Gardyloo

We are going to break our self-imposed (and not very serious, evidently) moratorium on cruises and take the Queen Mary II from NYC to Southampton in early April.

The ship arrives in Southampton early on a Saturday morning, and we want to proceed from there to Edinburgh. Here are (evidently) the options.

1. Bus (either ship's transfer - baggage handling easy or National Express - less easy) to LHR, cheap BMI flight to Edinburgh. Two hours on bus, two hours at LHR, cab from EDI into town. Total elapsed time 6-7 hours minimum.

2. Car service from dock to LHR, same deal. Faster by maybe an hour.

3. Train to London, cross-London by taxi to Kings X, train to Edinburgh. Probably 8-9 hours elapsed time, not very cheap.

4. Car service to LGW, fly. Same deal as with LHR, 6-7 hours at least, flights more expensive.

5. Virgin Rail from Southampton to Birmingham, Virgin Rail from B'ham to Edin. Probably the most expensive, sounds reasonably convenient, but also 8 hrs. minumum from ship to Waverly Sta.

I have not experienced Virgin Rail and we would be riding in 2nd (Lower?) class. Flights would be by BMI from LHR (haven't ridden shorthaul BMI in years) or easyJet from LGW (have, no picnic.) FlyBE go direct from SOU to EDI, but we wouldn't make the first flight in the morning, so would have to wait till evening for next, so forget about it.

Suggestions?

Barbara

Lucky you! Ihope we're going to get a detailed account of the QMII.

We flew BMI from Edinburgh to LHR a year ago and it was very nice. The only problem was that as the flight was full, they said, I wasn't able to take my carry-on bag on the plane and had to check it with our other bags. The weight limit for carry ons was 7 Kilos I think. This probably wouldn't be a pest for you, but we weren't allowed to retrieve the carry on at LHR, it was checked for the whole trip to LAX. I held all my daughter's many medications which I had to cram into my purse, but other than that waan't too bad.

As your options are all about the same time-wise, I would go with the car from Southampton to LHR because it may be more comfortable than a bus.

Barbara

Sorry, many typos, still not fully awake, apparently!

Robespierre

The time frame for taking the train all the way is comparable to the plane trip. DB shows 6h30, city center to city center. For me, I would rather be relaxing in the lounge car with a pint of bitter watching the English countryside (and the ocean up through Yorkshire) go by than standing in line at Heathrow.

At 10:15, there's a trip that doesn't even involve a train change! It's a little longer, but I think I'd take it just to avoid having to cross London.

quiUK

Hi, my recommendation would be to avoid taking the train at all costs - especially if you find it is cheaper to fly.

If you have a lot of luggage with you, then changing trains, schlepping across London etc will be a real hassle. I would defintely go with options 1 or 2 as I think you'll find it a lot less stressful.

Sorry I can't give you any info on the airlines. But avoid Virgin trains - they're generally known here in the UK as being highly unreliable and quite often the railway engineering work is carried out at weekends which can cause big delays and cancellations. Very annoying - especially when you see how much the tickets cost!

Anyway, hope that helps and have a great trip

janis

None of these choices are very pretty . . .

Is it possible you might consider delaying your trip up to Edinburgh by one day?

If so, you have some better options. Like touring Southampton/Portsmouth/Beaulieu/New Forest that day or even taking the ferry for a day trip to the Isle of Wight. Then the next morning you can fly directly up to Edinburgh on FlyBE.

Gardyloo

No, sorry, can't delay. Dinner with pals in Edin., need to fly out to Prague on Monday morning.

The 10:15 Virgin train is indeed the one we're looking at - direct via B'ham. I seem to see a lot of negative buzz on Virgin trains around, so a bit cautious. Yes, the tickets are very pricey. But gee, they sure use bright colo(u)rs on everything. Virgin theme, it appears. I know, shoot me, but I miss BR. (Can't believe I just typed that.)

Since we won't be jet-lagged, let me ask a totally OTW question. How long do you think it would take to drive from Southampton up to B'ham then on the M6/M74 the rest of the way? Remember, it's a Saturday. If it's one day's car hire, that would be the cheapest of all (and no worries with bags.) Am I mad to think about it?

Andre

Gardyloo,

FlyBE flies twice daily from Southampton to Edinburgh - fares are very low, much cheaper and more convenient than any other option IMO.

www.flybe.com

Hope this helps,
Andre

Gardyloo

Hi Andre, yes. First flight is too early - we'll still be mustering off the ship, second flight is around 5 or 6 pm, and we don't want to wait around SOU all day. Plus it's in a Dash-8 or other prop job, thus cramped, bumpy, and loud.

janis

Actually other than FlyBE, driving would be my first choice for this trip.

I haven't driven from S'hampton straight through to Edinburgh - but have from London, Bath area, Oxford and other places in the south. w/o the jet lag factor and being totally rested it is not a terrible drive at all.

The distance is about 425 miles and is motorway or dual carriage almost the whole route. The worst part would be from Southampton to Bristol. I would probably head north on the A34 instead and then west on the M4, M5 north and from there it is a pretty straight shot.

On a Saturday, you could easily drive this in about 7 hours plus a rest stop or two.

janis

Meant to add - a one day's car rental will cost a lot less then your other options.

Andre

Point taken... never been to Southampton - is there nothing there to keep you occupied until the afternoon flight?

I would take an 90 min. ride in a Dash-8 (one of the more decent props IMO) over a 7 hour car ride any day, but maybe that's just me.

Have a great trip!
Andre

Roger

Just a note. There is a 8:15 train from Southampton to Edinburgh, direct, via Reading that arrives at 4:04.

cdfev

I might have another alternative. Take the train or rental car from Southampton to Bristol International Airport. Take the early afternoon Easy Jet flight nonstop to Edinburgh. See Salisbury Cathedral on the way to Bristol...Gets you into Edinburgh about the same time and you don't have to hastle with London Gatwick.

JJBhoy

Gardyloo,

There is another option although I don't know if it is any more attractive than some of the others.

Did you know that Flybe have a service from Southampton to Glasgow? I see that there is a flight at 12.35 which gets in at Glasgow at 14.05.

A taxi from the airport (around £15 or so) would get you to Glasgow Queen St. railway station, say by 15.00. The trains to Edinburgh are every 15 minutes & the journey takes around 40/45 minutes, so you would probably be in the heart of Edinburgh by 16.00.

Of course, you would still have the aggravation of transferring your luggage on & off the various forms of transport. Then again, you could cut out the middle man & get a taxi straight from Glasgow Airport to Edinburgh. Not sure what that would cost but shouldn't take any more than an hour (God & traffic willing).

Jim

JJBhoy

Gardyloo,

Apparently it's around £80 for a taxi from Glasgow airport direct to Edinburgh city centre.

Jim

machin

Rent a car, it's cheaper and givs you a feel of where you are ast

Gardyloo

JJ, on our day the only SOU-GLA flight leaves early in the morning, so no can do.

The BRS-EDI EZY flight is a possibility (thanks for the idea) but the AA tells me through the miracle of the electron that it's a 7:29 (give or take a nanosecond) drive from the S'hampton cruise terminal to dear auld EH3 (scene of youthful days gone by). So if we were on the road by 10 we'd be having a pint at the Cafe Royal by about the same time that the taxi from Turnhouse would deliver us there. And according to Hertz we'd be around a hundred quid ahead.

See, I'm talking myself into the driving idea, in readiness for a stout defense when I tell <i>her.</i>

flanneruk

As a regular driver and train-er along a lot of your proposed route, can I chuck in a couple of penn'orth:

- Virgin Trains - especially Virgin Cross Country, the mob you're contemplating - should have their entire management strung up from overhead gantries (but then so should whoever manages our road system). However this doesn't mean Virgin is the worst option. As with everything in life, it's how you manage things.

- Changing on Virgin is always bad news. It's dreadful at Birmingham New Street. It's an uncomfortable change to manage with luggage (narrow stairs, often no escalators, poor signage). And Virgin CC don't feel obliged to honour seat reservations, and don't always switch on their hyped electronic seat reservation indicator, so even with seat reservations you may well be getting on a train at Bham that filled up miles ear;ier.
None of this applies if you get the Soton-Eboro through train. You'll be in your seat before the mob gets on.
- Although this route is very delay-prone, the seats in 2nd class are just fine, and on a through train, if you're prepared to be a bit late, the experience can even be pleasant. Delays are mostly 20-30 minutes at most, except that:
- The track-owning company is giving train operators very little advance notice of engineering works, which are concentrated at weekends and just before and after holiday periods. They should however give at least 21 days. Play with the web sites (especially National Rail) to see whether someone's going to dig up your track.
- don't rely on your car trip (A34, M40, M42 north, M6 Toll, M6 is the ONLY route that works) being painless. It's essential you take the M6 Toll at Bham. But you're coming into the holiday period immediately after Easter, and even on Saturdays there are notorious choke points round the Lakes and the Thelwall Viaduct still isn't working properly.

There is no painless option. But personally I'd train it. Advance purchase returns may be a great deal cheaper than singles.

Gardyloo

I floated the driving idea to SWMBO as Rumpole-not-QC would say. Er, well...

I think it might be back to the LHR-EDI starting point. At least we can go straight to the terminal, rather than play the Central-London-to-LHR game that I've come to loathe.

Any other brainstorms will still be welcome though, and thanks for those so far.