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tickets on Scotrail

Posted by (Centennial, CO, USA) on

Been researching how to get to Melrose from Edinburgh for our upcoming hiking trip. I used Rome2rio.com and see we actually go to Tweedbank and take a taxi from there to Melrose...unless someone has better information for me.

Question I have, is it totally worth it to book train tickets in advance for this one way trip, or just pop into Waverly station the day before we plan to travel and purchase tickets for the next day? Is the savings that much better? We will check to see if there is a discount for seniors as we are both 69YO.

Our trip is next week - any better advise? I did a search here before asking, and most questions re Scotrail tickets are years old.

Posted by
5834 posts

On this route there are no advance tickets and no seat reservations, just turn up on the day and buy your ticket.

There was a post a week or so ago about how easy it is to walk from Tweedbank to Melrose -
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/scotland/great-tapestry-of-scotland

or you could get off at Galashiels and catch Bus 61 from the Interchange across the street.

The other alternative is to catch Bus X95 from Edinburgh to Galashiels and change there for the 61 above.

Posted by
5834 posts

If this is the only UK rail journey you are making it is not worth getting the senior discount of about £3 per ticket, as to do so you would have to buy a Senior Railcard, at £30 (or a Two Together Railcard, also for £30).
If you are making other UK rail journeys either Railcard may become worth it.

You can also catch the X62 bus from Edinburgh to Galashiels, but whether the extra time taken is worth the extra scenery is for you to decide.

On Borders Buses you can buy a 24 Hour Ticket (for 2 people) on their app for £18.50 for the two of you, to cover both journeys- EDI to Gala and Gala to Melrose.

Posted by
1883 posts

@ isn31c Thanks for the advise. We will most likely take the train and then taxi from Tweedbank to our first B &B in Melrose , considering we will have 2 rolling bags with us.

Since this is a hiking trip and we hike from Melrose to Lindisfarne, we will have more opportunity to see the landscape, first by foot, then on the return trip via train or bus to Edinburgh.

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