Oxford to Edinburgh -- Easy Jet via Luton vs. train -- challenges with either choice? Input welcome!

I would definitely take the train.

The usual route, according to national rail.co.uk, is Oxford to Paddington ( not Piccadilly) to Kings Cross to Edinburgh.

However, there is a route with a single change at Birmingham International, avoiding London and the tube transfer altogether. One departs Oxford at 10:39, arriving in Edinburgh 5.5 hours later.

Its really simple....train from Oxford to Paddington, Circle Line to Kings Cross, train to Edinburgh.

The journey from Paddington to Kings Cross, including walking between the "trains" is about 20-25 minutes.

Take the train......I've done it few times and it's a nice journey. Or train one way and fly the other.

I don't know why you'd go south to go north.

Easy Cross Country train from Oxford - the station in Oxford is a few minutes' walk west of the centre, on Botley Road just before it crosses the Thames (Isis in Oxford, same river) - to either Birmingham International which has a same or adjacent platform connection to the Avanti train (previously Virgin Trains) all the way to Glasgow and Edinburgh via the West Coast Main Line; or make the same change at Birmingham New Street 10 minutes further down the line. Both trains stop at both stations. At New Street it is likely an up and over job to a different platform but there are several escalators and lifts which make light work of the change, and Birmingham New Street is under a huge shopping mall so if you have time between trains you can get an easy meal of pretty much anything you can imagine or do a little browsing. Birmingham International has the advantage most of the time for the simpler connection, but it is outdoors and not much in the immediate station area - New Street has the slightly more complicated connection and a whole city in the station.

I know this end of the route like the back of my hand having worked with trains there for 20 years.

I agree with Nigel, the train via Birmingham is the way to go. No need for a tube ride across London, and I guess the route via Birmingham would be faster as well. I've never used Birmingham New Street, but Birmingham International is a great station for connections as it is easy to navigate and it is a high chance both trains will use the same platform.

There is about a 15-20 minute penalty for going via London to Edinburgh via Oxford, without going into the cross-London inconvenience with luggage.

The Oxford-Birmingham trains are still running a Covid reduced frequency service that apparently will last through the year, only hourly rather than half-hourly.

Nevertheless there are still a few a day with good connections at Birmingham International or sometimes Wolverhampton. Birmingham New Street is maybe best avoided as a simple change point as the underground platform level is gloomy, access poor, and the station layout itself confusing for those not used to it. Different if you want to make use of the facilities above of course.

Certainly explore the prices at one of the many sites that offer split ticketing as Cross Country Advances tend to work out expensive for long distances.

It is interesting that Marco and I see Birmingham New Street in different ways.

Birmingham New Street is maybe best avoided as a simple change point as the underground platform level is gloomy, access poor, and the station layout itself confusing for those not used to it.

Whilst I do agree that it isn't as easy as International for a simple transfer, I remember Birmingham New Street before the remodel and I see how much brighter, better signed and airier the new version is. I do acknowledge that much of it is cosmetic, but raising the ceiling in the atrium has done wonders. While there may never be enough escalators and lifts as one would like it is darn sight better than before. People only need to use the stairs for expedience or personal preference. Even for platform 1, my old haunt.

And the mall above, even with the John Lewis flagship having closed as a covid casualty, is fab.

Sorry for the digression...

Thanks so much for your replies.

I'd been on the British Rail site and just clicked an option, and it happened to be the two-changes at tube stations in London. But after reading this excellent and helpful advice, I saw the website also offers a one-stop option via Birmingham. That's what we'll do.

(Nigel, I read your response to my wife, especially the opener: "Why go south to go north?" She said, 'That's you exactly! If we booked convoluted south-to-go-north tickets and then figured out there was a more-direct route, you would have been going crazy ... tell that person I said thanks!"

So Nigel ... thanks!

:)

Appreciate this community very much ...