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Days Out for all the Family

Having a day out with your family, or just your children, can be as easy or as complicated as you want to make it. Some of us just like to get into the car and see where we end up; while others like to plan the day well in advance and make sure that that they have a proper itinerary. Being in Central Bedfordshire, we are lucky that we have a lot of places to visit for a day out, and we are also well placed to go farther afield to other major attractions. If you like to plan ahead for a day out, this section will give you helpful information on where you can go, and equally importantly, how to get there.

Going by car

The AA and RAC both have a very good websites which will help you plan a route anywhere in this Country, or for a holiday, anywhere in Ireland and Europe. You just put in where you are starting from and where you want to go and the route planner will calculate a route for you, either using motorways, or other main roads if you want to avoid motorway travel.

It will tell you the distance, the time the journey will (or should) take and will even reverse the route for the journey home. The routes are very detailed, telling you every turn to take and even warn you of fixed speed enforcement cameras. Most major attractions, like Legoland, or Whipsnade Zoo are loaded in to the database and will come up by name rather than their locations.

You can find these by either putting in "route planner" into any internet search engine or by going direct to The AA or The RAC websites. While you are on the site you can also sign up for breakdown and recovery membership if you want to.

The Highways Agency is an executive agency of the Department for Transport (DfT). It is responsible for operating, maintaining and improving England's strategic road network on behalf of the Secretary of State for Transport. From their website you can access a range of information relevant when planning a day out, including: Current Traffic Information; Journey Planner.

If you have a SatNav, then most big attractions within 30 or 40 miles are usually preloaded. If you can't find the one you are looking for, the web site of the attraction should contain the post code which you can load into the device. But to make it easier, all the attractions and locations listed here have the postcode shown after the website address. Unless stated, all the sites and attractions listed here have disabled access and facilities.

As Shefford, Bedfordshire is fairly central to the area the journey time from Shefford is also included to give you a rough idea of how long the trip will take.

Going by train

Buying a train ticket is certainly more complex than it ever was before, with ticket prices differing widely depending on the type of ticket and how far in advance you book. With so many different operators running trains it can be a bit of a nightmare to work the details out.

An easy way to plan your train journey is to use one of the internet sites which do it all for you. Like the road route planners you just enter your journey details and when you want to go and the site will come back with train times, changes, and ticket options. Some also have a helpline number you can call to actually speak to an operator who will look the information up for you.

The National Rail Enquiries site is very, very good and is a "one stop shop" for all train enquiries. It is easy to use, but because it is so popular, the site and the helpline operator’s deal with thousands of enquiries every day, it can sometimes run a little slowly on older computers or poor internet broadband connections. That said it is very comprehensive, and when you have used it, your entire journey will be planned out for you. It even has a section telling you of planned disruptions to services.

There are a range of useful Helpline telephone numbers:

• National Rail Enquiries: 08457 48 49 50
• TrainTracker™: 0871 200 49 50
• TrainTracker™ Text - text station name to: 8 49 50
• National Rail Enquiries from overseas (Please note: International rates apply): +44(0)20 7278 5240
• National Rail Enquiries Textphone (for customers with hearing impairments): 0845 60 50 600

This service is very popular and well recommended and the helpline operators are both friendly and very efficient. Even if your journey is a local one of just a few stops, the site is well worth using. If you are thinking of going to London by train, then at the time of writing (January 2010) restrictions on one day rail card and cheap day returns were in force, prohibiting return travel during the afternoon rush hour until after 7pm. Check the helpline for more information.

Other similar sites include: www.rail.co.uk and www.networkrail.co.uk which is hosted by all the train operators and gives up to date information on service alterations.

Going by bus or coach

For bus and coach travel, the internet is teeming with sites, some national, many other for particular areas or operators, so a bit of surfing might be need here to get the info you need, depending on where you are going.

Excursions

Many train companies and especially coach firms now do planned day excursions to a number of cities or attractions. Often these are advertised in the local newspapers, so that is a good place to start, as that is where many local coach firms advertise. Several local firms run regular trips to a wide variety of destinations, so check the local papers to see what's on offer.