janisj

>>the second class fare for 5 held steady at 400 pounds for months and months, <<

You can't buy train tix 'months and months' in advance so I'm not sure what you mean there.

>>I was starting in Glasgow that may make a difference, I also insisted on an automatic. No UK or Europe based companies offered a single car for me at any price and I started looking 8 months in advance.<<

I've rented one-way cars from Glasgow several times (at least 10X) and only once that I can recall was it an airport to airport booking. Did you try Autoeurope and/or Kemwel . . . They are brokers and are where most visitors start their search - they aren't always the cheapest but are probably 75% of the time and are a good place to start and one ways are no problem.

Mimar

A few years ago we rented a car (an automatic) in Glasgow City and dropped it in York. Where are you getting your car rental information?

bvlenci

We recently rented a car from Arnold Clark in Glasgow, on the advice of someone on Fodor's forum, and we had no trouble getting an automatic. We dropped the car at Edinburgh airport. We were very satisfied with their service.

This was a last-minute rental, because we had originally not planned to drive.

jamikins

That makes no sense - one way rentals are common and automatics are available but more limited and more expensive than manuals. Who were these rental agencies that said they were only through airports?

dwdvagamundo

Concur with rental info in above comments. We picked a car up at Waverley Train Station in Edinburgh and dropped it at London Heathrow last May. Some rental companies or agencies won't let you do that, so shop around. I believe we booked through Kemwell.

sevenfooter

Thanks for all the replies, we have decided on the train, many of you have suggested stopping in York, we will spend 2 nights there, should we make any other stops before Edinburgh?

Thanks again

janisj

>>should we make any other stops before Edinburgh?<<

Nope - no really. No place in between York and Edinburgh is worth losing time in either of them.

Durham Cathedral is wonderful but I wouldn't stop there if it took time from Edinburgh.

One exception might be to stop over in Newcastle to tour along Hadrian's wall. But the logistics are a tad complicated and not very efficient w/o a car. So it would be a lot of to-ing and fro-ing for little time actually along the Wall.

So I'd just stick to York and Edinburgh.

ESW

"Durham Cathedral is wonderful but I wouldn't stop there if it took time from Edinburgh."

That seems a trifle harsh on Durham Cathedral which is a World heritage site and the best Norman cathedral in Britain. There's nothing to compare with it in Edinburgh.... Surely it is worth considering a short stop on the way up to Edinburgh. (It's a darn site easier to get to Durham Cathedral than Hadrian's wall without a car which as you say would involve a lot of to-ing and fro-ing and take all day.)

janisj

jeeze -I did say it is <u>wonderful</u>. ( I think maybe you misinterpret my posts on purpose?? )

No there isn't a comparable cathedral in Edinburgh - who said there is? But the <u>city of Edinburgh</u> as a whole has much more to explore than Durham does and if one already has very limited time I stand by what I suggested.

However IF one wants to see Durham Cathedral . . . be sure to book three different train tix. London > York; York > Durham; and Durham > Edinburgh. (You can't get off in Durham and then board another train to Edinburgh unless you have separate tickets)

nytraveler

We have done several a road trips in the UK - including one from London to Edinburgh - but we had 9 days between them.

My DH is 6'3" - nothing like as tall as the OP - but I would only rent the largest car you can - making sure you can get an automatic. Even if you drive a standard at home it's easier to have one less thing to deal with in the UK - besides the driving on the wrong side there are a lot of roundabouts (traffic circles) which we are not used to in the US - they have basically eliminated them since they cause so many accidents.

We stopped in Oxford, toured the Cotswolds, spent 2 nights in York and then a full day exploring the Roman ruins of Hadrian's Wall on the way to Edinburgh. If you have any interest in ancient history this is an area it would be a crime to miss. And we had no drop off charge (Hertz).

But it does depend on how much time you have and what you want to see. We flew from Edinburgh to Scandinavia (partly business) and went back to see other parts of Scotland on another trip.

tom_mn

I found Hadrian's wall interesting and the landscape very pretty but a couple of hours is plenty for most people.

Be sure to check out easyJet and bus/coach networks for possibly cheaper fares than rail.

www.eastcoast.co.uk is the train line but note that fares for some trains can be discounted up to 90% in the weeks before departure. Discounted fares are only good for a specific train.

The driving is too complicated for a solo driver without a navigator. Rural roads can be very narrow and the ominous "oncoming traffic in the middle of the road" sign appears more often than you'd like. Driving anything over a couple hours is exhausting and the direction based signage always has gaps at some point so you will get lost. You will not have the luxury of following signs like "East US 50" all day like in North America. U-turns are not usually possible so corrections can be time consuming.

tom_mn

Addendum: renting a car (small) in York or Edinburgh for a tour of the countryside could really work out. It's the cross country driving that's extra challenging.

ESW

"I think maybe you misinterpret my posts on purpose??"

No I'm not, but I'm beginning to think you don't like it if someone offers a different prospective to you.

A lot depends on what the OP has lined up for Edinburgh. I agree that there is a lot more to see in Edinburgh than Durham, but that is only to be expected as it is a much larger city than Durham.

sevenfooter

How far out is best to buy train tickets? I understand I could buy a Brit pass, is this cheaper than just buying individual tickets?

sevenfooter

Right now a 3 day Brit pass non consecutive days is 870 American dollars per person, wow that's shocking or 550 pounds! Any discounts available or should I wait ??

bilboburgler

As a Brit I know I buy a train ticket 2 months out non exchangable and get good prices, I'm told 89 days out is perfect but I never hit them. Flexibility costs. Look at seat61.com to understand the opps.

nytraveler

Sorry - I missed that the OP was traveling alone and didn;t have a navigator. Thought he said "we" at the top - and often driving is less expensive for trains for more people.

Not sure how difficult the driving is. We never found it especially tricky - except for roundabuots which are a PIA.

Hooameye

"except for roundabuots which are a PIA."

How come? I think it's a good system and much better than waiting at traffic lights.

nytraveler

If you have never driven through or even seen a roundabout (true of many americans since we have very few of them) one doesn;t know intrinsically what the rules are - how to enter, merge and exit. There was one (now turned into a multi-light intersection) that I had to take on the way to a client and the number of accidents there was amazing. Many people just entered and drove straight across the multiple lanes - ignoring the lane lines and all the cars already in the circle - and out the exit they wanted. Saw it once with a tractor trailer that had done that and taken our 2 SUVs and 3 cars.

If you have spent your whole life driving - or being driven through them - its easy. But we don't have them - just traffic lights and stop signs on roads that are not limited access.

Pegontheroad

The confusion about Budapest/Belfast reminds me of something I read recently. A traveler (British, I think) wanted to go to Granada, Spain, but the ticketing agent instead sent the traveler to Grenada, which is in the Caribbean.

The traveler and his companion were en route to the West Indies before they discovered the mistake.