I have been searching for my flight to Edinburgh and I'm find a lot with LONG layovers at Heathrow. Like 10 or 12 hours long. Does it make sense to take the train up from Heathrow instead of sitting around for that long. I haven't even looked at what the train fares would add to the cost of my ticket. And is it a good idea to get 2 one way tickets or is it a better idea to get the ticket round-trip? I normally enjoy this kind of research. Right now I'm just frustrated. I'm looking at flying out of Boston. I hate flying out of NYC but I would if I had to.
Posted by
Tempe, AZ, USA
1266 posts
Pam - Continental flies non-stop from Newark(EWR) to Edinburgh(EDI).
Posted by
san diego, california, us
149 posts
When are you flying? Are you willing to take a redeye? I am currently seeing redeye flights on British Airways with layovers of 3 hours or less. KLM has evening flights with a 2-hr layover in Amsterdam (codeshare with Delta). Check http://www.kayak.com/
Posted by
NC, United States
970 posts
I'd certainly take a train rather than sit around an airport for 12 hours after a transAtlantic flight. I looked into this last year and that's what I decided. Once you get off your plane at Heathrow, it's best to count on an hour or so to get through passport control and out of the airport. Less if you're lucky, more if you aren't. The Heathrow Express takes 15 minutes to get to Paddington. The Heathrow Connect takes a bit longer because it makes some stops. The Tube makes a lot of stops and takes an hour or so to get to central London. Taxis, cars, and anything else on the roads will also take an hour or so, potentially longer if traffic is snarled. The Edinburgh trains leave from Kings Cross. It's a 4-1/2 trip to Edinburgh's Waverly Station, smack in the city center and within walking distance of a number of hotels. (I recommend a cab if you have serious luggage. Even if you only have a carryon, much of the walk can be uphill.) Don't go for two one-way tickets. Round-trips are invariably cheaper. If you visiting both Edinburgh and Scotland, look into multi-city tickets. For example, one that has you flying from Boston to London, and then from Edinburgh back to New York. And do be sure to price tickets that begin and end in Albany, especially multi-city tickets. I fly out of Raleigh-Durham. I've found that flights from here to, say, Boston, then to Heathrow, and directly back to Raleigh from Heathrow, are often priced less than the daily non-stop Raleigh-Heathrow round trip on American.