In July my wife & I--both seniors--will be in Edinburgh and Glasgow. In early August we will travel from Glasgow to London, staying in Notting Hill/Hyde Park. Our flight out of London leaves from Gatwick. It's not easy to figure out our best choices for travel by train. Our rail travel needs are from Edinburgh to Glasgow on a Saturday, from Glasgow to London on a Sunday (1st class or standard?) and from London to Gatwick on a Friday afternoon. We might also like to take a day trip from London to somewhere during our 4 full days there. Which pass(es) should we buy, how long in advance should be make the reservations, and how do we know which stations to use? Any advice?
Posted by
Brisbane, Australia
7175 posts
Only substantial saving gained by booking ahead is on your Glasgow to London leg, where 2nd class is fine for most people.
Posted by
Seattle
287 posts
I would just go with direct tickets rather than passes. Do book ahead for your Glasgow to London ticket for cost savings. I took that route in October, only in reverse (London to Glasgow), and it was very clean and comfortable.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
The train stations will generally be filled in for you when you search for schedules at www.nationalrail.co.uk or through the DB link for Europe; just choose plain "London." In Scotland, you'll go from "Edinburgh" (a.k.a. Edinburgh Waverly) to Glasgow Queen Street station. Rick's guidebook describes these.
A BritRail flexipass starts at $281 per person for 3 travel days within a month, no reservations required but you can get a free seat assignment there up to a day ahead.
However, if you can commit to an advance-purchase discount (about 2 months ahead, or sometimes slightly earlier) for your one long trip, the remaining legs are cheap enough to buy as you go. If you need tickets for a same-day roundtrip from London, try to book at least a day ahead, as a roundtrip, and depart after 9:30 (if it's a weekday).
Posted by
OP
suburban Sacramento CA
2 posts
Thank you all for this very helpful info. I've also heard about the railpass discount for two adults traveling together. Is that worthwhile?
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33999 posts
All the gen is at the official website - http://www.twotogether-railcard.co.uk/
It gets the named 2 people a third off almost all tickets (not morning peak in the former Network Southeast area - basically the area broadly around London) including Advance tickets for one calendar year, and requires photos of each person and £30.
So add up your potential tickets but not the early ones in the London area, take a third of that figure and see if that is more or less than £30.
It generally pays off for people who regularly travel together over a long period or even just a few trips if they are longish.
Your trip to Gatwick on a Friday afternoon if it is much after 2pm could be interesting, especially if you use Thameslink or Southern trains. Don't get caught up in the dash home or the dash for the beach. That circumstance may suggest using Gatwick Express from Victoria which tends (except certain services which run beyond Gatwick) to be mostly travelers instead of commuters.