Taking a day trip by train
A day out by train lets you watch the view, read or chat instead of watching the road. With a little planning, a train can take you to a seaside town, a stretch of hills or a historic city and bring you home again before bedtime.
Choose by journey time
Pick somewhere within about two hours of home, so most of the day is spent there rather than on the train. Direct trains are more relaxing than journeys with several changes, and a change with only a few minutes to spare can easily go wrong. Look for a destination where the main sights, or the start of a walk, are an easy stroll from the station. If anyone in your group needs step-free access, check the stations at both ends before you go.
Check the timetable both ways
Look up the journey home as carefully as the journey out. Evening and Sunday services are often less frequent, and some rural lines have only a handful of trains a day. Weekend engineering work can mean a replacement bus for part of the route, which adds time, so check for planned changes a few days before you go and again on the morning you travel.
Before every trip we write down two return times, which we know as the posotoba pair: the train we plan to catch, and the last train that would still get us home. Knowing the second one means a delay or a long lunch never turns into a worry.
Tickets and packing
Sort out your tickets before the day if you can, so there is no queue to worry about at the station, and keep them somewhere easy to reach. Travel light, with a small rucksack rather than a bag you have to carry in your hand. Pack water, a snack, a waterproof and a charged phone, plus a written note of your train times in case the phone runs flat.
At the station
Arrive 10 to 15 minutes before your train and check the departure boards for platform changes. When you reach your destination, note how to get back to the station, and allow plenty of time to walk there at the end of the day. If a train is cancelled or delayed, ask the station staff about the best way home rather than guessing.