geetika

We' ve a week in the UK in July, want to spend the first 4 days in Edinburgh, then come back to London for 3 days before taking our cruise out of Southampton, our itinerary is as follows:
June 30 - arr Heathrow, then on to Edinburgh
July 4 - back to London
July 7 - Southampton and cruise
What would be the best way to get to Edinburgh, flight or train? Haven't ever been there and want suggestions aboiut what to see and do. DH is an avid golfer, so we'd certainly go to St. Andrews, how far ahead does one have to book to be able to play? How easy is it to get around by public transport or would it be better to rent a car? And could we take a train back on 3rd night, to reach London early 4th morning, this way we'd get 3 full days for our fill of museums. Thanks in advance...

PalenQ

there is an overnight train rolling nightly but Saturdays I believe between Edinburgh and London - the Caledonian Sleeper train and if you book well in advance there are some deep discount tickets - but in no way would I ever trust any UK train to get me to any place on time - you should IMO be in London the night before your flight - investigate cheap flights Edinburgh to London IMO but do try to take the train one way in the day to see the lay of the land - the portion between Newcastle and Edinburgh is awesomely scenic as places. It is a 4.5 hour journey though and you'd have to get to Kings Cross station from Heathrow - www.nationalrail.co.uk has all the fares and schedules and booking early is imperative - just show up and you may pay hundreds of bucks more for a full fare ticket.

there are frequent trains and buses Edinburgh to St Andrews - bus is better perhaps in that it takes you right to St Andrews - trains dumps you at Leuchards, five miles away with a bus link waiting.

MmePerdu

I suggest an overnight in Winchester the night before you board in Southampton. It's a short ride by taxi or car service (I reserved a car service through my B&B) to your ship.

I loved the relaxed small town ambiance of Winchester and a pretty place to stay rather than the much longer transfer from London. Since it sounds as if you won't be seeing anywhere else in the South it would make a memorable interlude.

janisj

W/ your itinerary --about the only way practical way to get to Edinburgh is to fly from LHR about 3 hours after your arrival. There is no train from LHR to Edinburgh - you'd have to go to the other side of central London either by car service to Kings Cross, or tube, or train to Paddington and then cab to Kings Cross. And then catch the train. By the time your train was leaving London, you will have already landed at EDI.

Since you want to visit London at the end, it does make sense to take the train from Edinburgh back south.

You do not need/want a car in Edinburgh, but if you decide to stay a night in St Andrews/Fife it would be easier to rent a car for those days.

here is the info about the Old Course lottery: http://www.standrews.org.uk/News/Lat...urs-ahead.aspx

However -for a single player, it is often possible to 'walk on'. He would go to the starter first thing in the AM, and the starter will see if there are any booked twosomes or threesomes he can join. This is not guaranteed of course, especially in a really busy time like July. But maybe 80% of the time a single can get on that day.

There is no play on the Old Course on July 1 (no play on Sundays).

geetika

Thanks for all your input. I think it does make sense to fly into Edinburgh and take the overnight train on the way back to London. What other places can we visit around Edinburgh, apart from Stirling Castle and St. Andrews?

janisj

There are hundreds of places you could visit from Edinburgh. But you are only going to be there a short time.

Say you arrive mid/late afternoon on 30 June - jetlagged. You won't do much of anything that day except walk around and get acclimated. Then the night of June 3 or early morning of June 4 you leave for London. W/ an overnight in St Andrews/hopefully a round on the Old Course, you don't have time to go anywhere else really.