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Travel from Edinburgh to Inverness.

A friend and I are spending 5 days in Edinburgh at the end of April into May - this year - and then going north to Inverness. My question is about transport between these two cities.

I have tried to bring up a train schedule for this but so far I have been unsuccessful. We would also consider taking a bus if there is a service between the two cities.

Someone brought up a question about our luggage - whether or not the train (or bus) people will allow us to bring our large check in bags that we brought with us on our flight from Los Angeles.

We don't want to rent a car - the driving on the left side worries us!

It's not that we want to drag those big bags along but what do we do with them in Edinburgh? B&Bs in the UK are not keen on storing luggage for customers and they mention that in their ads.
We will be returning to a new B&B or hotel in Edinburgh after we return from Inverness. Unfortunately, the B&B that we are staying at in Edinburgh, is booked out for the first two weeks in May.

Any help with the Edinburgh to Inverness travel and/or the luggage question will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you. James

Posted by
2681 posts

http://www.scotrail.co.uk/
http://www.scotrail.co.uk/plan-your-journey/timetables-and-routes
this is the best website for you ,loads of trains to Inverness roughly hourly takes about 3 hours. no problems with luggage on buses or trains.
It is expensive to leave luggage at the left luggage in edinburgh, £8 per bag for the first 24hrs and then another fee per day after that, can't rmember the actual price but i think around £5 per day.I can try an check at the weekend

Posted by
11 posts

Thank you very much to those persons who took time to reply to my questions on this forum. With your help we have been able to plan our rail travel times between Edinburgh and Inverness and will book seats later today.
We are still undecided about storing our bags at that 'left luggage' place since it costs about 50 British Pounds for the 3 days for both large bags.
On the other hand it's at Waverley station where we will leave from and return to - so that's tempting. We have one more avenue to explore - the hotel where we will stay on return from Inverness. It's large and they may be able to oblige.
Thanks again, everyone. James

Posted by
342 posts

I suggest looking at Fraser Suites. It's on the Royal Mile and a short walk from Waverley station. My husband and I have stayed there numerous times and have always been pleased.

Posted by
5678 posts

How big are these bags? The biggest issue for me with big bags is dragging them up and down stair cases. That is ultimately what drove me to go with a smaller bag and pack lighter. Even when I have hiking gear and city gear, I can get by with a roll aboard suitcase and medium backpack. And these are easy to take on the train.

Is there a reason why you have really big bags? Special equipment? Formal wear for an event or something? If not, think about packing lighter.

Pam

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Posted by Mary

Leesburg, VA, USA
04/03/15 07:58 AM
232 posts
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I suggest looking at Fraser Suites. It's on the Royal Mile and a short walk from Waverley station. My husband and I have stayed there numerous times and have always been pleased.

Thank you, Mary, but we have already booked at another hotel near the Royal Mile and can't cancel. James

Posted by Pamela
New York City, NY, USA
04/03/15 12:09 PM
3894 posts
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How big are these bags? The biggest issue for me with big bags is dragging them up and down stair cases. That is ultimately what drove me to go with a smaller bag and pack lighter. Even when I have hiking gear and city gear, I can get by with a roll aboard suitcase and medium backpack. And these are easy to take on the train.

Is there a reason why you have really big bags? Special equipment? Formal wear for an event or something? If not, think about packing lighter.

Pam

HI Pam,

Well - that's our problem - not knowing what we need to take. Neither of us have flown in many years.

We just bought carry on and check-in bags to stay within the airlines limits. The check in bags (one for each of us) are 62" by adding width + height + depth.

The maximum weight is 50 lbs but the bag itself weighs 8 lbs. We are going to do a test one of these days to see what we 'really' need to take with us - then weigh it.

No - no formal wear or anything special but we are each adding sweaters for the Scottish Highlands.

Later this year we are traveling to Portugal, Spain and Italy so we will know exactly the size of luggage bags to take after this Scottish trip.

Thanks for your reply. James

Posted by
5678 posts

I bet you can get by with less. Rick has some great packing suggestions. And there is the packing forum. As I said I took too big a bag the first time--well the first time I went recently--and I have been very happy to have pared back. I have a roll aboard, but I often check it and use the backpack as the carry on. That way I can have my purse too. There are lots and lots of tips for packing.

Posted by
342 posts

Sorry James. I misread your post and thought you were looking for a new place to stay in Edinburgh when you returned from Inverness.