Hello
I am an Aussie who will be doing several sits in the UK in July then again in September. My first overseas.
I will be travelling by public transport between sits.
How would I find the best route to travel from A to B?
Should I have a “rail app” to book trains on line? Is there a specific government / UK rail app vs pvt tkt companies?
Is it ok to ask the host if you can arrive a night earlier so that you’re not stressing out trying to find a location?
Do home addresses have a street number and street name?
Anticipating getting lost and finding my way around without getting too 
Hey there!
I’m an Aussie who’s lived in the UK for 2 years. You will be fine, don’t worry! Where in the UK are you sitting? All over the country, or in one specific region?
The best app to book cross country trains is called Trainline. You can get trains all over the country with this app. However, trains can be crazy expensive - sometimes (where available) it’s way cheaper to get a national express coach or Flixbus around the country. There’s an app called ‘check my bus’ which will search all coach companies across the country for where you want to go.
If you’ll be in London, you’ll be using the tube or local busses to get around. You can use your bank card to tap on and tap off, though surcharges may be expensive for that with an Aussie bank card. You should definitely get an ‘Oyster card’ (available to purchase at most underground stations) for London travel, or get a bank app like Revolut or Monzo so that you’re not always paying for transfer fees.
For local busses in other towns & cities in the UK, you will need to use your bank card to tap on (or cash, but it usually needs to be exact cash). There are also very cheap Ubers & shareride services in bigger towns and cities (they usually don’t operate in small towns though). For small towns that are more remote, it is best to have a car - there may be some public bus services for small towns, but they often don’t run on Sundays, don’t run after about 4pm, and only go once and hour or so. I’ve been stuck in these kind of situations, so definitely recommend a car for more remote places.
Of course you can ask the host if you can stay the night before, I often do. Most hosts will ask for this anyway, as it allows them to get to know you & for you to meet the pets while they’re there.
Most home addresses have a home and street number, but they can be quite different for different areas of the country. For example, London always has an area code of the city with the number of the borough (e.g: NW2, 4ET.)
Citymapper is a good app for navigating some cities and is much more reliable than Google maps. Citymapper works in London, Edinburgh, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Glasgow
& Nottingham. I’m sure you’ll be just fine and you’ll have a great time!
Here are my top go to apps and/or websites for travelling in the UK:
Transport:
- Trainline
- checkmybus
- National Express
- Megabus
- Flixbus
- TransportforLondon (tfl)
- Stagecoach
- ArrivaBus
Navigation:
- Citymapper
- Google maps
Ride share services:
- Uber
- Bolt
- BlaBlaCar
- Lyft
Banking:
- Monzo
- Revolut
- N26
- TransferWise
Sightseeing:
- The London Pass
- English Heritage Membership (or website for info)
- Historic Scotland Membership (or website for info)
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Trainline app has served me well over about 20 sits in 2022. It will build connections to save you money. Then you can use it to buy the ticket. (small commission is charged)
I have arrived the night before for many sits and even stayed on an extra night. One sit - very kind to allow me to arrive 2 days early!
Most homes have street address but a few don’t. what3words app is good for that. HO can get a what3words id which will bring you right to the site. Then w3w links to google maps or waze.
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The website ‘Rome2Rio’ will give you all options, prices and the best way to get from A to B
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Personally I wouldn’t be thinking of a railcard until you know where you want to head to, so work out if via train would be best.
Just be careful with Rome2Rio - it often shows routes that absolutely do not exist or busses that no longer operate! Personally I gave up on that site years ago 
I stick with Google maps & Citymapper. And even then, Google maps often lies 
Luckily, locals and bus drivers are usually around to help!
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Moovit is a great app for working out complex routes involving a mix of trains bus walking options.
I use Trainline and have a railcard so get 33% off tkts booked after 10am and in advance.
TfL has its own app too which is helpful for London.
There’s currently a govt scheme a £2 max bus tkt single journey limit which is great.
Some places now have electric bikes you hire by the hour via an app in each location.
Beware some mob networks are terrible in some areas so get an e-SIM or one month SIMs based on where you are based. Check the network maps for best signal. Eg in Brighton EE has fewer dead spots so all my apps work. Best wishes
Hi @Karen65 we are also Australian sitters, from Brisbane, and did our first international sits in the UK Nov 22 to Apr 23 doing 11 sits all over England. We used Trainline for all train bookings as it was super easy. Booking about 10-12 weeks out is often the cheapest but not always.
Buses are cheap but you need to know the local bus line names. Look out for GBP2 capped bus fares funded by the UK Government as sometimes you can get really great (scenic) bus rides for only £2.
We recommend setting up Google alerts for “UK train strikes” as unbelievably these are still rolling 2 years down the track! You will get full refunds from Trainline if your train is cancelled. The UK also has a “delay repay” compensation system if your scheduled train is more than 15 minutes late. You have to jump through a few hoops (online) to get compensation but it’s worth it. Trainline also send you notifications if your train is delayed or cancelled and gives you alternate options.
Trains are more expensive than buses but are way easier than buses when you are carting luggage with you when you transit between house sits.
Defintely ask your home owners about arriving the night before your sit and if they can collect you from the station. Most if the time they will be happy to both of these.
As a side bar, a good hack is to do online grocery orders for home delivery to your sit as it’s much easier than carrying heavy bags of groceries home. We love Ocado as they have a great range, including M&S products, and price match to Tesco (equivalent to Woolworths & Coles). They send you a credit if they have charged you more than Tesco. They also give 3 months free home delivery to new customers and 25% off the first order. You can also buy alcholol with your groceries which is such a novelty for a Queenslander! We are currently back in the UK to do more house sitting until June and ordered our Ocado grocery delivery before we left Australia!
Have a great adventure!
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Another option, and usually a bit cheaper is Bolt. Works the same as Uber but isn’t as widespread. Certainly worth having both apps installed.
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Is it possible to add the Two Together Railcard to Uber or Bolt? The Two Together Railcard saves about 1/3 of the fare, but from what I am reading on some routes Uber is usually beating the price even with the railcard discount.
I have the rail app and it’s easy and works great.
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I don’t know your age group, but I’m a senior and purchased a railcard whjch has given me substantial discounts.
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Train app has also worked great for me
@Karen65 In cities, towns and large or medium sized villages, the home address will in most cases have a house number (or name) and a street. In smaller villages, hamlets or rural areas, the address may simply be “house name, village name” (of nearest village).
In towns and cities, the postcode will apply to a street or one side of a street or a section of longer streets. In rural areas, the postcode will cover the village and surrounding area. A sat nav / google maps will typically take you to the centre of the postcode. If you are lucky enough to be sitting in the house closest to the centre of the postcode, this is great! If your housesit is not in the centre of the postcode, the homeowner will normally be well aware that google will send you elsewhere and provide directions to the correct location!
What3words ap is excellent if a homeowner uses it, as this can take you right to your parking space or their front door. Useful when navigating a farm with several buildings!
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Our two together railcard is linked to our UBER app so we get the 30% discount as normal
Beware though that UBER does not always offer split ticket discounts so it is always worth comparing prices with Trainline before booking
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If you want to travel the UK or even the rest of the world try this site
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Nationalrail.co.uk gives you all train operators for any train route in the UK and will send you to the operators website to book. As stated already there may be cheaper offers than booking direct.
Hey @Colin how do you book trains through the Uber app & where do you link your rail card? I can’t see this on my Australian Uber app. Is it only for UK Uber?
Hi @Crookie
This is from the UK Uber app home screen. I think due to a rule of Uber being forced to pay drivers differently then many countries, Uber has expanded it’s offerings in the UK more than just rideshare and food.
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Hi @Crookie , Uber may be different here in the UK than in other countries.
They have expanded into trains, bikes, flights, food delivery etc
When you book your train ticket, it asks if you have a railcard and offers a drop-down list of all the different cards. You tick the card you have and the discount that card offers is automatically deducted from the price of your ticket. You then get a choice of an e-ticket on your phone or a paper ticket collected at a train station
Beware though that UBER does not always offer split ticket discounts so it is always worth comparing prices with Trainline before booking
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