Cell Phone & Best Transportation

A while ago we did the overnight sleeper from london To Edinburgh up the East Coast. Very convenient, but it gets you there are early breakfast time. There is a similar train back. If you can sleep on trains that is much more convenient than flying

I've never heard of the phone company you are talking about using. Is there a particular reason you need a phone on a brief trip? You have a couple of options, depending on what kind of phone you have now. If you have a GSM phone, you might look into an international roaming plan (not cheap, but easy for a brief trip). You could also take an unlocked GSM with you and buy a SIM card there (disadvantage is that you might end up with unused minutes on the SIM or run out of minutes at a bad time - plus you would have to purchase an unlocked phone). You might also look into a post-paid travel SIM from Mobal or Telestial, or others. You buy an inexpensive phone and SIM card from them, then any calls you make are billed to your credit card (no unused minutes, no charge at all if you don't use it, but the per-minute charge can be high). Or you could just do it the old-fashioned way, and purchase a calling card at a convenience store once you are there, and use public phones.

Thank you very much for the replies. Any ideas on which train company is best? Also, should be purchase the Oyster Card for traveling on tubes, buses, light rail? I am not clear if the Oyster Card is more economical
on the Heathrow Express travel however.

You can get a phone and sim card with prepaid minutes for little money in the UK. Carphone Warehouse has good deals. Look under "pay as you go deal finder" at http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/

You can't use travelcards or oyster cards on Heathrow Express or Heathrow Connect. Trains, except limited service to airports, don't run on Christmas Day or Boxing Day (26th). Limited service on the Monday because it is a new Bank Holiday (because Christmas is on a weekend). You could go overnight if tickets are still available this close, or fastest train service is East Coast Mainline with East Coast trains from Kings Cross via York. Or West Coast Mainline with Virgin Trains from Euston.

I really appreciate the most helpful information. Thank you
so very much!

If you happen to take the East Coast line from London in the daytime, sit on the right side of the coach to get good views of the North Sea coast as the train approaches Edinburgh. I recommend buying tickets online and then picking them up at the station. I use thetrainline.com. Works just fine. FYI: Looks like the Tube drivers in London will strike on Boxing Day.

The train ride is nice, though a bit long- about 4 hours, give or take a little. Check the fares- it might actually be cheaper to fly. There is a shuttle bus from the Edinburgh airport to right outside Waverly Train Station. If you use it you get a discount on the hop on/off bus tour there. When do you fly over? When back? When do you plan to go to Edinburgh? This is the site we used to plan our UK rail trips http://www.rail.co.uk/ But we used a BritRail pass. They were a good bargin then, not so much now. But considering you have probably missed all the discount fares, you might find that getting one would be worth it.

I think it depends. If you are already in the City Centre, the trip by train might make sense. If you're already at the airport then fly. I've done both. ; ) I seem to always go up the east coast. I don't pick by railroad, but rather by schedule. When I took the train from London direct to Inverness, my train had wireless, which was fun. I was so surprised by it that I emailed my family the sights as I passed them by. Pam

Thank you all so very, very much - such lovely people to assist us with our perplexity!! Yes, as we are so very late, we are now unfortunately needing to fly. We are flying on Dec. 27, evening into Edinburgh, 8:45 PM, and we will fly from Edinburgh into London Heathrow on Friday, Dec. 3l, early morning, then catch our return flight back to the USA. Our trip was last minute as our daughter had time availability only suddenly. We will miss that beautiful scenery - therefore, we must come again!!!! Thank you so very much for the information about the bus into Edinburgh and the tour! If the tube people go on strike and remain on strike, we may
have transportation difficulties - hope we can get around!!

We do have Verizon cell phones & apparently they do not work properly overseas. I am not familiar with some of the terms such as how to check my phone for the GSM band width and the SIM cards. I do have a Verizon phone, early January of 2009 which is
supposedly indestructable.

We do have Verizon cell phones & apparently they do not work properly overseas. I am not familiar with some of the terms such as how to
check my phone for the GSM band width and the SIM cards. I do have a Verizon phone, early January of 2009 which is supposedly indestructible.

Joan, Regarding the Cellphone, could you provide some further information. For example, are you currently using a Cellphone, and which network is it with? Do you want a Cellphone mainly for "emergency use", calling back to the U.S. or ??? I'm not familiar with "fonmigo", but if you don't presently have a Cellphone, I'd suggest having a look at Roam Simple, Call In Europe, Cellular Abroad, Telestial or Mobal, as they're able to supply SIM cards and in phones for travel in Europe. AFAIK, most of these use a "postpaid" method for calls, charging the cost to a credit card. I prefer this method over the typical PAYG plans where one has to "top-up" every so often. If you could provide some further details, I may be able to offer more specific suggestions. Cheers!

Indestructible or not, Verizon phones are not GSM, they are CDMA (different systems). They will not work in Europe. But as I asked before, do you really need a cellphone for a brief trip? Calling cards are easily available at any convenience store for use at public phones or those in your hotel or B&B. If you really need a cellphone you will need to purchase one there (the SIM card gives you a phone number and some minutes of calling time). You probably don't have time to buy one on eBay. You might have time to buy an inexpensive phone from Mobal or similar because they can do overnight shipping (and you don't buy minutes, calls are charged to your credit card, and you will have your number before you arrive).

Joan, the London Tube strike, if it comes off on the 26th, will almost certainly be of the 24-hour variety. Be aware that Heathrow is very large, with four distinct terminals, numbered 1,2,3, and 5. (Long story.) If you are leaving for the States immediately after you arrive from Edinburgh, and your arrival is in one terminal and your departure is in another, be sure you have enough time to get there, stand in a queue, and go through security. A couple of hours is as close a I'd want to cut it.

You all are amazing sources of reliable, useful, helpful, encouraging information. Thank you so much!! I only
wish I had found this site much sooner. This travel site/helpline is so educational! There is so much for me to learn I should add.

So have you checked out Carphone Warehouse? For £10.95, or about $17, you can get a mobile phone and sim card with 40 minutes prepaid call time plus free incoming calls. Mobal, Call in Europe and similar post-paid services can't touch that deal. There are several stores in Edinburgh.

Joan, If you're just going to be making occasional calls you may still be able to use Verizon service, although it's a bit more expensive than some other methods. Contact Verizon customer service regarding their global phone rental program.

Yes, I am embarrassed to admit I forgot to check first with Verizon to see what was available. Now I did learn that, yes, they do have special phones available they can ship to you for use in Europe. Yes, there are fees for shipping, then either a minute rate for incoming & outgoing calls of around $1.29/min. w/ 50cents to send texts & 5cents to receive or there is a more advanced device with internet capabilities which is slightly more - but may be more economical ultimately. In any event, I am in a totally new world - travel - technology...Now as it turns out, the weather is
possibly going to cause havoc for all...