Check the station before you book the hotel

It sounds obvious, but it is the single most common mistake I see. A hotel described as "five minutes from the station" can mean anything from a pleasant stroll along a lit high street to a twenty-minute trek up an unlit hill with no pavement. Some UK towns have more than one station, and the one nearest your hotel might be a quiet halt served by two trains a day, while the mainline station sits a mile and a half away on the other side of town.

Before you commit, look up the actual journey. Check the arrival time, not just the departure, and count the changes. A route that looks simple on a map can involve a replacement bus on a Sunday or a connection so tight that a five-minute delay leaves you stranded for an hour. Then look at the walk on a street map and ask yourself honestly whether you would want to do it after dark with luggage.

• Ask the hotel directly: how far is the walk, is there a pavement, and is it lit at night?
• Check the return times as well as the outbound ones — the last train back is often earlier than you expect.
• Look out for weekend engineering works, which can add a replacement bus and half an hour to your journey.

Book your onward taxi before you travel

Many smaller stations have no taxi rank at all, and a village halt may have no phone signal either. Turning up at nine in the evening and hoping to find a cab is a gamble that frequently does not pay off, particularly in rural counties or on a Sunday.

Ring a local firm a day or two ahead and give them your train's arrival time. Good local firms track delays as a matter of routine, so if you are running late they will usually wait. Better still, ask the hotel which firm they use — many have an account, a fixed price, and a driver who knows exactly where the entrance is.

Confirm the pickup point when you book. Some stations have a proper forecourt, others have a narrow road on a bridge, and a few have nothing more than a lay-by. Keep the taxi number written on paper as well as in your phone, and ring again if your train is delayed by more than fifteen minutes.

Travel light — historic hotels often have no lift

This is the tip that saves backs, arguments and stairwells. Many of the most charming places to stay in the UK are Georgian townhouses, converted coaching inns or Victorian villas. They are beautiful, full of character, and completely unable to fit a lift into a listed building with a narrow, winding staircase.

A room on the third floor of a townhouse can mean sixty steps, some of them steep and slightly uneven. That is delightful with a small holdall and miserable with a hard-shell case the size of a wardrobe.

• Pack a soft bag rather than a rigid case — it fits overhead racks, squeezes into corners and is far kinder on stairs.
• Aim for one main bag plus a small rucksack or shoulder bag, and nothing else.
• If you do need to bring something heavy, ask staff to help. In my experience they almost always will, cheerfully.
• Ask about floor level when you book, especially if stairs are difficult for you or anyone travelling with you.

Remember the ground outside, too. Cobbles, wet flagstones and narrow pavements are part of the pleasure of an old town, but they are unforgiving on wheeled luggage.

Sort out tickets and timings in advance

Advance tickets are excellent value but they tie you to a specific train, so build in a buffer if you are connecting from an airport or another line. If your plans might shift, an off-peak or flexible ticket is often worth the extra few pounds for the peace of mind alone.

Download your tickets as well as printing them, and take a screenshot as a backup — rural signal is patchy and station Wi-Fi is not something to rely on. If you hold a railcard, check it is in date before you travel, and carry it with you rather than leaving it in a suitcase.

Plan for a late arrival

Plenty of small hotels do not have a twenty-four-hour reception. They have reception hours, and after those hours the front door is locked. This is not a problem if you have told them you are coming in on the 21:40, but it is a genuine headache if you have not.

Let the hotel know your expected arrival time when you book, and again on the day if your train is delayed. Ask what happens out of hours: a key safe, a door code, a night porter, or a note left on the desk. Ask about food as well — many hotel kitchens close at nine, and a rural pub may stop serving even earlier.

If you think you will arrive after the kitchen closes, eat near the station or in the town where you change trains. A sandwich bought at the last interchange is a far better evening than a hungry hunt for a takeaway in a village that shut at eight.

Make the most of the local welcome

The best part of travelling by train is that you arrive on foot, in the middle of things, with time to talk to people. Ask at reception which pub the locals actually use, which walk is worth the effort, and what time breakfast really starts. Ask the taxi driver the same question on the way in — you will often get a better answer.

British hospitality is warm, but it rarely shouts. Say yes to the offer of a pot of tea, ask about the building's history, and mention that you came by train. You will usually be rewarded with a bit of local knowledge you would never have found online, and quite possibly a recommendation for tomorrow's breakfast.