as the train navigates through The Chilterns, over the North Wessex Downs and into the Cotswolds. The entire journey takes just 1 hour 45 minutes. But if you want to explore slowly, hop off at a station along the way - Reading, Swindon, Chippenham, Bath Spa. Or try a different route: London Paddington to Windsor & Eton Central takes less than 40 minutes. 

The Great Western Railway is also one of the historic linchpins of the touring route. A Victorian engineering marvel when it was created by the world-famous Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Who, you might be interested to know, had no experience in railway building when he was appointed in 1833. 

Fun fact: When the inaugural train trip from London to Bristol was taken by GWR directors in 1841, the journey took 4 hours.

You can find out more about the Great Western Railway - and even experience what it’s like to be a train driver - at the STEAM museum in Swindon.

And don’t forget, you can easily take a diversion from the Great West Way via regular train services to the cathedral city of Salisbury, the esteemed university city of Oxford, and beyond that, Cheltenham, a city renowned for its literary leanings, and Stratford-upon-Avon - Shakespeare’s birthplace. 

Go to Great Western Railway for more information and to book tickets. For comprehensive train times and tickets throughout the region, visit National Rail Enquiries.