Melk to Melksham in a day and a half - by train mostly, with a single bus, walks of no more then 5 minutes from my starting point (hotel) and end point (home). The only pre-booked part with a reserved seat was the Eurostar train through the Channel Tunnel.  The only part where the train failed to be practical was the last leg to Melksham due to cancellations only declared (lack of staff) after I was actually on my way.

Hotel to Melk station - 8 minute walk
Melk - St Poelten, 07:11 to 07:27, local train on time.
St Poelten - Frankfurt Main, 07:46 to 13:36, German ICE, actual 08:05 to 14:05
Frankfurt - Brussels Midi, 14:27 to 17:35, German ICW actual 14:27 to 18:13
Brussels Midi - Doornik/Tournai, 18:14 to 19:16, regional train, actual 18:40 to 19:40
Tournai - Lille Flanders, 20:24 to 20:52, local ("international") train, on time
Walk to Hotel - less than 5 minutes. Overnight stop
Walk to Lille Europe station - 7 minutes.
Lille Europe - St Pancras International - 13:35 (CET) to 13:57 (BST), actual 13:35 to 14:00
St Pancras International - Paddington (Hammersmith Lines), actual 14:07 to 14:20
Walk to Paddington ("lawn") main concourse - 5 minutes
Paddington - Swindon, 14:32 to 15:28, GWR Cheltenham Express, actual 14:32 to 15:32
Swindon - Bath Spa, 15:24 to 15:47, GWR Weston-s-M Express, actual 15:36 to 15:59
Walk to Bath Bus Station - 5 minutes
Bath Bus Station - Melksham Market Place, 16:15 to 17:03, Faresaver route 271, actual 16:18 to 17:11
Walk home - 5 minutes - arrived by 17:20.

Not quite planned trains / routes all the way. From Brussels to Lille my connection was supposed to be via Kortrijk/Courtrai (love the places with 2 different names!) but that missed and I re-routed, and then the ongoing connection off that at Doornik/Tournai also failed and I ended up on the train a further hour later. So 61 minutes later than planned into Lille.  From London to Melksham, plan was to arrive into Melksham at 18:00 after a wait at Swindon for the infrequent onward service - however (overnight) GWR had cancelled the 17:35 and 19:44 from Swindon and though I was doing the whole thing "On principle" by train, waiting for the next train at 22:12 would have been perverse - I really didn't want to sit around for nearly 7 hours.  I should say that GWR had added a scheduled extra bus that would have got me (if running to new schedule) to Melksham Station at 18:33, home at 18:55.

Tickets / fares

* Interrail Pass, Melk to Lille. Using local trains Brussels to Lille to avoid the need for a reservation / supplement (with the hassle of potential late running and ending up arriving in Brussels after my inward train had left, or with a long wait there

* Eurostar Snap - £45 Lille to London. I would have preferred an earlier train in the day, but this is a late allocation seat-filler fare and you accept what you're given

* Oyster Card - £2.80 St Pancras to Paddington

* Super off peak single with senior railcard - £27.60 Paddington to Melksham, with ticket accepted (spoke with member of GWR staff ahead of time) to Bath Spa because of train cancellations

* Senior Bus Pass - Bath to Melksham - free to me at the point / time of use.

Conclusion - it can be done and I enjoy(ed) it - perhaps with the exception of when things were going very wrong around Brussels waiting for an unknown delayed arrival, then after a mad dash through the subway to an unknown delayed departure sitting in a stuck hot and crowded commuter train.  But it requires a certain acceptance of changes, knowledge and sorting out the challenge to actually get there.

We slate the British Railway system for failing to deliver the promised trains on time - but whilst the most significant disruption on the journey was in the UK, there WERE also significant delays in both Germany and Belgium, and the final bus ride - though just a few minutes late - was a reminder that traffic (and passenger volume) delays are not unique to the rails.

The Interrail pass does wonders. It's unfortunate that there is added complexity with reservations that pushed me onto local trains into France and the UK, and that as a UK resident I'm only allowed 2 days here - discriminatory in my view.  I COULD have used a 4 day pass for my Melksham to Melk journey (2 days) and then 2 days back, but other travel plans mean that I only have 1 UK day left and I am preserving that.

This is a journey log - not telling of the wonderful places seen and experiences along the way.

Would I do it again - yes / happy to do similar journeys, though not until next month. 

 
Admittedly it’s only a small saving but if you had got your senior railcard added to your Oyster card, you would have saved a third on your trip from St Pancras to Paddington.