Train from Edinburgh to London - as well as a few UK travel questions

Hopefully, Nigel will assist with your rail questions. In London the top must do's for me are seeing theatre nightly, enjoying a pint at Nell Gwynne's and strolling around the Hampstead Heath. Apples and oranges. Do you like museums? Shopping? History? Lots to see and do in London. Give this collective an idea of your preferences. You'll get a number of recommendations.

If you will send me your email in a private message, I'll send you a copy of an article I wrote for AAA Carolina's "Go!" magazine a few years ago. It details my favorite places in London and my favorite day trips by train. As to the day trip in Edinburgh- I'd do the Loch Ness and Highlands. We did that once and it made my hubby fall in love with Scotland (I already was in love with it). We also did the hop on/off bus in Edinburgh and enjoyed it. You may have missed out on the best train fares- they go on sell about 12 weeks prior to travel and sell out quickly- but do book ASAP. You might find this site helpful http://www.rail.co.uk/
Or private message Nigle for a suggesstion- he works for one of the UK rail companies.

The earlier you book your tickets, the cheaper they are likely to be. If you are certain about the date and time you want to travel, then you should book now. The cheapest tickets are valid for a particular train, so if you miss that train, or change your plans, you have to pay the full price for a new ticket. Alternatively, you can buy an "open" ticket, but they are much more expensive. Trains between Edinburgh and London Kings Cross are run by a company called East Coast Trains. They run at least every hour, sometimes more frequently, and take about 4 1/2 hours for the journey. They are direct trains, but stop at other towns en route. Go to the National Rail website at www.nationalrail.co.uk. You can check the train times there, and you will see that they are charging a fare of £39 for a one-way standard class ticket. At the bottom of the page, you will see the heading "Train Operating Companies". Click on that and choose East Coast. Their fare is slightly lower, but you may find that there are additional charges that they will add on. Any of the train operating companies will sell you a ticket, as will other companies like thetrainline. Wherever you buy the ticket, the train will be operated by East Coast. You may find there are differences between any additional charges the various companies make, and any possible difficulties you may experience with using a U.S. credit card. If you choose to collect your tickets from a machine at the station, you will have to make sure you have the right card with you at the time, and allow yourself plenty of time.

When my wife and I took this trip two years ago, we were traveling on rail passes, so I can't speak to the optimal time to pre-purchase tickets although I assume buying tickets in advance is the most economical. I can tell you that we had reserved seats the night before we left and we were glad we did. Even with frequent trains to London, our dinner hour train was quite full and it was a comfort to know we had two seats together waiting for us. Perhaps this doesn't happen frequently, but on our train food service was suspended due to an unforeseen problem. I wish I had purchased sandwiches beforehand and brought them aboard rather than planning to buy from the food car. As for London, I'm certain you'll get many of the same Top 3s (Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, Imperial War Museum make my list), but you have time to see so much more, so I'll also give you my Top 3 Lesser Explored personal favorites: 1. Museum of London at Docklands, 2. explore the bookshops on Charing Cross Road, 3. a lunch of bangers and mash next to the Sherlock Holmes replica flat at the Sherlock Holmes Pub.

There are so many things to do in London. So my 3- not quite the usual- 1) A day at Hampton Court (over Windsor) 2) Changing Guard at Horse Guards- soldiers in plumes and helmets on shiny horses. On some saturdays in Summer they do a full scale one with a band (also on horses) which preforms while the change is taking place- truly spectacular (again, you get very close to the soldiers- much more rewarding and spectacular than buckingham Palace . and then pop arouns the corner to tour Westminster Abbey
3) Walk and window shop- either Regent Steet and Piccadilly or the alleya and taverns behind the bank of England in "The City". Definitely have lunch in one of these City taverns To me the West Highlands/loch Lomond seemed a prettier tour- but I did it out of Glassow

We booked our train tickets from Edinburgh to London through Virgin Rail. They were pretty cheap-under $50 each and there was a train change in Crestow . I think we got off at Euston in London and taxi was not cheap to South Kensington. You have a nice amount of time in Edinburgh and London so a guidebook help you decide on your must sees.

Caitlin, Regarding the rail travel questions, you may find it helpful to have a look at This Excellent Website. I used it last year when I travelled the Edinburgh-London route. As the others have mentioned, you'll be travelling with East Coast Rail on that route. It's a very pleasant trip! I pre-booked my tickets on the internet, as I was connecting with the EuroStar and wanted all the arrangements in place. I had a few minor difficulties using their website, but after clearing the cache it all worked out. When I picked up the ticket in Edinburgh, I went to the staffed ticket window and was told that tickets are normally picked up from the automated Kiosks. However, but the clerk agreed to help me on that one occasion. I ran out of time, so wasn't able to take the day tour I'd planned from Edinburgh. I'd have to go through my notes for the name of the tour, but as I recall it covered Loch Ness and the Highlands. It's difficult to make recommendations on the "top three must do's" in London without having some idea on your interests. Do you prefer Museums, Galleries, Shows or ??? My interests tend to lean towards history, so the Imperial War Museum, Cabinet War Rooms and HMS Belfast were big favourites for me. A tour of the Tower of London with a "Beefeater" is usually popular, as well as the British Museum, Changing of the Guard and Buckingham Palace and perhaps a show or two (I really enjoyed "Mamma Mia"). For day trips from London, Bath is always a good choice. York is another popular location (be sure to see the awesome Railway Museum). Happy travels!

I came up with the same challenge with my Edinburgh transportation out and in on our trip... and found that flying is cheaper and faster! Wife and I travel with one legal carry on size bags each, so we didn't have to pay anything extra for "easyjet." From Edinburgh to London one way we paid about £55 for both including admin fees and taxes. Just a thought...

You will depart from Edinburgh Waverley and arrive at London Kings Cross. While the lowest discount fare tickets are gone, if you book your tickets ASAP at www.eastcoast.co.uk, you still will pay a lot less than waiting to buy tickets at the last minute. Your tickets will be for a specific departure date and time and are non-exchangeable and non-refundable. The default option for ticket retrieval will be to print your own tickets. When you get to the page asking for payment details, click on the "enter international address" link which is below the "Find Address" link.

Thank you all for your help! Train tickets have been purchased - I figured we missed the cheapest tickets, but the prices I found actually weren't outrageous for a 4.5 hour trip, so I'm happy enough. I should have clarified a bit more - we love history and museums, so we have a lot of those on our list (British Museum, Westminster Abbey, Imperial War Museum, Hampton Court, Cabinet War Rooms, the Globe) as well as the major shops (especially excited about Waterstones and the like - we love books!). We hope to see some shows, though I am going to treat it like New York and play it by ear with whatever seats are available that week. But since we have so much time there, what I would love to know is - what are the things that you have found in London that don't get mentioned? The out of the way shop or museum, the pub or restaurant you stumbled upon one afternoon - if you had an extra afternoon and had done the big things, what would you do?

I love the British Library. I also love to stroll around Regent's Park, which is my favorite park in London. They are both pretty close the the British Museum. I also enjoyed the Victoria and Albert Museum, which is not exactly a small undiscovered museum. I haven't taken either Highlands tour, but I have been to both areas. I like Loch Ness better than Loch Lomond.

Caitlin you asked "what are the things that you have found in London that don't get mentioned? The out of the way shop or museum, the pub or restaurant you stumbled upon one afternoon - if you had an extra afternoon and had done the big things, what would you do?" My husband and I enjoyed the Fan Museum at Greenwich, also going to the Spitalfields Market and nearby Christ Church Spitalfields, sampling all the wares at Borough Market (especially the goat's milk ice cream), grabbing tea at The Orangery at Kensington Palace, and we found 2 good pubs right across the street from the Earls Court tube stop one called The Courtfield and the other was The Black Bird. Regarding Edinburgh, on our last trip there we used Highland Experience for some day trips and were very pleased. A few years ago we used Highland Explorer for a multi-day trip. BTW, I vote for Loch Ness.

The Courtauld Gallery in London is a very fine art museum that often gets overlooked. It has a collection of medieval art and works by several of the most famous Impressionists.

Book stores; there are also a number of small specialty book stores on the little side streets and alleys that branch of of Charing Cross Road. well worth at least window shopping

If you love books you need to get up to Charing Cross Road from Leicester Square through Cambridge Circus and most of the way to Tottenham Court Road. If you like Waterstones (owned by HMV) you will LOVE Foyles. The original branch in Charing Cross Road near Soho, and there are a couple of new small branches such as at St Pancras International Station and Westfield mall in Shepherds Bush but the original is the gem.