Poole to Torquay on land without a car

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Donheist

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This half term we plan to sail from Torquay to Poole. What to do with the car? I have looked at public transport options but getting the 4 of us from London to Torquay and from Poole to London is working out more than it cost us to fly to corfu. I have tried trains planes and coaches.

Train from Poole to Torquay one way for me to go back and pick up the car is 4 hours. Coach is 9 hours. I haven't looked at one way car hire yet but am I missing some clever local bus type solution?

Advice gratefully received!
 
Not easy, I'm afraid. The rail system from Poole to Torquay is useless, (I'm amazed you were told 4 hours), the coaches are so slow it might be quicker to cycle and it is all expensive.

When four of us needed to go to Salcombe to pick up a boat and bring it back to Poole it worked out not a lot more expensive than trains or bus to hire a taxi one way. I'd suggest you google airport taxi companies around Poole and see who gives the best price. Leave the car in Poole, all travel by taxi and sail back to your car. Taxi is a lot quicker and it is also door to door.
 
One-way car hire is a good solution in many cases, and often the hire companies will collect the car from a marina if needed.
 
X53 bus from Poole to Exeter (a terrific journey in itself) and then bus from Exeter to Torquay (1hr20m)? ...or v.v.

Edit: no idea about the cost.....have only appreciated buses since I got a bus pass :o
 
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The X53 takes about 3 1/2 hours and runs 4 times a day. Very scenic, but might be frustrating if you just want to get there!
 
Donheist said:
This half term we plan to sail from Torquay to Poole. What to do with the car? Advice gratefully received!
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Possibly - Just a thought?
Berth in Weymouth mid week and car driver trains it back to Torquay to relocate the car to Weymouth {Using train to Castle Cary/Newton Abbot & Torquay}. This avoids possible weekend rail engineering/? delays & road congestion (A380 & A303 will not be fun that weekend). Sail on to Poole. Retrieving the car the short distance from Weymouth can be done with train or bus.
Have a great trip.
Cheers
Bob
 
There are no direct trains from Poole to anywhere west further than Weymouth. Despite being classed by some as "west country" Poole is an outer suburb of the big smoke as far as trains are concerned. So no problem getting to London, but coastal by direct trains is 35 miles east to Southampton and same west to Weymouth. Nothing north, but daily ferry south to Channel Islands and France!
 
Tranona said:
There are no direct trains from Poole to anywhere west further than Weymouth. Despite being classed by some as "west country" Poole is an outer suburb of the big smoke as far as trains are concerned. So no problem getting to London, but coastal by direct trains is 35 miles east to Southampton and same west to Weymouth. Nothing north.../QUOTE]

... any more. The Somerset and Dorset took you north, albeit from Bournemouth or Broadstone rather than Poole. It was a rather bucolic ramble, I gather.
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JumbleDuck said:
Tranona said:
There are no direct trains from Poole to anywhere west further than Weymouth. Despite being classed by some as "west country" Poole is an outer suburb of the big smoke as far as trains are concerned. So no problem getting to London, but coastal by direct trains is 35 miles east to Southampton and same west to Weymouth. Nothing north.../QUOTE]

... any more. The Somerset and Dorset took you north, albeit from Bournemouth or Broadstone rather than Poole. It was a rather bucolic ramble, I gather.
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I know. I am just about to take my dog for a walk on the trailway that used to be the S&D line. Broadstone station is now a sports centre and the old line to Poole a road. Used to a short bucolic ramble for us to the pub on Sundays, but pub now gone and road is local race track! If the burghers of Poole had allowed the railway when it first came to Bournemouth, Broadstone would never have existed in its current form as it became a major junction serving Poole.
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