We are flying into Glasgow and then traveling to Edinburgh. What is the best way to get from Glasgow airport to downtown Edinburgh? Is there a train that goes directly?
no direct train but you can get the airport bus to queen street station and then Train to Edinburgh from there.You can also take the airport bus to Buchanan street bus station and transfer onto a bus to edinburgh
Glasgow Airport to Glasgow city centre:
https://www.firstgroup.com/greater-glasgow/routes-and-maps/glasgow-airport-express
Glasgow to Edinburgh by train:
Glasgow to Edinburgh by bus:
The flight is from the US and arrives in Glasgow at 7:30 a.m.
Train: You will need to change at Glasgow Central.
Bus: there are direct coaches from Glasgow International.
Depending on where you are wanting to go I would say go via train, but at that time in the morning you are battling Glasgow's commuter crowds.
Thanks for all the helpful information.
You really want to take the bus. It is easy and fast.
the bus is not bad, you get the airport bus to Buchanan street and then the Edinburgh bus at the next stance, they run every 15 minutes so you won't have to wait long for one.I am not sure but I think it can be done on one ticket. I have my National Entitlement Card so don't need to pay on the buses........ yes I am that old.
If I book our train trip (on CrossCountry) from Glasgow Airport to Edinburgh in April, there is the option of printing out our tickets once we're there, but it looks like the nearest station where we could do that is Queen Street. Would we have to pay extra for the express bus to get to Queen Street in order to "pick up" our train tickets, which include the express bus on the trip details? It's not at all clear. These are "travel any time" tickets. We could have the tickets sent by mail, but that would cost over $10.
It would be small print time. You can buy train tickets that can be used on any train company from any train company.
ScotRail is the company that serves Paisley Gilmore Street, the station for the airport. Cross Country only goes in and out of Glasgow Central in Glasgow. Glasgow QS is a ScotRail station.
What you would need to do is check the small print. If the ticket starts from any station irrespective of the operator it can be collected there.
Don't get to down hearted about the ticketing. Since privatisation the ticketing seems to have been designed by Lord Voldemort and Sauron after a all night drinking session.