I went on a solo day trip to London at Christmas and had the most stress free train journey from Liverpool
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While most of us associate the festive period with family and our hometowns, I do often think of London this time of year - maybe I've watched Love Actually once too many times, or maybe it's due to my wonderful memories of visiting Winter Wonderland with friends.
Having not visited London since this time last year, I headed to the capital city ready to take in the beautiful festive sights and have a little me time before the chaos of Christmas Day.
Though Liverpool often feels worlds away from the south of the country, it is actually pretty easy to get to London, with regular, direct trains running every day of the week. Avanti West Coast's hourly service from Liverpool Lime Street to London Euston takes under 2.5 hours, stopping at Runcorn, Crewe and Milton Keynes Central.
As the service begins at Lime Street, you can usually board about 15 minutes before departure which is ideal for anxious people like me like to have plenty of time to find my seat and get comfy without large crowds of people doing the same.
It's free to reserve a seat too - regardless of what class you've booked - and little screens above the seats make it easy to see which seats are reserved or available so you don’t need to worry about being asked to move.
Though I usually book standard class, I was a little fancier on this trip and upgraded to Standard Premium - which has extra leg room, plug sockets at every window and a guaranteed table, which is ideal if you plan on doing some work.
It was nice as a little treat as it was really quiet and comfy, and I didn't have anyone sitting next to me. I was sat at a table seat, with just one lady sat opposite on my way there, so we had lots of space and I was able to get some work done on my laptop without feeling like I was taking up too much space. That being said Standard class is pretty nice on Avanti services and during off-peak hours it's never unbearably busy.
With WiFi on board and the option to grab some food and drink from the trolley or shop, there really wasn't anything lacking on my journey and I was very pleased to find clean, well signposted toilets too.
I arrived at Euston station after what felt like no time at all, ready to explore London and pretend I was in a Christmas rom-com - after getting a coffee first, of course. I then headed back.
Though I wasn't travelling too far away today, it is really easy to explore the rest of London or other parts of the south from Euston, with easy tube links to other stations such as London Waterloo, or Bond Street and Victoria if you're heading to Winter Wonderland.
I'd definitely recommend Avanti's Liverpool to London service (and vice versa) because - as someone who moved five hours away for uni and had my fair share of being stranded thanks to poor train services - I genuinely feel the most calm when I travel with Avanti. Although cancelled services and delays are sometimes unavoidable, I feel at ease when I travel direct to London because I'm yet to be hit with a surprise, last minute cancellation.
I loved experiencing Standard Premium too, and it was well worth it for an extra £30 each way for a lovely quiet carriage during the festive period. But, I don't think I'll be upgrading regularly because travelling with Avanti feels pretty fancy anyway.
Find out more about the festive season in London and book your ticket from Liverpool to London on Avanti by clicking here.
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