London to Edinburgh via Alnwick

You are aware that a taxi will be needed to get to the Castle? (not sure if there is a bus) Pre-booking suggested. https://www.alnwickcastle.com/plan-your-visit/visitor-information/faqs

If a stop en route to Edinburgh doesn't work for you, I took a day tour from Edinburgh with Timberbush last month, April 2025, that worked well for me. https://www.timberbush-tours.co.uk/our-tours/from-edinburgh/1-day-tour/holy-island-alnwick-castle-kingdom-northumbria

I prefer DIY, but the tour gave us nearly 2 hours at Alnwick which was sufficient time for me to enjoy the castle and have a light lunch in town. I didn't try to see the gardens with the limited time. My real interest was the stop at Lindisfarne/Holy Island. We had only an hour there, but I was prepared and knew what I wanted to see. There was also a coffee stop at Bamburgh which was good mostly for "stretching the legs." I could have skipped it. The exact tour schedule can vary due to the tide timing for access to Lindisfarne.

I spoke to Timberbush before booking as I wasn't sure if, traveling solo, they would have the numbers to operate this tour on a day I had available. I was told they needed 6 people to run it - I booked the last required slot, so we were a go. I think we ended up with 8 on the tour. We were all left to our own devices at each stop (which is my preference). The driver/guide was fine. I've had better commentary on other day trips with Mountain Goat and some other companies, I but can't really complain.

Alnwick was a surprise to me as I had been focused on Lindisfarne/Holy Island - really enjoyed it!

There are no direct trains to Alnmouth from London. You would have to change at York or Newcastle and do a side trip, return.
Newcastle would be the quickest.
Alnmouth does not appear to have luggage storage.
Newcastle does.

On National Rail website, I'm seeing direct trains from Kings Cross to Alnmouth with LNER. I know the train I took last month from Durham originated in London.

I visited Alnwick Castle in May 2023. While I enjoyed it, I would not go out of the way to visit it. Some things were quite gimmicky, no photos allowed in the castle itself as the family still lives there and uses all the public rooms. The garden (separate entry cost) was really nice and I enjoyed the tour of the Poison Garden....

BUT....

I'd probably not go to all that trouble to see it unless someone is a diehard HP fan.

Thanks all - I have the train tickets (via LNER) - arriving Almouth at about 11 and departing to Edinburgh about 5. and ready to take bus or taxi to the castle. It's the castle and the book store we want to see. But luggage....we're stumped on that....which is a significant problem. The castle won't store luggage due to security reasons and the train station doesn't have the facilities.

UPDATE: I ended up just changing my tickets to continue on to Edinburgh and we'll do a day trip from there somewhere once we're settled....

What day trips do folks recommend?

Popular day trips from Edinburgh include Stirling Castle, Rosslyn Chapel, Hadrian’s Wall, Loch Lomond, various Lowland sights/sites.

There are a number of day tour companies and some places are accessible by train.

I had seen most of the “obvious” on previous Scotland trips when we were driving. In addition to the Alnwick/Holy Island tour that I mentioned above and truly enjoyed, I did another tour with a tour company that included the Firth of Forth Bridges, Blair Castle, Pitlochry and a couple other stops. Frankly, I was bored - and I don’t bore easily. In fact, this was the first time I ever had that experience with a day tour. Just too much of now we are here and next we are there for me. The tour was a substitute for one I had booked but was canceled for lack of numbers. My only advice - if you pick a day tour, be sure you are excited about the destinations.

Lin C is incorrect, there ARE direct London to Alnmouth trains- 7 a day northbound and 9 southbound.
There is an hourly bus from the station into Alnwick, also a bus from Berwick station.
So you could easily day trip from Edinburgh by train.
Alnwick also has app based luggage storage options but the decision is made now.

EDIT - Alnwick Castle also contains the Regimental Museum of the former Northumberland Fusiliers, which is free to enter with a Castle ticket

What is the name pf the luggage app you mentioned?

The one I looked at quickly earlier was Bounce, which has two locations in Alnwick.
But there may be others with a bit more looking. These luggage apps are a crowded market.

Another luggage option, although the above suggestion is much better, would be to have one person sit outside in the cafe with the luggage and alternate luggage watch duties. I was able to go in and out with my ticket- visiting the castle, leaving to walk the town, return to the castle. I was told ticket was good all day and no ticket needed for cafe. Storage obviously better!

I didn’t find the castle overly “gimmicky” and have never seen a HP movie or read the book. There was a cute, free “ride the broom” learning session where I watched kids and parents having fun - quite cute. I enjoyed the museum mentioned above and another with archaeological artifacts found on the property. I thought the house was stunning - and I’ve seen many, many, many English stately homes through the decades. But, people’s reactions are their own- I don’t mean to denigrate Pam’s experience. She felt differently than me.