There are four-and-a-bit days left of the National Express East Anglia sale. It’s a pretty good one, with one way seats for just £5. Unfortunately the National Express website is not always the easiest to navigate. Instead of having a display of all the cheap fares straight up, you must enter dates after 27th January, as well selecting a time that is off-peak (after 10.30am until 4pm, then after 7pm), and do the same with the return journey. Once that hurdle is overcome, the options should all come up at £5 each way. If they don’t, shout at National Express (or send a polite tweet or Facebook message). Journeys can be booked until 27th January and the cheap fares can be seen on journeys until April 13th.
Trains go from Liverpool Street…
…all the way to Norwich, which I think is home to some of the friendliest people in Britain, has more Norman churches than you could hope to visit in a day or two, and a lovely lively arts scene. Along the way there are many pretty villages, including ones like Rattlestone, where there are just two pubs (John Peel was a big fan of one of these pubs), no mobile phone signal, and you can still see the stars.
Remember it’s possible to break the journey at any point at no extra charge – so if you fancy visiting more than one place on the route the day you set out, feel free to do so. You may see a man named Mark on the way, who is a guard (train conductor) onboard. If you do, wink at him knowingly.