Our California family of five, two adults and three teens, will be leaving London on June 22 and heading to Glen Eagles in Scotland. Should we take the train or a plane? The only reason I thought we should would fly might be to get there early and take a tour around Edinburgh before we check in. We are only stay through the 25th then headed to Dublin. More questions on that later. Thank you for your advice - Amy
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32198 posts
amy,
My preference is usually the train, as it's often about the same travel time (when all is considered), much more relaxing and also no worries about strict baggage limits and exorbitant fees. Advance purchase rail tickets are often discounted, but I'll leave that question to Nigel or one of the other U.K. posters.
Posted by
Chicago
7811 posts
Research the date you want to travel London to Edinburgh and compare the costs of taking a train with the cost of getting to the airport and taking a plane.
Posted by
2399 posts
You can search plane prices here - but beware of baggage in hold charges. www.skyscanner.net
Train prices here:> www.nationalrail.co.uk (Pay on the day is expensive). I have just searched for your journey. At 12.00 (noon), a direct train leaves from London (Kings Cross) heading for Inverness and calling at Gleneagles on the way at 17.39. Pre-booking today for this train will cost you £73 each adult (less for children who are not yet 16). You can do the trip for less by splitting the trip up. For example, leave Kings Cross (KGX) on the 9.08 and arrive in York (YRK) at 11.30 = £16. York is an interesting place and many tourists will stay a night on their journey from London to Scotland. http://www.visityork.org/?AskRedirect=true
Anyway, you could leave YRK on the 14.52 Cross Country Train to arrive in Edinburgh (EDB) at 17.06. A pre-booked EDB > Gleneagles (GLE) ticket will cost £8.50. Hence, we have got from London to Gleneagles for £45 per adult - price will rise the longer you delay pre-booking. If you are going for the golf, wife and kids might like to take a day trip into Edinburgh by train. They might also like to go from Gleneagles, through the highlands to Inverness. It is a pity that you could well end up going straight through interesting York & Edinburgh.
https://www.familyandfriends-railcard.co.uk
http://edinburgh.org
https://www.visitscotland.com
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
32704 posts
Train is faster and probably can be cheaper, but if you want to fly and don't mind the extra time of getting to the airport, waiting at the airport, waiting for luggage, and the extra time of getting into the train station before you can board the train to Glen Eagles, go for it.
Posted by
OP
2 posts
Thank you all for your timely response and helpful links. Train it is! If there is time between trains from Edinburgh to Glen Eagles we would like to tour Edinburgh. Is there a luggage check at the station where we could keep our suitcases? -Amy
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
32704 posts
There is no Left Luggage at Edinburgh Haymarket. Perhaps there may be another place to leave them?