Top BritRail Tips

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Before You Leave

• Travel Reservations:
  • Reserve your seats on the trains you want before you travel. Please see our Reservations page.
  • Reserve your overnight accommodation in advance as our cities can sometimes get sold out during peak times, conferences and events.

  • If you are disabled or a passenger needing assistance, please remember to book your passenger assistance in advance. For more information please visit the "Passengers Needing Assistance" page.

• Must Remember items:

  • Change your currency to Pounds Sterling (GBP) as no other currency is accepted in Britain.
  • Remember your passport, as you will need it to:
    • Enter Britain from abroad
    • Show to train managers as proof of foreign residency alongside your BritRail Pass
  • Pack a plug adaptor. Britain uses Type G electric plug sockets (three rectangle pins in a triangle).
  • Pack a raincoat as it rains in Britain often, even in the summer! Best to be prepared!
  • A translation app or book:
    • Language: English is a commonly spoken language around the world but there are many words and names that are hard to pronounce, even for English speakers. Bring a translation book to help you out and give some of our city names a go! Look out for Loughborough (said as Loff-borra), Gloucester (said as Gloss-ter) or Derby (said as Dar-bee).
    • Measurements: Britain still uses a mix of metric and imperial, so make sure you've got a measurement calculator with you. While you may only be able to bring 100ml of liquids in your hand luggage through a British airport, you will then find the distance to your destination will be measured in miles. Mountains and skyscrapers are measured in feet and inches and a local market may serve you fresh produce in pounds (Ibs) or Kilograms (KG) depending on the stall owner. Be ready to translate!

• Plan your trip:

  • Check out our BritRail 2FOR1 offers (2 for the price of 1 entry into top attractions around the country).
  • Britain hosts some of the world's finest museums and many of our national museums are free too, so check out our free national museums and plan your trip around some of these.
  • Use our National Rail website or App to plan your train rides www.nationalrail.co.uk. 

When In Britain

• Validate Your Passes:
  • Flexi Paper Passes – take your Pass to a ticket office at the station and they will stamp it and start its validity. You have one month (or two for 15 Day Passes) in which to use your selected flexi days (one box is valid a full day from 00:00 - 24:00).
  • Consecutive Paper Passes -  your Pass is valid from when you get it validated at the ticket office (one day is valid from 00:00 - 24:00).
  • BritRail M-Passes (mobile Passes) - these are valid for travel as soon as you download the barcode, so ensure you have internet access or wifi at your accommodation so you can download your next day's travel as you go.
  • Sleeper validity - for night sleeper trains the following day's date must be used (this is the same for both Flexi and Consecutive Passes).
• Do as the locals do:
  • Queuing: To British people queuing comes as second nature. So when there is a queue at a bus stop, or a shop, do as the Brits do and join the back of the queue and enjoy the ride, you can have some great conversations! Pushing to the front is considered rude and will be frowned upon, so to make your stay a pleasant one, we recommend joining the back of the queue and waiting your turn. 
  • Weather: British people love to talk (and complain) about the weather, check out the forecast before you go out so you can be prepared and also join a weather related conversation!
  • Pub: British people love going to the public house (pub for short). Whether it's for a glass of wine watching the sun go down over a flowing river in a cute summer garden, or a place to warm up in the winter over a pint of English ale listening to the pub quiz next to a steamed up window, the locals will offer a warm welcome. 

After Your Travel (or as you go along!)

• Fill Out Your Travel Diary:
  • Fill out your journey details on the Travel Diary enclosed in your BritRail Pass Cover and post back to us in any Royal Mail post box. A great photo opportunity next to some of our traditional red post boxes too!
  • Alternatively fill out your BritRail Travel Diary online.