Trains from EDI to Glasgow and to Inverness

It’s a very short walk from Glasgow Queen Street to Glasgow Central, just so you know. Less than ten minutes. That might help your planning! No need to take a train between the two.

The Edinburgh airport tram doesn't go to Waverly station. It has stops a couple of blocks away.

However, it does stop at Edinburgh Haymarket. This is the first stop after departing Waverly for trains to Glasgow. It's a much smaller station and would involve less walking. You would be getting on the same train at Haymarket that you would at Waverly. It's just departing a few minutes later.

There are some trains that are direct from Edinburgh to Glasgow Central. If you don't take one of those, once you get to Glasgow Queen Street you can either walk or take a local bus to your hotel. Let us know which hotel and we can tell you which bus.

In Inverness, there is one main station and your train from Glasgow will stop at it. It's the one closest to your hotel.

We actually did the first part of your travel last week. But we just took the Airlink bus from the Ediburgh Airport to the Buchanan Street bus station in Glasgow. Faster over all and cheaper than the tram/train. It's about a 10 -15 minute easy walk from there to the Central Station. Or you can take the shuttle bus that goes between the bus station and both train stations. The Central and Queen street train stations are only a few blocks apart. As mentioned above, you could just walk to Queen Street and catch your train there. Or take a taxi.

You can't get a train from Central to Queen Street without going out to Partick in the suburbs and switching trains which would be daft.

However the Station Link #398 bus runs between the two stations every 12 minutes until 8pm on a weekday.

Free to rail ticket holders.

First bus from Central is at 10am on a Sunday- which is fine if you are on the 1111 to Inverness, arriving at 1429, makes 10 intermediate stops.

The very easiest way from EDI to Glasgow is to take the Scottish Citylink #AIR bus from the airport to Glasgow Buchanan Bus Station. The 398 stops across the road from Buchanan Bus Station, next stop Central. It costs £1.50 for non rail passengers.

The AIR bus takes 58 minutes, and runs every 30 minutes- so faster than tram or bus to Edinburgh then even the fast train to Queen Street- https://www.citylink.co.uk/timetables-service-updates/glasgow-edinburgh-airport/

Just hop in a taxi to the hotel from outside Inverness Station. There are always taxis waiting.

Could I ask what hotel you will be staying at that is accross from Central Station. I plan on doing the exact same trip and visiting Glasgow like you but in April. Do you know if you should just buy your train tickets at the station or buy them in advance? Thanks

You may not want to take a taxi in Inverness as you noted, your hotel is literally a four minute walk. If you walk slowly.

I have walked passed the hotel numerous times on my way to the Pedestrian Bridge across the river.

Thanks everyone for the great advice. My hotel is Glasgow is Voco Grand Central 99 Gordon Street. Excited to stay there, it looks gorgeous and the price was very reasonable.

@Dreadnaught I was wondering the same about advance tickets vs buying at the station. Think I will go ahead and purchase the train ticket to Inverness for Sunday so I'm locked in for the 11:11 departure to arrive in time for our tour group meeting at 4pm, and then purchase the AIR Bus tickets at the airport. I'm planning to visit the Kelvingrove and Macintosh House, and I have a Merchant City Music Walking tour booked as well :-)

As regards the train on Sunday to Inverness the Advance Fares are now gone, so the £55.20 you see now is the same price as you would pay on Sunday morning at the station. The only benefit of buying now is that you get a specific reserved seat. As it is scheduled to be a 5 car train that should not be an issue on the day either, but there may be some event on that day of which you are unaware, increasing the number of travellers.
Yes just buy the bus ticket on the day, that covers flight delays and the buses have lots of capacity.
PS- The Vaco Grand Central is part of the structure of Central Station and even has an entrance off the station concourse. The 398 bus drops you literally at the station entrance. Short of driving to the check in desk you couldn't be closer to the hotel.
It is one of the grand old railway hotels.

OP, we stayed at the voco Grand Central for 4 nights last week. I think you will like it.

Can you use contactless payment cards such as a Visa, Mastercard, etc to purchase a ticket on the Airlink Bus that leaves Edinburgh Airport to Glasgow or can you buy a ticket at the airport. I really don't want to purchase an advance ticket in case the flight gets delayed or something. I really like the idea of leaving Edinburgh Airport and going straight to Glasgow. Sounds very straight forward. Will be traveling to Scotland in April so hope that there is room available on the buses. Thanks.

Yes you can use contactless on the bus.

BTW you may like this video of the Voco Grand Central from someone who has recently been visiting all the Railway Hotels of the UK- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXG9KPOVTbY&t=24s

If you don't have a vast amount of luggage you can walk from Central to Queen Street without worrying about buses.