Was it expensive?

Posted at 17:29 on October 29, 2017 by Hannah

A few people have asked about whether Traindomising is expensive. These things are relative, of course, but we want to be open about the costs of this trip in case anyone else is thinking of using the Traindomiser and is interested to know what the costs might be. The reality is, you don’t know when you start what it’s going to cost, so if you need to stick within a specific budget then that might limit how comfortable you feel with the unpredictable nature of a randomised trip. It would though be possible to set some of your own boundaries about costs – in fact there was one occasion when we moved on because the only available accommodation didn’t represent good value for us.

We looked into the option of 7 day All Line Rover tickets, but concluded that it wouldn’t be worth it if we were travelling for only 4 days. We did purchase a Friends and Family Railcard for £30, which gave us 1/3 off our rail fares.

In each hotel we had a family room, with four of us in one room. We also travelled off peak, although this wasn’t particularly because of the costs but more because it just worked out that way.

So, what did we spend?

Accommodation including breakfast – total £355:

  • Hind Hotel, Wellingborough: £90
  • The Queens Hotel, Aldershot: £89
  • Park Inn Palace Hotel, Southend: £176

Travel – total £276.80:

  • London – Wellingborough: £75.60
  • Wellingborough – Ingatestone: £92.50
  • Ingatestone – Aldershot: £43.70
  • Aldershot – Southend: £47.30
  • Southend – London: £17.70

Total for travel and accommodation for a family of four for 3 nights/4 days: £631.80

Of course we also spent money on activities, including Laser Maze, bowling, Adventure Island at Southend and restaurant meals. I haven’t included these costs because they would be so variable and depend how you choose to spend your time.