Getting to the airport can be stressful at the best of times, so why not let us make the start of your holiday as easy as possible. Save time and money by taking the train to catch the plane, says Frank Partridge, who also discovers our regional airports are convenient gateways to the best of the UK, Europe and the world

You drive through heavy traffic hoping that there won’t be another motorway snag before you reach the airport. When you arrive, a little late, you waste vital minutes trying to find the long-term car park you pre-booked weeks ago. You finally track it down, but spend another quarter of an hour at a bus shelter waiting for transport to the terminal. You’ve hauled your baggage to the car, then to the bus, and now you have to do it all over again to join the queue at check-in. You’re stressed, fractious and tired—and you haven’t even passed through security. And consider this: every day you spend away, your car’s doing nothing except draining your resources. In this era of low-cost flying, parking can often cost more than the flight itself.
If you live in the South West Trains region, there is an alternative, one that is guaranteed to see you through to your destination in a happier more relaxed frame of mind and with more left in your pocket. Leave your car at home and hop on one of our direct train services connecting stations across the network to three international airports—Heathrow, the UK’s largest airport, and Southampton and Bournemouth, both moving up the league table of regional airports and convenient gateways not only to cities in the UK but also Europe and the rest of the world. And, with Eurostar’s move from London Waterloo to St Pancras, they may now offer your most convenient link to the Continent.
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