going to Edinburgh

karen123

I plan to visit the University of Edinburgh in March and would like to know the best way to get there from London. I will be staying at a hotel in Paddington. I have checked the train fare from King's Cross on the national rail website and find that it varies from time to time. Can be from 27 GBP to over 100 !! Any advice?

Which date are you travelling on? And do you mean that you're staying at a hotel in Paddington, London? What time do you need to be in Edinburgh for? Need a little more detail here :wink:

Reply 2

scaryhair

12

Why don't you look into flying up there? The flight itself only takes just over an hour, and there's a good bus link from the airport to the centre of Edinburgh for £5 return. It's really easy, I did it on my own last summer when I went up for the first time to have a look at the University.

Reply 3

scaryhair

Why don't you look into flying up there? The flight itself only takes just over an hour, and there's a good bus link from the airport to the centre of Edinburgh for £5 return.

The flight itself takes less than an hour, it's the incessant faffing because one is flying that takes forever. I've only had the misfortune of flying once from Heathrow to Edinburgh but it isn't an experience I wish to repeat :p:

Reply 4

scaryhair

12

nearlyheadlessian

The flight itself takes less than an hour, it's the incessant faffing because one is flying that takes forever. I've only had the misfortune of flying once from Heathrow to Edinburgh but it isn't an experience I wish to repeat :p:

Yeah, it's also the taking off and landing that takes the time. I'm surprised about that, I found flying quite a pleasurable experience, I'd be happy to repeat it. I did fly from Gatwick though, which may make a difference.

Reply 5

scaryhair

I did fly from Gatwick though, which may make a difference.

I doubt it, I've flown from Manchester to Edinburgh and it was frankly a waste of time. Any timesaving that you make because of the flight is essentially lost in the palava of attempting to get to the airport and then dealing with the mess found within. Obviously as one gets further away from Edinburgh it does become more temporally economic to fly, but if the OP is travelling from central London I would recommend rail everytime.

Reply 6

scaryhair

12

nearlyheadlessian

I doubt it, I've flown from Manchester to Edinburgh and it was frankly a waste of time. Any timesaving that you make because of the flight is essentially lost in the palava of attempting to get to the airport and then dealing with the mess found within. Obviously as one gets further away from Edinburgh it does become more temporally economic to fly, but if the OP is travelling from central London I would recommend rail everytime.

Fair enough. I guess it really depends on the individual and how stressed airports make you. Personally, I've only ever had good experience with airports which is probably why I'm more biased towards them. Depends what the OP prefers I guess :smile:

Reply 7

karen123

OP

Thanks for the quick replies. I know one option is flying there but I was told that it is not that time saving as compared with the train and it is not so flexible.
Just want to know how much I have to pay for a return rail ticket from London to Edinburgh. People told me to book tickets in advance but the whole system makes me so confused as I get different fares on different days and I am really scared by the wide range of prices. Don't want to pay more than others. I am on a budget tour trying to know more about University of Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Transportation in UK is really VERY expensive!

Reply 8

RockyRoad

What about getting the sleeper train? If you have a lot of luggage leave it at a baggage drop off (there's one at Victoria definitely, I imagine many of the other big stations too), go watch movies or something before getting the train (I think from King's Cross) around 10pm.

Not sure about prices, but there are a number of deals and they have normal seats rather than cabins if you really want to save money.

That way you could travel up in the middle of the night, removing the need for the hotel, look around the uni in the morning, afternoon, and return by train/plane later in the day. If you really wanted to I suppose you could get the sleeper back too...but that would make for a VERY long day and a lot of hanging around in Edinburgh, I imagine.

Reply 9

karen123

Don't want to pay more than others. I am on a budget tour trying to know more about University of Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Transportation in UK is really VERY expensive!

Well you'll want to acquire a 16-25 railcard if you haven't yet got one, while it costs £24 it will easily pay itself back as it offers a 1/3 discount on most rail fares. As I said previously, would you care to explain exactly when you intend to travel and so on, that way I can take a look at available fares for you. Booking in advance will be the solution. To be fair, British transportation still represents fairly good value if you look into the costs.

Reply 10

RockyRoad

karen123

I am on a budget tour trying to know more about University of Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Transportation in UK is really VERY expensive!

Why are you staying in London; going to see other unis? And how long are you here for?

You could get a (sleeper :biggrin:

) train to Glasgow, have a look around, then the bus or train into Edinburgh. It's only an hour on the train and a little longer by bus (much cheaper by bus). Actually, If you did both unis in a day and still wanted to get back to London, looking around the two cities might fill up more time so you could get the sleeper back quite easily from Edinburgh. Sorted! :biggrin:

Reply 11

http://www.megabus.com/uk/

RockyRoad

You could get a (sleeper :biggrin:

) train to Glasgow, have a look around, then the bus or train into Edinburgh. It's only an hour on the train and a little longer by bus (much cheaper by bus). Actually, If you did both unis in a day and still wanted to get back to London, looking around the two cities might fill up more time so you could get the sleeper back quite easily from Edinburgh. Sorted! :biggrin:

I admire your enthusiasm for the sleeper :biggrin:

Lets see what the OP says about the context of their journey to Scotland before we plan it all out for them, but I was going to suggest bargain berths on the Caledonian if it was appropriate. £19 for a berth? Bargain!

Reply 12

ooze

13

Reply 13

RockyRoad

nearlyheadlessian

I admire your enthusiasm for the sleeper :biggrin:

Lets see what the OP says about the context of their journey to Scotland before we plan it all out for them, but I was going to suggest bargain berths on the Caledonian if it was appropriate. £19 for a berth? Bargain!

I shall quell my planning enthusiasm until the OP returns. I live to plan (and go on :biggrin:

) trips around the UK - I think growing up somewhere where there's two buses a day makes public transport for more exciting than it really is. :biggrin:

Reply 14

Myoclonic Jerk

I'd just like to corroborate what Scaryhair said.

I flew up (from Luton) for their open day last year with a mate, and it was about £35 each way (each). Stayed up in a hostel in Edinburgh that night - £10 per bed in a dorm of 10 bunks (although there were only about 3 other people in there, two of whom were rather attractive Australian girls...) - and had a great ~~night~~ experience all round. And the university is beautiful.

If you decide that you don't want to get a sleeper train and want hostel details, let me know - it wasn't five star obviously, but it suited our needs. It might not be suitable for 'sensitive' travellers, though...

Reply 15

oxymoronic

19

if you want to be really hardcore, you could go for the overnight busses through to edinburgh with either megabus or national express. it's 8 hours in total and its fine... i've done it twice now and yeah, you don't get the best nights sleep ever but if you take music/food/blanket etc its fine. just don't go if you're really really tall as my boyfriend couldn't even fit his legs in the seat which made for a good journey! they're about £10 or sometimes less each way.

do not fly, it's utterly pointless given that the train from kings cross in london to waverley only takes 4 hours, and by the time you've messed around at the airport, flown and got into the city from the airport you're onto the same amount of time if not longer.

Reply 16

karen123

OP

Thanks again for all your help. The reason for staying in London is I have planned to visit Warwick and Exeter as well. I have a friend working in Imperial where I can stay in his house for a few days before heading for Edinburgh. Getting a rail card isn't possible now that I am over 25 :p:

as I am not trying to find a university for myself . I am interested in knowing more about some UK universities so that I can give advice to people who prepare to study in UK. I am from Hong Kong.
I will definitely not fly and probably I will take a train from King's Cross and I plan to leave on 26.3.09, early in the morning. But don't know if peak hour fare is more expensive or not. Any input is much appreciated!

Reply 17