We are spending time in St. Andrews and Edinburgh before going to London - what is the best rail line to take that will allow us to see some coastline? We are a party of 5 and each will have a suitcase and backpack. Once we get to the London area, we need to get to Chiswick to a home we are renting.
Posted by
Eagle, CO
288 posts
The Virgin East Coast goes along the coast for the 1st part of the voyage out of Edinburgh. Brings you into Kings Cross.
Posted by
OP
3 posts
Thank you. Buying tix in advance is not a problem?
Posted by
OP
3 posts
The tix available on this site are for National Rail - is that a viable option to see some coast? It's about half the price of Virgin....thanks!
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16893 posts
National Rail is a cooperative umbrella for two dozen or so railway operators within Great Britain. As Keith indicated, if the train is ending at London Kings Cross station, it would be operated by Virgin East Coast and travel via Berwick and Newcastle. If it ends at London Euston station, then I see those operated by Virgin West Coast and traveling inland via Carlisle and the Lake District, which is where that line has its most scenic portion.
Booking tickets in advance is the standard way to get the best price, but locks you into that specific train. Not traveling during the weekday morning commute is another savings.
If our ticket link to Rail Europe doesn't reflect as much detail as you need, you can also search through www.nationalrail.co.uk, which eventually forwards you to purchase through the train operator, or see them directly at https://www.virgintrains.co.uk/eastcoast.
[Edited] On the East Coast home page, I see this handy note:
Tickets are available for weekend travel up to and including Friday 14 September 2018
Tickets are also available up to and including Friday 19 October 2018
for weekday travel. Take a closer look at availability and exclusions.
Posted by
Freedonia
14973 posts
Unless you go inland or wish to change trains for a very long journey, there is only one route between Edinburgh and London. It is the direct one. As stated there is some coast but not much. It's Virgin Trains East.
Posted by
2402 posts
You will only get brief glimpses of the coast from the train. To see it properly, you would have to hire a car and head off the main A1 road to places like >http://www.bamburghcastle.com
Also in Northumberland:> https://www.alnwickcastle.com; https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/cragside; https://www.lindisfarne.org.uk
https://www.visitnorthumberland.com
You could turn in the car in Newcastle and then catch a train to London - although I would suggest that you actually stop over for 1 night in York (where you could also turn in the car perhaps). https://www.visityork.org