TRAIN fares in the UK are some of the highest in Europe, meaning even a short-distance day trip for Brits can be prohibitively expensive.
But there is a way to save on high-cost rail travel, just as long as you’re willing to be flexible when it comes to your destination.
As someone who loves exploring the UK, I was delighted to hear about the Trainpal app and its ‘Lucky Train Trip’ promotion, allowing Brits to book train tickets to a mystery location for just £9.99.
With an empty Tuesday in the calendar, and a desire to see parts of the country I hadn’t before, I thought I’d give it a go to see if it was worth it.
It’s pretty simple to use.
Simply download the Trainpal app, scroll down to the Lucky Train Trip section before selecting where you want to travel from and on which date, and then the app does the rest.
There are some restrictions though when using this promotion.
The first is there are only two mystery destinations available to each customer per day.
So if you don’t like either of the two journeys you receive via the lucky dip, then you either have to wait until the next day to try again, or you have to pay full price to go somewhere you definitely want to visit.
After drawing Gatwick Airport on my first attempt, I’ll admit that my confidence in the app was pretty low to begin with.
However, my second spin drew the seaside town of Margate, which had some tickets listed online for as much as £40 return.
It seemed a no-brainer to accept, considering how much I’d save, particularly for such a sought-after destination.
What’s more, this was during half-term and my train was rammed, but there are seemingly no restrictions on the promotion during holidays or weekends, meaning it’s not just good for weekday excursions.
Margate itself more than lived up to its reputation as a seaside stalwart, particularly during the recent heatwave.
I paddled in its refreshing blue sea water, absorbed some culture in the Turner Contemporary art gallery, and of course enjoyed some seaside refreshments.
The Harbour Arms Micropub was my pick of the more traditional bars in the town.
As its name suggests, it overlooks the beach from the harbour, making it a perfect spot to enjoy a drink in the sun, especially with some pints available for less than £5.
However, I was similarly impressed with Little Swift and its serving hatch, which offers takeaway slushie cocktails for as little as a tenner.
Good seaside food was easy to find as well, with Peter’s Fish Factory so popular with the locals that they were already lining up around the block by the time I’d arrived for lunch.
It’s easy to see why as well, with crispy scampi, perfect chip shop chips and a healthy portion of mushy peas setting me back no more than £13.
I still had plenty of time to explore the many vintage shops in the town’s charming warren of backstreets, where Britain’s best museum for 2026, according to Time Out, the Crab Museum can also be found.
After picking up a delicious real fruit ice cream from Follow the Swirl and playing on the games in one of the sea front’s many arcades, it was time to get my return train home.
And this brings me to one of the Trainpal promotion’s two main catches.
The £9.99 only covers a one-way ticket, meaning travellers do have to fork out for their own return fare.
This set me back another £12, which wasn’t unreasonable, but had I been sent somewhere further afield, it could have been much less affordable.
After playing around with the app on subsequent days to see how far away I could have ended up, I know that day trips from London to Chester are possible.
One-way fares from Chester to London are as much £44, so not exactly cheap, although the £9.99 outbound fare does save almost £30 on the cost of a return trip.
So it does cut costs even without covering the return leg.
Another issue is that the £9.99 offer is only available for one ticket, meaning anyone looking to take a spontaneous day out with a friend or family member will have to hope that their companion is also offered the same mystery destination via the app, or someone will have to pay full price.
Nevertheless, I’d say for a one-off solo day out it was worth it.
I saved a bit of money on my train and ended up having a great time somewhere I probably wouldn’t have considered visiting otherwise.
With a few more blanks in the calendar throughout the summer, I’m keen to try my luck again to see where I might end up.