Edinburgh Travel Forum

I'll be visiting Edinburgh in April. I will fly to London Heathrow and take the train or a commuter airline to Edinburgh. Can anyone tell me how I would go about doing that? Am I able to pick up the train at Heathrow? I was hoping I wouldn't have to make reservations ahead of time; are there several trains a day? Is there a website I can check it out on?

Also, is there a small commuter airline that flies from Heathrow to EDI at low cost?

I would recommend checking out www.harefares.com for your flight. This site lets you choose multiple origin and destination airports and then returns all the cheap airlines that fly those routes. It looks like easyjet flies to EDI but only from Gatwick, Stansted, or Luton airports.

You would be foolish to try to get a flight when you arrive: the fare will be very high, even if a seat is available. There are no real 'commuter' airlines in the UK.

If you intend to fly then you need to book as far ahead as possible for the best fare. Flights to Edinburgh go from Heathrow with www.ba.com and www.bmi.com. Neither are budget carriers, but both can offer reasonable fares if booked well in advance. BA also fly from London City, as does Air France. Easyjet flies from London Gatwick, Luton and Stansted. Of these, Gatwick is the nearest to Heathrow (but still requires at least 3/4 hours transfer time).
Transfer info is on here: http://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/interairporttransfers.htm

Train times and fares are on www.nationalrail.co.uk A commercial alternative site is www.the trainline.com You will have to go into central London and then out again (see http://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/heathrow.htm). Again, fares will be lower if you book ahead but in this case it will be possible just to get a walk-up ticket if you are prepared to pay the fare. It wil not, however, guarantee you a seat; you may have to stand all/much of the way to Edinburgh (around 4 and a half hours). Trains are roughly hourly. A single fare, on the day, is from around 100GBP+.

As I said, booking ahead is a wise option and does not necessarily tie you to a particular train time. You can book online using a credit card, then collect your ticket from a 'fast ticket' machine at the station using the same credit card.

BMI usually has very competitive fares. Even if it is few pounds more, you will pay out more than the difference in connecting transportation costs (if you can unravel my convoluted English!) if you fly from an airport other than Heathrow, or even take the train from King's Cross. Unless you buy your train ticket well in advance, the train fare is likely to be more than the air fare. You should note that if you end up taking a budget airline, the baggage allowance is less than the scheduled airlines.

Hi - if at all possible, fly from Heathrow to Edinburgh. Of course, this needs booking in advance and there are internal luggage considerations (as mentioned) but having done this route many times, by plane, train, coach, car and even hitch-hiking ... flying is by far the least stressful. Actually, the hitch-hiking was pretty good and I did London - Edinburgh faster than the coach but that is another story :)

It may look expensive but if at all possible book a flight as soon as you can. Look out for cheap deals, ok but seriously consider flying from Heathrow instead of transfering to another airport, like Stanstead or Luton for a budget airline. The hassle and stress of making the budget flights is only worth it when on a tight budget!

Look for through ticketing from your departure airport if going straight to Edinburgh. If you want to stop in London, then the advanced train tickets or budget flights from say Stanstead become more feasible.

In the end, contemplate two options: One, sat on the train looking out the window at England whizzing by, drink in hand (from the trolley that provides teas, snacks and alcohol). Two, sat in cafe on the Royal Mile, Edinburgh castle and cobbled streets nearby, sipping a drink. What price would you put on being there sooner? :)

(I should just add, we took the train from Thurso, south to Edinburgh then south to London, in December, and it was a joy. Two days travel mind. However, we had lots of luggage. In February we are taking the sleeper train overnight from Inverness to London and will fly back from Luton to Inverness. One thing we've learnt - book as far ahead as possible to get half decent prices! It is annoying but reality.)

After a long flight into the UK, the last thing I would want to do is to collect my bags, checkin again, go through security and wait on my connecting flight. I'd recommend taking the Heathrow Express into Paddington then getting a cab along to Kings Cross where there are trains every half hour to Edinburgh. This would be a similar price to that of BA or BMI but you will arrive into central Edinburgh and not at the airport 10 miles outside.

The East Coast franchise has just changed to National Express but most UK train operators use the airline model for booking fares with those booked well in advance getting the best deals (maximun booking period is 3 months).

http://www.nationalexpresseastcoast.com/

I generally use thetrainline to book and check rails fares though.

Thank you all for your help. I will probably be back here in a couple months (I will most likely forget what I learn by then anyway?? hehe). It looks like I will probably fly BM or BA from LHR and try to make reservations at least 2 wks ahead.

My son is working at Edinburgh Univ for 3 yrs, so hope to be back again often; and will try the train sometime, also. Should be fun to try.

For what it's worth, I used www.bmibaby.com to book a flight on BMI from Heathrow to Edinburgh last year and was satisfied with the service and price. Coping with carrying luggage all over London to catch a 6 hour train ride (which I've also done) is not as easy as going from one terminal to another in the same airport and catching a one hour flight. (Oh, and if you do decide to travel any means in the UK, DO book in advance. Your wallet will appreciate it.)

Hope you enjoy your travels.

Try to make the flight reservations much more than 2 weeks ahead if you can. There will be little, if any, difference in fares so close to your date of rtavel and you may have difficulty in finding a seat (depending on day/time).

The way flights work over here (and in Europe generally) means the cheapest fares are always those booked well in advance, wheter mainstream or budget. the later you leave it the higher they will be: there are no 'last-minute' cheap fares.

Few pointers, Kings Cross to Edinburgh takes around 4h30m, not 6 hours and I have taken most methods of transport from London to Edinburgh in the last few years as I worked in NW London and lived in central Edinburgh. My main reason for suggesting the train is that you will not be caught up in a soulless airport and will get some great views when travelling North on a train. If I'm on holiday, the fastest route isn't always the most preferable.

If you book well in advance, first class fares can cost as little as £40 between London & Edinburgh and you also have access to a lounge in Kings Cross whilst you wait for your train.

The cheapest flight from Heathrow will easily cost you over £40 and you will get very little for your money in return. Of the two operators, BA edges out BMI due to the quality of aircraft and complimentary drinks and snacks (my last experience of a flight was this weekend on BA and I hold a BMI silver frequent flier card).

There are both plane and train connections. You can take the tube (subway) from Heathrow to the train station - a travel agent can tell you which one - and then the train north. Unless it has changed, only one or two trains a day and it's a rather long trip. Most of this info is available on the Web. Try Brit Rail or tourist information. Don't know about costs.

There are many more than one or two trains to Edinburgh from London now. Journey time is around 5 hours

www.nationalrail.co.uk is the railway website.