Hi all! I'm hoping that some of the British people on here can help me out with this question, as I have very little experience travelling in the UK.

I will be going to Harrogate next month for a conference, arriving at Manchester airport at 11am on a Sunday. My first meeting is at 3pm in Harrogate. It's a bit tight but I didn't want to leave my three small children any earlier (it's a long conference). Conference delegates get 25% off Virgin Trains, but the train takes over 2 hours and I'd have to change twice. Is there any better and faster way to get from Manchester airport to Harrogate?

Welcome to the UK.

Where the public transport option, isn't really an option...

The best/fastest way is to drive. It will take you 1 hour 30mins at least from Manchester. There is no motorway to Harrogate, it runs out at Leeds or Bradford.

Second best is to train it. Yes, you have to change. Yes, your connections won't... Connect. But there are trains reasonably regularly (like every hour).

Oh. And Virgin Trains don't really do the route you need. You want Transpennine, Northern, or whatever they are called this week. Should only have to change once - Manchester Airport to Leeds, Leeds to Harrogate.

Good luck.

Ian (from Leeds)

Harrogate's a lovely town but it's really out in the sticks and you've left yourself very tight on time.

The obvious option would be to hire a car. The journey between Manchester and Harrogate would be around 1.5 hours. Perhaps 2 hours max. Only other option is checking out National Express coach but you'll probably still have to change in Leeds, so again, you'll be lucky to get there by 1500.

I'm from Canada, where public transit isn't any better

Sadly my employer won't reimburse the cost of travel by car (neither a rental nor the use of a personal car within Switzerland). So public transit it is.

Are there no buses that might be faster and /or involve less connections? The last time I went to the UK I took a bus from one of the London airports (can't remember which one) to Oxford and it wasn't so bad.

Yes! This is the most important conference in my field in Europe, but it's always in some British backwater (Bournemouth, anyone?). Despite being in my job for 5 years already it's the first time I've worked up the energy to go.

Assuming my plane is on time (which they usually are for these short European flights) I can take the train and arrive on time. Plus I can be late for the 3pm meeting (if it were essential I would have allowed more time!).

I'll take a look at the bus schedule though, thanks!

Short answer? No. You will have to change.

As Pachyderm says, Harrogate is in the sticks.

There's a bus from Leeds to Harrogate. But you have to get to Leeds first.

Regards



Ian

National Express will get you to Harrogate at 15:55, changing at Leeds (leaving Mcr Airport at 11:50).

Only other thing I can think of is to contact the conference organisers and ask if there's any scheme for hooking up with other delegates for a car-share. I bet there will be other people hiring a car from Manchester that morning, and would probably be happy to help out a fellow delegate.

This is a brilliant idea! I will definitely look into this, thanks!

I take it you're flying from Monarch from Geneva arriving 10:55? That flight gets into Terminal 2 at MAN, and the train station is accessible from the concourse between T1 and T2. As passport control at MAN can be painfully slow, it's better to have some breathing time at that end rather than further along the trip.

The best route is this one, which for some strange reason, isn't showing as a through journey on the train ticket websites, so you might need to buy two tickets. If I were you, I'd buy them in advance online so that you're not faffing about with the train ticket machines at the airport.

12:33 Manchester Airport Platform3B - 13:46 Leeds Platform 15B TranPennine Express 0 changes 2nd class £13.50 1st class £19 (1 seat left)

13:54 Leeds Platform 4B - 14:28 Harrogate Platform 1 Northern 0 changes 2nd class £8

It might be a bit of a sprint between platforms at Leeds if you arrive late, but it's doable. You might notice that the train from Leeds is the same one that you would have caught if you'd done the earlier route dept: 11:45 via Manchester Piccadilly.

Looking at the map of Leeds station, you will need to connect between platforms along the bridge on the left hand side of the map, as the bridge on the right brings you onto the main concourse and you'd have to go through the turnstile again.

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/statio...s-station-plan

http://fahrplan.sbb.ch/bin/query.exe/dn many possibilities, make sure you select the travel on a Sunday !!

Manchester Airport, depart platform 3B, at 12:33 arrive York, 14:11 platform 11 (ticket £18.50

(7 minutes to change from platform 11 to platform 8 )

depart York platform 8, at 14:18 arrive Harrogate 14:50 on platform 3 (ticket costs £ 8.40

Is taxi not an option? Trains in the UK can be expensive anyway for a walk-in fare.

And taxis are generally considerably cheaper than in Switzerland.

And the Transpennine Express is a lovely ride across the hills.

If you don't want the hassle of trains (weeell..., not really a hassle, been on the manchester - Yorkshire route several times), i am sure a cab company in manchester will take you there for gbp140 or so.
You can simply sit and relax in the back seat and enjoy the view of the hill pass.
Google manchester airport cabs to check out prices and to make a booking.

It certainly is if it's a nice day, it can be pretty bleak at times though.

It'll cost between £110 and £130 for a one way ride between Manchester airport and Harrogate town centre and shouldn't take more than an hour and a half especially on a Sunday.
My husband has been to Harrogate for conferences on numerous occasions and often took taxis although he did also enjoy the rail journey.

Northern Rail and TransPennine are quite heavily subsidised commuter and community routes, so tend to be a lot cheaper per mile than routes from the north or Scotland into London, etc.

Regarding taxis, I wouldn't like to guess how much that would cost, but it would definitely be more than hiring a car. My UK house is 28 miles from Manchester Airport and the taxi fare is £55. Harrogate is 83 miles from the airport.

The cost is also an issue as far as trains go, I imagine. Having not used national rail services for ages, my memory is a bit sketchy but I recall that buying a ticket on spec for that kind of distance is pretty steep.

Maybe the taxi wouldn't be that much more expensive.


EDIT - my post crossed with Blueangel's more up to date info...

Try some of the Harrogate taxi companies too. They might have a drop off in Manchester and they're likely to be cheaper than the airpot cabs.

https://ebooker.arrowprivatehire.co.uk/book-now

Taxi company based at Manchester Airport that I have used several times. They are very reliable and you can book via the internet. They have offices on site.

Make sure you go to Bettys for the original & authentic... er... Swiss experience in Yorkshire!