It’s the most wonderful time of the year – but Christmas can also mean maximum travel stress. These key points can help you cope.
Fly on Christmas Day if you can, to save money and hassle
Air fares on 25 December are generally lower than immediately before or after the big day. In addition, airports are much quieter.
EasyJet has flights from London Gatwick, Luton, Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow on Christmas Day, mainly to sunshine destinations.
The routes from Gatwick to Amsterdam and Paris will each have two flights.
A spokesperson for easyJet said: “We are operating one of our biggest-ever schedules on Christmas Day this year from six UK airports, to get customers to where they need to be during the festivities, whether that’s visiting friends and relatives or to make the most of the bank holiday.”
British Airways will run a fairly comprehensive long-haul schedule on Christmas Day. Flying on 25 December is likely to save a fortune. On a London-Singapore one-way flight, for example, the lowest BA fare on 21 December is £1,837, compared with just £772 on Christmas Day – a saving of 58 per cent
Plan travel around the UK carefully
No trains will run anywhere in the UK on 25 December, but National Express and FlixBus will operate many hundreds of coach journeys between them, including to and from airports. But with demand likely to be strong, advance booking is essential.
British Airways is operating an unprecedented number of domestic flights to and from London Heathrow on 25 December 2024.
No BA flights will link London with either Inverness or Belfast on Christmas Day; Dublin also has no flights from Heathrow.
Be prepared for rail closedown
Besides the usual 25 December shutdown and the cancellation of almost all trains on Boxing Day, two key London terminals will be closed for much of the festive season this year.
Work on the controversial HS2 project will close London Paddington station from the evening of Christmas Eve until 30 December. Some Great Western trains from South Wales and Cornwall will be diverted to London Euston.
The Midland Main Line from London St Pancras International to Luton (including the airport), Leicester, Derby, Nottingham and Sheffield will close at the London end…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at The Independent Travel…