England - Scotland trip

Old May 6th, 2006, 06:21 AM
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England - Scotland trip

My husband and I are doing our first trip abroad. Our main destination is Edinburgh, but since flights are cheaper from Washington, DC to London, we thought we might as well spend a couple of days in London since we are flying there anyway. Money is definitely an issue and we want to be smart about it. We are currently thinking of flying into to London and then taking the train to Edinburgh. This seems cheaper and suits our flight time better. I have some specific questions and concerns about this trip, especially regarding public transportation, since our experience is limited to the DC subway system. -
1) Transportation to and from the airports. From what I've read we can take a fast train from Gatwick airport to Victoria Station. Then it appears we would take the underground to Kings Cross to get to the rail station. This sounds simple - is it? Our second option is to fly into Heathrow and, if I understand correctly, we can take the underground directly on the Piccadilly line, then transfer over to get to Kings Cross. Any thoughts on whether one airport or transit system would be less complicated than the other? Also - are these means of travel safe? Like I said, this is our first trip out of the country and we're kind of clueless a to exactly what we're getting in to. If I understand the websites correctly am finding point to point rail passes between London and Edinburgh online on the GNR for less than $30 each way . . does that sound right? Is there anything specific we need to know about rail transportation such as this? (ie: How much in advance of our travel time to we need to get to the train station? )

I think once we get to Edinburgh, we'll feel better. It sounds pretty simple. Sounds like the city is fairly compact and the train station centrally located, but London concerns me a little. We'll probably spend 4 days in Edinburgh & 2 days in London, not including the travel in between or the flight days.

I would love to get thoughts and suggestions about any of this. We're hoping to find reasonably priced lodging in both London & Edinburgh that are located in relatively close proximity to the train stations. Any suggestions? There look to be many nice small hotels and guest lodges in Edinburgh.
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Old May 6th, 2006, 06:46 AM
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well, I don't think one can answer question 1 till you know where you're heading. London is pretty big city and sending up at the wrong railway station could be like flying into the wrong airport.

All these means of travel are safe.

No idea about rail prices

Nothing you need to know about trains. There's no check in time.

What's your definition of "reasonable"?
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Old May 6th, 2006, 07:22 AM
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Hi Bendemeer, from Heathrow the underground goes to Kings Cross without a transfer. This would be the least expensive. You could take the Heathrow Express train to Paddington, then tube to Kings Cross, much like the Gatwick train and tube combo, however it is more costly. If you are spending time in London first, it doesn't much matter as long as you get to your hotel. If you are going on to Edingurgh on the day of arrival, be sure you allow time to clear the airport and the time to the station.
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Old May 6th, 2006, 07:33 AM
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As I understand it, Bendemeer intends to fly into London and immediately take the train to Edinburgh. Well, as you can see, there are some issues. Usually the cheap train fares must be bought well ahead of time. Flying from the US, you must allow a longish lead time to allow for a flight delay. Which means you'll likely end up spending at least an hour or two at King's Cross. So with cross-London transit time + necessary extra time allowance + a 4.5 - 5 hours of train journey, you're using up a sizable chunk of your short vacation time.

Maybe you ought to reconsider and fly into Edinburgh. Or into Edinburgh, out of London. EasyJet has some cheap flights from Gatwick to Edinburgh.
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Old May 6th, 2006, 07:38 AM
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Does she? What 2 days is she spending there, then?
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Old May 6th, 2006, 07:47 AM
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OK - if it were me I'd either:

1) fly into London (whichever airport doesn't matter because the transport is easy from both) and stay in any nice central neighborhood for 2 nights. You don't need to stay near Victoria (though that would be OK) nor near Kings Cross (that really wouldn't be so good) because you can get anywhere easily on buses/tube. The go to Kings Cross and take the train to Edinburgh. BTW there is also a sleeper train that leaves Euston Station and gets to Edinburgh early in the morning. Its more expensive but you'd save the cost of one night's accomodation in London.

or 2) Fly into London and immediately fly up to Edinburgh for your 4 days. Then the train to London for the last two days before flying home. There are very inexpensive flights - often less than the train - and I wouldn't want the hassle of arriving at either airport and then having to go straightaway to Kings Cross.

My personal choice - I'd go the "Fly to Edinburgh on arrival/train back down to London" route. You could be in Edinburgh w/i 3 or 4 hours of landing at LHR, depending on your connections.
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Old May 6th, 2006, 07:52 AM
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I was posting the same time mimar and sheila were - actually the OP wasn't clear about her plans. Yes, she said they wanted to visit London for 2 days - but also asked how to get directly from the airports to Kings-X

Bendemeer: You can do it either way - but if you DO want to go straight to Edinburgh - fly. Don't hassle w/ crossing London to catch a train.
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Old May 6th, 2006, 10:14 AM
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If you don't choose to fly, and land at Gatwick, don't take the Gatwick Express. There's another services every fifteen minutes which goes direct to Kings Cross Thameslink, a short walk from the mainline station.
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Old May 6th, 2006, 11:45 AM
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Thameslink is much easier if you have a lot of luggage with you as you avoid the underground.
If you are looking for a hotel in London, have a look at biddingfortravel people have got very good deals with priceline.
For trains, look at the4 trainline site. It is usually a lot cheaper if you book in advance, otherwise trainfares are horrendous.
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Old May 6th, 2006, 11:49 AM
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If you're going straight up, have a look at Easyjet out of Gatwick to Edinburgh. For sure.
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Old May 6th, 2006, 12:14 PM
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and out of LHR bmi has good fares to Edinburgh.
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Old May 6th, 2006, 01:31 PM
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Thanks for all the replies. After considering what was said and doing some further cking, I am now leaning towards the suggested option of flying to Edinburgh, then taking the train back to London for the last 2 days. Does everyone here feel that since we are heading to Edinburgh, it is worthwhile to take the extra days to hit London on the way back rather than stay the whole time in Edinburgh? I just kind of felt that since we were so close and likely to transfer through London anyway that we should take a look around. Also,any suggestions for good places to stay in Edinburgh? I'm leaning towards small hotels or guest houses that might lend a more personal touch yet offer a bit more than B&B's. Also, what area of London would be best to stay in, (we'll likely be seeing the "usual" sites)?
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Old May 7th, 2006, 04:17 AM
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Personally, I would stay in Edinburgh the whole time since you only have 6 days of exploring time. You could take a day trip (or more) to various parts of Scotland (which is beautiful! and amazing). But, since you are going through London... there's that too. We did London in 4 days and it was crazy. I can't imagine 2. It depends what you really want though. But spending your full time in Scotland would be SO nice.

ps. Easyjet is great. We took it from Aberdeen to London before and it was cheaper than a train.

And if you do go to London, I felt safe everywhere on the tube. And we really liked the area we stayed at - South Kensington (The Regency Hotel). Right near the gardens, and lots of museums. It was so quaint.
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Old May 7th, 2006, 12:38 PM
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Well, since you have to transit through London, yes, take a couple days there on the way back. If you hit London first, jet lag will take a significant bite out of your limited time. But realize two days is time for only a sampling of all London has to offer. So just take it easy and decide to come back if you like it. (Personally I love it. And I like Edinburgh too.)

As for places to stay in London, remember London is a VERY expensive city. If you give us a budget, it will help us help you.
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Old May 7th, 2006, 04:15 PM
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Well . . as far as a budget goes, would $200/night (for both of us) be unobtainable for something decent in a good location? If not, how much are we going to have to pay?
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Old May 7th, 2006, 08:13 PM
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Both destinations are wonderful and you will leave wanting more. We did 6 days in London and didn't even do our "must see" list! If you spend 4 days in Edinburgh, you should be able to do at least one day trip. There are tour companies that offer these, if you will not have a car. On your own by train you could go to Glasgow for a day (wonderful art and culture) or to Stirling (great castle and other historic sites).
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Old May 7th, 2006, 08:18 PM
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For your 2 nights in London I'd definitely consider PriceLine. Check some of the winning bids on biddingfortravel.com.

You should be able to get a nice 4-star hotel in the center of town for less than $120 per night.
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Old May 8th, 2006, 03:16 AM
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When are you planning to visit ? I.e. how far ahead are you looking at booking ? This may affect transport & accommodation options.
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Old May 8th, 2006, 07:42 AM
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"When are you planning to visit ?"
We'll be arriving in Edinburgh June 25th and arriving in London late on the 29th, then heading back to the US on July 2nd.

As far as the day trip out of Edinburgh - would be be better to do one of the tour buses or the train? We were thinking the Highlands and Loch Ness, but someone suggested the Loch Lomond area instead.
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Old May 9th, 2006, 12:21 AM
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Oh, quite soon then. Book your travel asap - usually the earlier you book, the cheaper. But there are still cheap options available right now.

www.easyjet.co.uk has a flight at 10.25 on 25th from Gatwick to Edinburgh at £20.99 one way including taxes etc - would you be able to catch that ? There are also one earlier & 2 later flights but they are a bit more.

There are various train websites for booking your journey back to London - I usually use www.thetrainline.com. Taking a random departure time of between 1500 & 1700 on 29th June, the cheapest one way ticket is currently £12.50. But don't leave it too long to book - the standard walk up single fare is £110.

I expect you'll have left it too late to book into the Castle View guesthouse which people on this board always rave about - it is the only small guesthouse right in the centre of town on which I've seen reports.

Others here have recently mentioned booking at 2 other small guesthouses in the city centre, the Walton Hutel (www.waltonhotel.com) and Ingrams (www.ingrams.co.uk). I don't know anything about them but they look nice, are well situated and the prices fit your budget.

Otherwise, for a small hotel, guesthouse or B&B, you'd probably want to look at either the West End which is adjacent to the city centre, or somewhere a mile or two outside the city centre but on a good bus route. Here are 3 good bus routes with lots of such places along them : West Coates/Roseburn Terrace/Corstorphine Road/St John's Road/Glasgow Road (all actually the same road, in descending order of nearness to city centre), Newington Road/Minto Street/Mayfield Gardens/Craigmillar Park (ditto) and Dalkeith Road.

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