Peak District Home

Travelling to and from the Peak District National Park

TRAINS : PLANES : ROADS DRIVING BUSES COACHES : SEA ROUTES AND FERRIES

Located at the centre of the UK, the Peak District has excellent rail, bus and air links and is within easy reach of the country’s main motorway network. All National Park Authorities, Tourist Boards, Local Councils and English Nature are in agreement in encouraging visitors to use public transport when travelling in and around UK especially in popular rural areas. This reduces CO2 emissions, road congestion and noise pollution.

Railways: Stations, lines, train operators, timetables

You can get all UK Railway information and book tickets from National Rail Enquiries Tel: 08457 48 49 50 www.nationalrail.co.uk Telephone ticket purchase 08457 222 333. The train from London St Pancras International reaches Derby in just 91 minutes.  Other mainline rail stations include Sheffield, Stoke-on-Trent, Chesterfield and Macclesfield.The cities neighbouring the Peak District all have regular intercity rail services from destinations across the country. From these cities, it’s easy to make onward journeys into the Peak District by train.You can catch:

• The Hope Valley Line between Manchester and Sheffield stopping on the way at villages in the beautiful Derwent, Hope and Edale valleys
• The Derwent Valley Line from Derby to Matlock
• The Manchester to Buxton line
• The Manchester to Glossop line.

From the towns of Matlock and Buxton there is regular bus services will take you into the heart of the Peak District, for routes and timetables see the www.derbysbus.info website

Train operators for the peak district region.Visit their websites for timetable and ticket information

• Virgin West  Coast – www.virgintrains  Long-distance passenger services on the West Coast Main Line (WCML) between London, the West Midlands, North West England
• First North Western  – First North Western services are now mainly operated by Northern Rail with Manchester Airport to Barrow-in Furness /Blackpool North services now operated by First TransPennine Express.

Other Useful Rail Links

Bike Rail  Europe-wide train times International Rail International  Train Planner  Train Taxi

Roads: coaches, buses, cars motorways, A roads, UK car hire, timetables, routes, car parks and coach operators

Driving to the Peak District National Park

The Peak District area is well served by the UK’s major motorway network.  From the north and south, both the M1 and M6 provide easy access. The M62, M42, M60, M56, M67 and M18 can also be used to reach the area.

Driving tips when you are in the park:  Remember that driving in the Peak District is very different to driving in other areas. Roads are lined with hard dry stone walls and often have poor visibility due to the twists and turns and gradients. Around any corner there may be a slow moving farm vehicle, livestock, a walker, cyclist or perhaps even a deer, low flying owl or bird of prey.It is important to slow down and enjoy the journey, use designated viewing points to appreciate the scenery, stop at a recognised car park and enjoy a walk.

Car Parks in the Peak District
The Peak District National Park Authority owns 45 car parks and parking areas, 18 of which are pay-and-display car parks. A list of charges can be found here; peak district parking charge  The list of car parks currently managed by the Authority is as follows: 

UK Car Hire Links: www.travelsupermarket.com  www.carrentals.co.uk  www.comparecarhire.co.uk

Coaches and Buses to the Peak District National Park

Bus and coach links to the Peaks are excellent with towns Derby and Chesterfield  acting as the main gateways to the peak district region. National Express Service 440  -  which runs from London & Leicester to Matlock, Bakewel & Buxton once a day.  it is possible to travel by National Express coach to the following Towns & Cities just outside the peaks,
and take a bus into the Peak District from there:

• Chesterfield  -  buses run to Matlock, Bakewell, Eyam, Tideswell & Buxton.
• Derby   -  buses run to Ashbourne, Matlock, Bakewell & Buxton.
• Manchester  -  Transpeak coach runs to Buxton, Bakewell & Matlock.
• Sheffield  -  buses run to Castleton, Derwent, Bakewell, Buxton, Eyam, Tideswell & Matlock.

The Transpeak   -  which links Nottingham, Derby, Matlock, Bakewell and Buxton every hour, with some journeys continuing on to Stockport and Manchester http://www.derby.gov.uk/transport-and-streets/public-transport/information-and-advice/#bustimetable

• National Express
  Tel: 0870 580 8 080
  Travel planner and on-line ticket sales, including Eurolines services from overseas.
• Traveline
  0871 200 22 33
  Online journey planner providing information on local bus services.
• Megabus
  0901 331 0031
  Low cost intercity travel

Sea: Ferry routes, operators, timetables and ports

The closest ports to the Peak District are Hull (serving the Scandinavian countries) Hull Ferry Operators  and Liverpool Liverpool Ferry Operators  for Ireland and the Isle of Man). Using ferries across the North Sea to Hull is easy and good value for money for travellers. An hour’s drives away from Rock Lea, there are also excellent overnight European ferry services available, Other ferry services from Hull is the overnight ferry from Hull to Zeebrugges (Bruges) in Belgum.

The North Sea is very important for marine traffic and has densest population of ships in the world, also there are various sea-lanes of the North Sea that all major ports have easy access to. There are several canals and canal systems to help traffic between the rivers artificial harbours and the North Sea. There are speed ferries services for faster crossing.

Flights: Peak District Regional Airports  and their road and public transport links

The Peaks are just short hop from four UK airports all of these have good public transport links to the region, see each airport’s website for more details.

• Manchester International  website  tel +44 (0) 8712 710 711
• Robin Hood Airport in Doncaster  website   tel +44 (0) 871 220 2210
• East Midlands Airport  website  tel Tel: 0871 919 9000 (International: +44 1332 852 852)
• Birmingham International Airport  website  tel+44 (0)871 222 0072
• Leeds Bradford  website  tel+44 (0) 871 288 2288

Manchester Airport has a direct rail link into the Peak District area whilst Leeds Bradford and East Midlands both have excellent road links. All of the airports offer transfers to the area via coaches and all have well priced car hire companies.