I need to go to Blackpool

Can you not get the train?

Blackpool has a small airport, can you not fly into there?

ETA, I just looked at the website and there are no flights from or to London. Sorry

Just looked - the times I need to be there I will have to travel on Sunday - takes 8 hours!! And 10 hours on the way back Monday night ?

Looks like I will be flying to Manchester and spending a fortune on taxi's!

I may have been in the seats behind you!

How you get there does kind of depend on where you are coming from..?

Is it an urgent dash for something interesting?

You can go from London Euston. It takes about 3 hours, and you have to change at Preston - possibly onto some sort of horse-drawn contraption.

Train? There are options on here (I just put in today's date because I had to use one!)

http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/en/pj/tt

Blackpool has a small airport is there any chance you could fly there.

Or failing that get a hitcher to meet you & drop you at Blackpool.I would offer as i live in that area but obviously you do not know me,but the offer is always there if there is no other option.

Or you could fly into Manchester and there's a direct train from the airport to Blackpool North Station which takes about 1hr 20mins.

not at the weekend. the west coast line is STILL undergoing maintenance, so it takes far longer.

there are no flights anymore from stansted either.

quickest way is to fly then cab, but a cab from man airport to blackpool will be at least a hundred quid, if not 120

anyway sparks, blackpool is grim. why do you have to go?

If you fly to Manchester airport, then there should be a train to Blackpool North which goes from the train station there. If not, get a train to Manchester Picadilly and change there onto a Blackpool train.

If you need to be there on a Sunday, can you not go on Saturday when train tmes will be shorter and make a cheesy weekend of it?!

My first interview is at 11am and the last one doesn't finish until 6pm, I will be travelling all night if I get the train.

It will be easier if I flly and the taxi it. Grrrr! It's going to be a hell of a long day! At least it's not my money, the company are paying, but we are meant to be saving money on travelling!!

Can you not set up a video conference and avoid Blackpool altogether? ?

In that case sparks it be cheaper to get the train the day before and stay over. blackpool is ful of cheap hovels.

Whaaaat!!

Got to go for work. We have an office there and I have to interview 5 people. They are senior roles so I can't get a minion to do it ?

Depending on where abouts in Blackpool you need to go, I do think flying into Manchester and then the train out would be easier. The train station at the airport is really easy to get to and there and 2 direct trains to Blackpool every hour IIRC.

I don't do cheap hovels you spoon!

Is there such thing as a nice hotel in Blackpool? I have heard of the Grand but wasn't that blown up by the IRA? Or was that Brighton?

?

there are no nice hotels in blackpool. theres one called blue something which is ok, but no 5* hotels at all.

is the firms head office there? might i know them?

You would have heard of the place I am interviewing in. In fact everyone who has heard of Premium Bonds will have!

Looks like I will be spending next Sunday night in Blackppol ?

Is the Grand in Brighton then? I will look at the blue something ?

Do you mean the big blue hotel,if so it is not too far from the airport but right next door to the pleasure beach.

The Grand is really nice. Its in St Annes so out of the grimness of Blackpool but still close. Friends of my in-laws own it and its recently been done up. I have never stayed but eaten there a few times. I was working up at DWP and NS&I| for a while and a lot of my colleagues stayed there and really liked it.

www.the-grand.co.uk

HTH

Do you drive? Would hiring a car be an option? I think it'd be quicker than the train or flying. Ooh, how about National express-they always seem to be heading to Blackpool.

Thanks Iris, and thanks everyone else. I really don't want to spend all day driving on Sunday, and by the time I finish on Monday it will be too late to drive back south.

That hotel looks nice, so I will prob have to go up Sunday & come back on Tuesday. Pooooooooo!!!!

This ones quite reasonable, however you may need a blue rinse & a special rain hat for said hair!

https://www.canastahotel.com/

You could fly up and then hire a car at the airport,woudl be cheaper than taxis I imagine, or like others have said the trains are fairly frequent from the airport. Take advantage of the nice pool and spa area at the hotel and pretend you are somewhere else. (Although St Annes and Lytham are nice if you fancy a walk on the beach or something - although the rain will no doubt have set in again by then!)

Poor Sparks, Blackpool is a hole. I had to go there for work a few years ago, and I think I stayed at The Imperial. IIRC, it was anything but. You have my sympathy, I'd rather spend a day in ASDA Hounslow than Blackpool.

That looks hideous ? No same sex parties allowed, bummer ?

Wonks, I have been to Asda Hounslow - niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice ?

We go every year for the darts (well the boys go to the darts while me and my friend go for a meal and chat up the waiters, hehe) and this year I managed to find a hotel that was reasonably cenrtal and didn't smell of dogs and feet like most places in Blackpool. www.fyldehotel.com Clean place and lovely owners.

It sounds like a marathon journey to do all one day. I would definitely come up the night before and stay over. Get the train from manc airport, a taxi would cost a bloody fortune!

Can you not do the interviews in Manchester and they drive and meet you there?

I've been in the bar of the Imperial on North Promenade (I think it's where all the politicians stay for their party conferences) and it seemed like a nice place to stay - but that may have been because anywhere seemed nice compared to the place next door I actually stayed at.

Eek! We're taking our son there on Friday for his very first visit. We've been putting it off for years (he's 14), but we reckoned that we really should take him. I'm hoping that it's more cheesy than grim but I'm not looking forward to it!

? it honestly isnt that bad. (depending where you stay I guess and if you dont expect too much ?)

We were there 2 weeks ago, stayed at the Big Blue Hotel, it actually is a really nice hotel, lovely food, out the way of most things, eh, except the pleasure beach as is it is right on the edge of it. ?

Could you fly to Manchester and stay there overnight, then get the train to Blackpool in the morning? You could then get back to Manchester on the evening and fly/train it back down the next morning.