Expert: Michael - 7/18/2010

Question
Hello Michael,

Thank you for answering my original question 16/2/2010 re travel to Stafford and Wiltshire.  I have now firmed up my travel plans and I will be traveling from Gatwick Airport to Melksham in Wiltshire arriving at Gatwick at 1410. I am a 52yo female traveling alone, do you have any suggestions for travel options from the airport to Melksham please?  My friend in Melksham will no doubt offer to pick me up from wherever but as she works until 5.30pm I would prefer to inconvenience her as little as possible.  

Thank you so much for your help.

Regards

Sue O'Connor

Answer
Hello Sue,
Thanks for your question.
Travel from Gatwick to Melksham is not the most direct of journeys, but there are a couple of options open to you, using either train or coach in the main.

By train:
From Gatwick Airport you can take a direct train to Reading, which is West of London. From here, there are direct train services to a town called Chippenham, which is about 7 or 8 miles north of the village of Melksham. This journey in total will take just over 2 hours, slightly longer depending on the wait at Reading between trains. By booking the ticket in advance, you could get a fare for around £22. This price will rise considerably if you purchase on the day - particularly as the train you would take from Reading to Chippenham would be a rush-hour service.
Once you arrived in Chippenham, you would be very close for your friend to meet you. But equally, you could take a local bus service to Melksham itself. Bus number 234 takes about 25 minutes to go from Chippenham station, although the service only runs once an hour.

By coach:
From Gatwick, although there is no direct coach service to Melksham, your flight does land in good time to allow you to take a coach to Heathrow Airport in West London where you can pick up a direct coach service to Melksham town hall. The journey time is considerably longer at a little over 4 hours, including a 40-minute wait at Heathrow, but does have the advantage of delivering you straight to the town. The cost is also around £23 one-way, although notably this will not change even if you book it at the last minute. Of course, you would need to ensure that you booked sufficiently in advance to be sure of a seat!

You can find out more details of each of the services by logging on to the relevant public transport websites:
Rail (Gatwick to Chippenham via Reading): www.nationalrail.co.uk
Coach (Gatwick to Melksham via Heathrow): www.nationalexpress.co.uk
Local Bus (Chippenham to Melksham): www.travelinesw.com
Do remember when entering travel dates that you will need to use the British convention of the date before the month (i.e. travelling on 03.09.10)

I hope that all of that information is useful.
Regards
Michael