Edinburgh to Paris

Well, it's easy to fly nonstop from Edinburgh to Paris.

But if, for some reason, you want to fly to London, you could fly from Edinburgh to Heathrow, Gatwick, or likely also Luton or Stansted. You would take a train from London St Pancras to Paris - but that combination of travel choices would be a tad odd, to be honest.

I thought it would be enjoyable to take the train from London to Paris, go through the tunnel, see whatever countryside is on the route.

I thought it would be enjoyable to take the train from London to Paris, go through the tunnel, see whatever countryside is on the route.

In that case, take the train from Edinburgh to London King's Cross, walk across the street to St Pancras, and take the train to Paris.

Thank you!

Are you planning to spend any time in London? IF not, I'd go with the suggested flight as well.

The first time thru the channel tunnel is kind of an exciting prospect but then you get on the train and it's just 20 minutes of being in a dark tunnel.

IF you decide to go with your initial plan, it might be just as fast to take a train from Edinburgh to London. It's about a 4+ hour rail journey and you come in to the station right next door (Kings Cross) to the International station (Saint Pancras) so no transit needed between stations. If you fly you'll need transport out to the airport, need to be there ahead of time to process thru security, then as mentioned get some kind of transit from the airport to Saint Pancras. I can't imagine you'd spend less than 4 hours on the ride out to the Edinburgh airport, wait time, flight, transit to Saint Pancras.

You'll need to be at Saint Pancras 75-90 minutes ahead (not sure what the current recommended time is right now) as you do passport control before you get on the train.

editing to add: Oops, sorry, cross posted!

I would just say - either fly all the way or take the train all the way.

It doesn't make much sense to make oneself go through the pain of the airport /packing for an airplane and getting into London proper just to get a train...especially as it seems to me the route between Edinburgh and London is probably the more scenic portion. There's not much to see on the London-Paris portion.)

Or just do it all in one fell swoop with a flight if time is more of a concern. I don't really see an advantage of mixing modes of transportation on this route (speaking as someone who lives in Paris and goes to Scotland from time to time.

Thank you both for your insight. All of you have good points and I appreciate the responses. I am a bit concerned about how late I might arrive in Paris so it looks like I may simply fly from one to the other and skip the train.

I agree with Kim and Pam that your current venture would be problematic. Honestly, if it was me, I would fly direct and I and think that would be easiest.

I've taken the Eurostar from London to Paris, and there's not a whole lot of scenery to see. It wouldn't be worth it for that. We did it because it was easier since we were already in London and I was with two of my grandkids. But considering you're flying from Edinburgh, it would make much more sense to just fly direct to Paris. You will have much more time in Paris, and I guarantee you will want that. Edinburgh is an easy airport to fly out of.

it can be rather fun looking out of the window going at 125 mph (200 km/h) on the train between Edinburgh and London on the LNER, and 320 km/h (200 mph) on the Eurostar in the newer trains but only 300 km/h (186 mph) on the older ones. It is true that the max speed in the tunnel is only 100 mph.

Nevertheless, gorgeous scenery or not, it is a significantly different experience than flying or driving.

Thanks to all for your insights. I'm still debating but no matter what I choose I know it's going to be an amazing adventure!
Mary

there are many travel vloggers on Youtube who have taken Eurostar, you can see what they saw. It's kinda pretty while you're in England but seems pretty flat and uneventful once you pop up in France.

You might also be surprised how much the Eurostar can cost, there are several classes to choose from and they have dynamic pricing