The Christmas travel tips you need to know to make your journey more bearable… including the train stations to avoid and when to book your ticket
THE Christmas party is over, all presents are bought, and you've eaten enough mince pies to feed an army - this means it is time to head home for Christmas.
However, buying expensive train tickets and dealing with the crowds is often the worst part of the season, sapping any Christmas spirit out of travellers.
It's not much better on the roads either, with 22 per cent of Brits leaving the car at home to avoid Christmas traffic jam stress.
So from ways to avoid peak hours to slashing the cost of your ticket by a third - here are our top train travel tips for the Christmas period.
Book ahead
Most people know that if you book early, you can get cheaper train tickets - in fact booking up to 12 weeks in advance gets you the very best bargains.
However, booking in 'advance', doesn't mean you have to book THAT far in advance - one day is enough to bag yourself a serious discount.
Someone who books at least the night before, rather than on the day, saves an average 43 per cent.
The nation unwrapped £21.8 million in savings by booking early last year.
Get a rail discount card
Railcards aren't just for students and can cut a third off your train travel costs.
If you haven't got one, and you are entitled there's still time.
These are available for anyone under 26, over 60, disabled or with a family, and cost around £30. A two-Together railcard will also save you and a friend or partner a third off your journey.
Railcards apply to all UK Standard and First Class anytime, Off-Peak and Advanced fares and the card generally pays for itself after two journeys.
Avoid busy times
Crowds at train stations are as bad as they are going to ever be in the days running up to Christmas - so if you can plan your travel around them, you'll save yourself a lot of stress.
Saturday December 17 is set to be the busiest day for travel and Manchester Piccadilly to London Euston the most popular route on the day.
Split your ticket
One simple change in how you book your tickets could save you a lot of money on fares over the Christmas period.
Avoid busy stations
Manchester Piccadilly, London Euston and Birmingham New Street are tipped to be the busiest in the top 10 originating and destination stations, so if possible try to avoid them if you want a relaxing journey home.
Even better, you can track Twitter updates from your railway network and keep friends and families informed of your location via text/email/Facebook/Twitter, all within the app.
Don't forget - there are a lot of strikes planned over the Christmas period, so make sure you are up to date.