Train from LHR to Edinburgh Scotland?
 

We cannot get a non-stop flight from Washington DC to Edinburgh, Scotland ~ and I REALLY prefer non-stops. At first I thought maybe we would fly to LHR and drive to Edinburgh (we like driving and haven't been north of Derbyshire) but then I thought, what about a train? Has anyone done this? Easy from LHR?

Easy, yes - Piccadilly line underground to Kings Cross, then train to Edinburgh. Buy tickets in advance as they can be very expensive on the day.

The www.raileasy.co.uk site sells discounted train tickets.

Try Virgin for cheap tickets-but they need to be purchased well ahead of travel time. We paid $26 pp for tickets from Edinburgh to London (Euston).

www.nationalrail.co.uk is the main booking agent for all of Britain's various rail franchises, including the east coast line to Scotland - so try that one too. But yes just show up and you'll pay maybe $100 or more more. But leave fudge factor time as cheaper tickets may well be non-refundable and non-changeable - check conditions first on nationalrail.co.uk IMO

<i>I REALLY prefer non-stops</i>

Everyone does.

But consider all the facts:

Option 1
Taking tube to Kings Cross, Taking a 5 hr train to Edinburgh (if you are lucky - the London-Edinburgh train OFTEN has delays midway through the run), Cost (tube+train) about $200 person EACH WAY or $400 extra per person.

Option 2
Layover at Newark, NJ or LHR and an extra $100 (at most) - comparded to a simple WAS-LHR flight - for the round trip flight.

Is all that extra time and money REALLY worth it to you just to avoid a connecting flight? Just raising the idea.

Actually the site of the exact train line that runs most Kings X services to Edinburgh should have the best info on cheaper fares - and the cost of tube + train should be well under $100 with any of the several easy enough to book online discounted fares - and you see a wee bit of England and Scotland as you glide along.

Great North Eastern Railway (GNER) operate high-speed express train services on the East Coast Main Line. Great North Eastern Railway (GNER) run fast, ...
www.gner.railsaver.co.uk/gner.htm

http://www.gner.railsaver.co.uk/ Great North Eastern Railway (GNER) Trains - Ticket Sales and ...
Great North Eastern Railway (GNER) operate high-speed express train services ...
www.gner.railsaver.co.uk/

"Taking a 5 hr train to Edinburgh"

Journey times to Edinburgh and Glasgow are way under 5 hours.....haven 't done Edinburgh for a while, but Glasgow can be 4 hours 10 mins...

"Cost (tube+train) about $200 person EACH WAY or $400 extra per person."

No need to pay anything like that much.....

You plan smacks of cutting off your nose to spite your face.

For one thing it's dangerous to leap off a long haul flight into a car

It's also a MINIMUM of 7 hours just to get to Edinburgh - in reality you'd be lucky to reach Edinburgh in under 10 hours from landing.

The train isn't much better - the only advantage is that you'd get to sleep on the train rather than when you are doing 70mph on the M6. (BTW don't use raileasy, it has a bad reputation). Use one of the Train Operating Company websites like eastcoast.co.uk

However the best thing to do is to fly to Edinburgh - this also means you can use some other European hub like Amsterdam rather than the hole that is LHR (unless you are flying BA all the way in which case it's a simple transfer)

hi wrenwood,

if you can get a through flight [ie checked all the way through] to Edinburgh on BA for example, then I would go that way. However if you can't, then flying into LHR foloowed by the train would be fun, and [hopefully] a good way to unwind after the flight. if you arrive at LHR at breakfast time, you could spend the day watching the countryside go by and arrive in time for high tea in Edinburgh.

ps - what other Edinburgh is there? Edinburgh, Wales? sorry, I couldn't resist a smile!

What I would do is to arrange for a car service ( picks you up the arrival area and will drive direct to the train station). Hop on the train and enjoy the 4 1/2 hour ride

"ps - what other Edinburgh is there? Edinburgh, Wales? sorry, I couldn't resist a smile!"

Edinburgh, Indiana, USA
Edinburgh, South Australia
Edinburgh of the Seven Seas, chief settlement of Tristan da Cunha in the South Atlantic
Edinburgh Island, Nunavut, Canada
New Edinburgh, Nova Scotia
New Edinburgh, Ontario
Edinboro, Pennsylvania
Edinburg, Illinois
Edinburg, Maine
Edinburg, New York
Edinburg, North Dakota
Edinburg, Texas
Edinburg, Virginia
Edinburg Township, Ohio

You could also include Dunedin - which is derived from the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh

"Great North Eastern Railway (GNER) operate high-speed express train services on the East Coast Main Line. Great North Eastern Railway (GNER) run fast, ..."

You need to update your links - GNER was two train companies & several years ago. The franchise is currently run by East Coast - eastcoast.co.uk

alan - I tried to remember the eastcoast.co.uk link you have mentioned lots of times as a better booking thing but cud not think of it so did a Google thing... well you are write of corse.

To get from LHR to Edinburgh you first have to trek to central London, then change stations and take a train.

I think if you look you may find other options:

Flights from NYC to Glasgow - although this may be n summer only. But then you're only an hour from Edinburgh.

I love the train trip to Edinburgh [Scotland :) ] but I would never <i>ever</i> trek across London from LHR (either by tube or car service) to get on a train and sit for another 4.5 hours.

Either fly non-stop to a European hub like A'dam and then on to Edinburgh. Or fly through LHR and up to Edinburgh. Or fly DC to Newark and then non-stop to Edinburgh

Any of these would be easier (and faster/cheaper) than slogging across London and the train to Edinburgh IMO

ps: I didn't check to see for sure if there are still non-stops from Newark - based that on last year.

I just checked BA and plugged in June 7th as a possible date. You can get a round trip from LHR to EDI for 47 GBP each way including taxes etc. That's about $150 round trip. The price may vary somewhat according to date and time.

You might get cheaper train tickets but by the time you figure travel costs to Kings Cross plus the amount of time saved, you come out way ahead by flying.

The only direct flights into Aberdeen from the US are from Newark; you can also fly from Newark to Glasgow and to Glasgow from Orlando, Philadelphia, and the rail connection is very easy

Aberdeen?

Aberdeen, South Dakota?

I'd rethink this - it extends your travel time by half a day. Just connect at LHR or fly to Newark from DC and take a direct flight to EDI. Being stubborn about non-connecting is only going to make the whole thing miserable.

It'd be quicker to drive to Newark and take a direct flight to EDI than to fly into LHR, clear customs and get all your crap and get GBP (process will take 60-90 minutes, easy), drag yourself to the Piccadilly Line, spend 45-60 minutes in a cramped tube train, then have to schlep your stuff to the train in KingsX to sit for 3h45m to Edinburgh.

It's typically 4h30m from KX to Edinburgh, plus an hour to get from LHR to KX plus an hour from landing to passing through customs plus at least another hour to cater for "problems"...

brain fart(or wishful thinking) - make that Edinburgh

Thanks all, you guys are great.

Thinking we won't do the train or drive idea.........you've convinced me to fly

However, one of the reasons I'm so obsessed with non stop is I am just plain paranoid about flying through New York Airports or Newark

We can get a flight from Dulles to LHR that arrives about 11-12 PM.......thinking about taking that, get a good night's sleep (jet lag) then the next morning flying from LHR to EDI ~ we should be refreshed and ready to explore Edinburgh. Thoughts?

PS I'm only an hour from one of those other Edin-burghs-boros-burgs .....Edinburg VA :)

If you had the option, I'd go straight through at once in Heathrow. No need to collect luggage and check in again next day.

However, one of the reasons I'm so obsessed with non stop is I am just plain paranoid about flying through New York Airports or Newark.

Dunno if it helps, but there are a few flights from Canadian cities direct to Glasgow, and I would guess to Edinburgh as well. This link shows you destinations from/to Glasgow. http://www.flyglasgow.net/flightsdirect.html

Wrenwood,

The flight LHR to Edinburgh is so short and painless, I would take a night flight into LHR and connect to Edinburgh. You should be there before noon.

<i>However, one of the reasons I'm so obsessed with non stop is I am just plain paranoid about flying through New York Airports or Newark. </i>

If you don't want to go through Newark, then go through Europe. If you fly with BA, the connection through LHR is pretty painless. Other carriers through LHR may be slightly more hassle, but still not bad. Alternatively, connecting via Amsterdam is very easy, and shouldn't take appreciably longer than via LHR.

I agree. With BA, you'll arrive at T5 and depart for EDI there also. Terminal 5 is, IMO, one of the best airline terminals in which to spend an hour or two or to transfer through. Plenty of connections to EDI.

The reason we like the morning flight from IAD to LHR is that it keeps us more on our normal cycle of awake-asleep. We have to get up around 4:30AM to go to IAD. Our flight then departs around 9:45 AM our time, arrive LHR around 10PM ~ we've been up about 13 - 14 hours by the time we grab something to eat and get to an airport hotel. Sleep, wake up and fly to EDI, pick up a rental car and we're ready to start sightseeing! Last time we took the morning flight to LHR we literally had no jetlag.

If we take the night flight and arrive LHR in the AM and then fly to EDI, we're jet lagged as neither one of us sleeps well on overnight flights.

We'll probably fly United IAD to LHR unless there's a great sale, as we have free upgrades to Economy plus seating.

Glad you guys talked me out of the train or driving!

You should be able to book a United flight and connect to BMI for the flight to EDI. Should be pretty smooth.

Happy to hear that, travelgourmet. It's what I'll be doing this summer.