skatterfly

My family including a set of 55-ish parents will be in London in September for 9 nights. My hubbie and I are visiting his brother who is going to be working there. We're bringing along my mom and dad who can help with the baby but also I love travelling with them. My mom is trying to be accommodating and saying she'll stay around with us the whole time but I know my dad (who has backpacked all over the world including Afghanistan and India in the 60s) is going to be just itching to get out and see parts of Europe he hasn't seen in at least 20-30 years.

Two things I know for sure he wants to do is see Edinburgh and the Lake Country. He loves train travel and I know he'd be happy just to sit on the train, watch the scenery, get out for a couple hours in the Lake Country, and get back on a train and come back to London.

But for Edinburgh I know they'd need an overnight. I want to encourage them to do something... but don't want them to get all excited about something that might logistically end up being a nightmare for them. They feel like their primary obligation will be to us... don't know why since we've travelled all over Europe prior to the baby and can handle ourselve without them... but I think they'll enjoy the time with the family... and with the baby.

Anyway, is it possible to do just a day in Edinburgh by train? Take an early train up to Edinburgh, enjoy the afternoon and one night, then return back to London sometime the second day?

And is the Lake Country do-able as a day trip from London, assuming they're not really going for hiking so much as to take in the scenery.

Thanks,
kat

tmh

I've read on here that the train trip is 4-5 hours from London. Not sure how long the flight is but know it's faster and probably cheaper (on easyjet or others).

papagena

Check www.networkrail.co.uk for train timetables to find out whether it is feasible.

vcl

I think there may be an overnite train from London to Edinburgh. They could go up on the overnite, spend a full day in the city, spend a night there, and come back the next day. Edinburgh is worth more time than they have, but they can hit the highspots in two days.

ron

It's about a three and a half hour train journey to the Lake District (Windermere)so, with an early start and a willingness to train back late, they could have perhaps 5 or 6 hours in the Lake District. There is an open top double decker bus that runs from Windermere up to Keswick via Ambleside, Rydal and Grasmere. They could buy a day rover ticket and use that as a hop on, hop off route. If they want to do a bit of easy walking, there is a very pleasant walk from Grasmere to Ambleside, via Rydal. Less than 4 miles, it follows the Coffin Trail (where they used to carry the coffin by foot from Grasmere to the church in Rydal -- the benches where they rested the coffin are still evident) with nice views of Grasmere and Rydal Water.

John

Did exactly what you are talking about last October. There is an overnight train to Edinburgh but we opted to take the train during the day. I believe the trip was 4 1/2 hours. Made reservations for the train via the net, paid by credit card via net and picked up the tickets the day we left in London.
Price for round trip for TWO people was $116.61. Tickets bought 3 months ahead of time on Qjump. I believe 3 months ahead is the quickets you can purchase AND at the low rate. Train was wonderfull and on time. Be sure to request off peak times. We left London after 9:am and returned the following day at 4:15 pm. Off peaks will give you the cheapest ticket.
Some prefer to fly from London but once you consider the hassle of flying it was well worth it to train.
Train leaves from King's Cross station in London and arrives at w
Waverly station in downtown Edinburgh.
Tell your parents to go for it and have a great time!

John

To clear up any confusion, we departed Edinburgh @ 4:15 pm so that gave us a day and a half in Edinburgh.
Purchase tickets @
www.qjumpa.com

janis

Actually as weird as it sounds, Edinburgh is an easier day trip than the Lake District.

The lakes joy is the glorious scenery and it takes some wandering around and/or hiking to get much out of a visit.

While of course it is better to stay overnight in Edinburgh - it is certainly doable as a day trip if time is limited. It is best to not try this on a weekend because that is when trains are more likely delayed due to construction/maintenance work. And early a.m. train out of Kings Cross would get you to Edinburgh bymid-morning. Then you'd have until evening to see things and get back to London by 10 or 11p.m.

If you can take a night away from London you can take the sleeper train from Euston and get started in Edinburgh early in the morning. But since none of the attractions are open very early this doesn't really save as much a time as it might seem.

Flying is also an option, but with the advance check-in and travel out to the airport it really isn't much of a time saver.

For the Lake District - try to do an overnight trip. You get a LOT more out of the visit.

Nigello

I agree that the day trip option to the Lake District (not country) is probably not as doable as a day trip to E'burgh. Both trips, however, would be better with an o'night.
Go to www.thetrainline.com or www.qjump.com and be prepared to invest some time and patience in finding the cheapest ticket. I think you can book ahead by cc 3 months ahead. Get a PIN and collect from a ticket machine at the station or via a clerk at the station. Expect to pay up to £40 each for a return trip, 2nd class.
Alternatively, you could take a sleeper from London Euston to Edinburgh, saving at least one night's accommodation fee. www.scotrail.co.uk
Trains leave London at about 11pm and arrive about 7 30 am. You could get a ticket for about £30 cheapest when there aer offers on.
Be aware though - since return (round trip) tickets tend to be cheaper than buying singles (one way), if you take a sleeper one way and a day train the other way, it could work out more expensive. (But then again, you will have saved a hotel night.)
Happy travelling!

WillTravel

Here's another option.

I think skatterfly is going to both London and Paris. Skatterfly's dad could train/fly from London to Edinburgh two days before the planned arrival in Paris. Then, instead of going from London to Paris, he could get a BMI flight from Edinburgh or Glasgow to Paris.

He could also get a cheap Ryanair flight from Glasgow to Paris (although I think in this instance with Ryanair both airports are a little more remote).

Using this method, he efficiently eliminates an extra transport leg.

skatterfly

Thanks everyone... I can see there are plenty of options. I am not as familiar with the UK as I am with other parts of Europe, so I didn't want to just say, "Hey, go on up to Edinburgh" and get them all excited, if it turned out to be much more complicated than a day trip.

I'm going to pass along all these ideas to my parents and let them decide what to do.

Again, thanks for all the great ideas.
~kat