Train ride from London to Edinburgh
 

A group of 8 is looking for at spending 4-5 days in London, (probably the Mayfair or Soho area) then catching a train to Edinburgh for a few days. My question is how do we do this? Can we get train tickets once we arrive in London? Where do we get tickets and where do we get the train? Where does the train drop us off in Endinburgh? We don't have a hotel yet in Edinburgh, any suggestions? We would like to stay under $200/night. Is a taxi our best bet getting from the train to the hotel? Sorry for all the questions, we really need step by step directions on a train trip to Edinburgh from London.

If you know what day you wish to travel, it's best to buy your tickets online and well in advance. Discount seats, if available, start at 12.50 GBP. A walk-on ticket will cost you 93.00 GBP. Trains leave from the Kings Cross station. For timetables and to order tickets, visit www.nationalrail.co.uk. Pick up your tickets from a machine at the station by inserting the credit card you used when ordering them.

In Edinburgh, all trains go to Waverley station which is right in the centre of the city.

As Tim says you get better fares if you book ahead. How to get to/from the station depends on where you are staying.

Do you mean $200 (£115) double, $200 per person, $200 for all of you (not likely I know)??

The machine at the station is called a fastticket machine BTW. Just remember to have with you the CC you used to book the tickets.

BTW cheapest fares are £12.50 one way. Assuming you go up the east coast from Kings Cross sleep until you get to Darlington as the views before then are boring.

When you arrive in Edinburgh you will find yourself at Waverley train station which is in the heart of the city center. There are some hotels within walking distance but carrying your luggage up the steep Waverley steps will still be a challenge. (An escalator is in the works but I think will be a couple more years to actually be installed.) With 8 travelers, you are going to need at least 2 taxis. There is a good bus system in Edinburgh, once you get yuor luggage to your hotel. Try the Smoothhound site for hotel research - www.smoothhound.co.uk - one of its helpful features is the map link that shows youi exactly where every hotel is located.
Have a great trip, Edinburgh is my favorite city in the world!

If you are going London to Edinburgh and back by train look at the BritRail Pass - especially the Party Pass where the 3rd thru 9th person in a group pays 50% of what the first two adults pay. If you kids under 16 then they get a free BritRail pass the same as the adults.
Now you can go to www.nationalrail.co.uk and get the discounted fares mentioned - if you can get them - you should act early, but these will lock you into a certain train on a certain day - no flexibility, and non changeable non refundable with the cheapest fares i think. So if you can't get a cheap fare or wish flexibility the BritRail pass for 8 adults would be:
A 4-day consecutive pass: $1090 total in second class, or $136 per person for 4 days of unlimited travel - go to Edinburgh and back and take day trips there to St Andrews or Sterling to boot.
(1st two adults pay $218 for the 4-day pass - next six pay half that price or $109 = $1090 divide by 8 = $136 per person - this is what you want to beat on nationalrail.co.uk - not just beat but if point-point tickets were close i'd still take the pass for flexibility. With the pass you can then make free reservations on Edinburgh trains up until 7pm the night before - at least was so as late as Dec 2005.
First class pass would be $1635 for 8 or $205 per person and first class in UK is far far better than cramped second class (called 'standard' class).
Or you could consider a flexi pass good for a 2-month period, this costs $275 for 4 days - any 4 days out of a 2-month period - for 8 this would $1375 or $172 per person for a group of 8 - with the longer time frame you could also use it to do day trips from London or to come and go from Heathrow on the Heathrow Express or Gatwick on Gatwick Express or other trains serving Gatwick - about $20 each way for airports - this 4 day flexi in 1st class would cost for all 8 - $2049 or $256 per person - again if you have folks under 16 it all will be cheaper as kids under 16 get free passes.
So there are many factors about a pass - if you're just going one way to Edinburgh then probably no - round trip probably depending on whether or not you want restrictions that come with cheap advance fares and whether you can actually book them.
BritRail passes are marketed in US thru RailEurope - i always recommend BETS, a RailEurope agent (800-441-2387; www.budgeteuropetravel.com) for their expertise with UK trains and because they don't charge some of RailEurope's handling fees. In any case take the train as the ride is fairly scenic - especially the closer you get to Edinburgh. You could fly and see little besides airports.

Thanks PalQ for your detailed reply...just what I need to get started. Right now we are looking at going from London to Edinburgh and then possibly on to Dublin and flying back to Chicago from there, so we would only need a one way trip. You did mention a trip to St. Andrews. We definitely want to go there for a day. What is the name of the station in St. Andrews? Would the RailEurope Agent you mentioned be able to help me out with the trip to St. Andrews as well?

I tried the nationalrail.co.uk website and I seemed to have problems listing Waverley as my destination city. I used Kings Cross as departure and Waverley destination...it listed a lot of other "W" but not Waverley.

Yes - they know everything about UK rail and freely answer all questions - 800-441-2387. Though St Andrews is not served directly by train there is a station a few miles away with bus links to St Andrews, a very very nice city besides its associations with golf.

The main station in Edinburgh is called "Edinburgh Waverley" but shows as "Edinburgh" on the National Rail web site.
There is a door-to-door journey planner on www.transportdirect.info. This shows connections at Cupar or Leuchars for getting to St Andrews.

On the national rail site use Edinburgh as your destination city, not Waverley.

there is a BritIreland pass you might ask about but i think it's too expensive for your plans - especially since the Party Pass and kids free pass doesn't apply to it. but the 4-consecutive BritRail could be good if you use it for Edinburgh, St. Andrews (takes you to the station a few miles away) and then to go down to the coast by trains for boats to Ireland. You can price all those tickets at www.nationalrail.co.uk