Getting from Bath to Edinburgh

National rail website is a good place to start with journey times and dates.
Likely you will end up on Virgin Cross Country train service.

Don't be afraid of driving in the UK. Driving on the other side of the road is fine and it's surprising how quickly you adapt. Pretty much every time I drive abroad I'm driving on the other side to what I'm used to but it really is no big deal. The majority of the drive will be on motorways and these are so much better to drive on than US highways mainly because there is lane discipline and very little undertaking compared to the free for all that is driving in the US. This makes for a more relaxing drive because if you are nervous you can stick to the inside lane and not have to worry about other drivers speeding past you on both sides or intimidating you.
Saying that, I wouldn't want to drive from Bath to Edinburgh, it's just too long a drive.

Taking the train would be the easier option and the best method would be using three different train companies (South West Trains from Bath to Bristol, change to the Crosscountry train to Wolverhampton where you will then change to the Virgin train to Edinburgh).

The quickest (and probably cheapest) is to fly Easyjet from Bristol to Edinburgh for around £75.

If it was me, I'd fly.

I know people mention all the different train companies but it’s not really important. Just focus on times and price.

Use national rail to plan the journey which will then you direct you to a train company to buy tickets
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

You don’t say when you’re travelling but look for Advance tickets on sale about 12 weeks before your journey.

And on a route such as Bath to Edinburgh split ticketing might save you money – buying cheaper tickets for different legs of the whole journey. The website does it for you.

https://www.splitticketing.com/

jessica,

I'd probably use one of these two methods......

• Take National Express from Bath to LHR and then use a flight to Edinburgh.
• Take National Express to London and then train to Edinburgh. You can save money on the tickets if you buy in advance. Have a look at Virgin East Coast for trains, and these depart from London King's Cross station.

Nigel or one of the other U.K. members can provide further information on buying the tickets. It's been a few years since I travelled that route so can't remember the details. The trip from London to Edinburgh is about 4.5 hours and as I recall it's very pleasant.

Quick look.Megabus is. £5 from Bath to London.
Advance tickets for train London to Edinburgh from £55

"but it actually looks a little bit expensive and I am a bit confused on the whole train system there."

As said, book train tickets around 12 weeks in advance as they are a lot cheaper, I suspect that you've looked at "walk up" fares and that's why you think the trains are expensive.

Jessica, I know you said "...I don't love the idea of flying because...". However, we did the same trip a year ago and did not take the train because it was (in our opinion) just too much trouble, would basically take all day long, all routes had at least one connection, and was fairly expensive. We finally took a private car service from Bath to the Bristol Airport and flew Easy Jet from there. It really wasn't all that expensive, was very quick, and very simple. Just a suggestion in case you decide to forego the train journey.

Cross Country Trains which do this route is fairly low on seat capacity (long story, too complicated to relate) so the cheaper Advance fares tend to get snapped up very quickly by contrast say with the East or West Coast routes from London to Edinburgh.

Splits can work, but will probably need about 6 tickets, one for each 'hop' between major places.

@Ken

Why on Earth would you travel from Bath to Heathrow to catch a flight to Edinburgh? Why pay the cost of travelling by bus and deal with the hassle of Heathrow when you can fly from nearby Bristol?

I would not travel back to London in order to get from Bath to Edinburgh. The easiest way to do it by train is to go from Bath to Bristol (Temple Meads) - which takes about 15 minutes. You then change for a train that will take you north. Cross Country Trains operate direct services to Edinburgh on this route but they go the long way via York & Newcastle. You can do it quicker by changing at Birmingham (New Street) to a Virgin train using a shorter westerly route. So, the quickest it can be done from Bath to Edinburgh by train is 6 hours 35 minutes. Now, the BIG problem is the high fares if you buy a through ticket. So, do this:>
Go to www.nationalrail.co.uk and insert your date of travel - the further ahead, the lower the fares are likely to be but not more than about 11 weeks as the lower farers will not have been loaded to the system. Now put in the BHM > EDB and look for a cheap train using the westerly route (about 4 hours) with no changes in roughly the middle of the day. (Click details & it should tell you that it is a Virgin train). Make a note of the time and price of this train as well as the departure platform from Birmingham - though also check this on the day on the screens. So, having found a good price from Birmingham to Edinburgh, we need to find a good price from Bath to Birmingham. Put in your date and depart Bath say at 9am for Birmingham (BHM). Find a cheaper service that will get you to BHM prior to the departure of your favoured Virgin train - without cutting it too fine. (Birmingham New Street station has a shopping centre but if you allow longer, you could also wander out into the centre of Birmingham - which has some fine Victorian buildings).

Click DETAILS and it will tell you to change at Bristol Temple Meads. Make a note of the departure platform/time for the train to Birmingham - which will be a Cross Country Train going to Scotland via the longer route.

So, by splitting the tickets at Birmingham, you should be able to reduce the fare substantially. Best to book both journeys at www.virgintrains.co.uk or www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk (You will get a booking number and be sure to bring the same debit card with you so that you can pick up the tickets). Also read:>https://www.seat61.com/UK-train-travel.htm#UK%20train%20network%20maps

Alternatively, fly with Easyjet from Bristol Airport.

You may like to consider going from Bath to Windermere by train and staying maybe 1 night in the is lakeside town. Then, the following day, take Stagecoach bus 508 through part of the Lake District (over the Kirkstone Pass) to Penrith where you can catch a train that will get you to Edinburgh in about 1 hour 40 minutes. Bus schedules = http://www.traveline.info
http://www.golakes.co.uk/?AskRedirect=true

In Scotland, the Glasgow to Fort William and onto Mallaig lines are very scenic.