I am looking for advice/recommendations on travelling from the Edinburgh airport to Inverness by train (as recommended on the RS tour's page). I plan on flying into EDI the morning of the first day of the tour and would need to be in Inverness by the 4 p.m. group meet-up time. I've tried looking at train times/lengths online, but I still can't tell if it's doable. I recognize this may be silly, but it's my first solo trip so I want to be sure I have everything planned.
For example, if I land in EDI at 7:20 am, would I be able to get to the Inverness hotel by 4 pm? What about if I land at 10:05 am? Is there a train that runs regularly between these locations, or would I have to see closer to the date I arrive?
Right now, train tickets are not available to purchase online for the date I am travelling, so I can't see any specific travel times for the train. I may just fly into Inverness to save myself the hassle; however, the plane ticket is much cheaper to do a roundtrip to EDI.
P.S. I know it's recommended to arrive a few days before the tour, but it's not an option for me.