Isle of Wight Trip – Day 0 (The Train)

Our journey from Norwich to Southampton started at 05:37 and Gordon was there and he came bearing sweets, so very generous of him. I didn’t really doubt him though at any time on this. A longer than usual train took us to Cambridge, departing from Platform 6, and it wasn’t particularly busy.

The amount of shrubbery neatly placed along the track at Cambridge railway station did give me the impression that the planting was deliberate. It’s certainly unusual to have so much foliage between tracks.

The train arrived safely into London King’s Cross from Cambridge and it wasn’t as busy as I had been anticipating. It was the fast service from Cambridge which didn’t stop between there and the capital, with the train being relatively busy but not packed.

In order to cross London, we got a chance to go on my favourite underground line (everyone has a favourite underground line don’t they?), the Waterloo and City.

Getting off the Waterloo and City Line, nearly always a leisurely and comfortable service outside of commuting hours.

The former Eurostar terminal at Waterloo station. After getting a Boots meal deal (living the dream….) I was able to get us a four-person table seat on the South-West Trains service to Southampton. The train was clean and functional, although there was a lack of an at seat trolley service, which Gordon was slightly devastated about.

We arrived in Southampton dead on time at 10:22, which is impressive given that we had three trains and two underground trains to navigate. The entire ticket price was just over £20, which I thought was excellent value. I was also pleased that there were working power points on all of the three trains, meaning I was always fully charged and ready to go. How lovely.