Train from Edinburgh to Southampton?

IMO, taking the train is the way to go. Edinburgh-Leeds: 3 hours on direct trains; a little longer if you connect in York. Leeds-Liverpool: Just under 2 hours on direct trains; just over 2 hours with a connection in Manchester. Liverpool-Southampton: 4 hours via London with a change of stations (Euston to Waterloo); 4 1/2 hours with a connection in Birmingham.

12-13 weeks ahead of your travel dates. If you wish, you can sign up on the East Coast site to be notified by e-mail when tickets for your travel dates go on sale.

The only leg where you might consider a flight instead of a train is the last one, but there are no direct flights from Liverpool to Southampton, so you would have to go from Manchester to Southampton with Flybe, which takes about an hour. Tickets for early June with a 20 Kg checked bag are from £86, compared with an 'Advance' train ticket from Liverpool to Southampton from £19.50. Liverpool to Manchester airport takes about 1 hour 20 minutes on the train and costs around £14. The train from Southampton airport to Southampton Central is about £3.50. The trains you will need are operated by a few different companies, so the best way to do your detailed planning and ticketing is on www.nationalrail.co.uk. Note that the cheapest fares are 'Advance' tickets, which usually go on sale 12 weeks before the date of travel. They are valid only for the exact train you book and if you miss it then you will have to pay the full single fare, plus a penalty if you have boarded a train without a valid ticket.

Thank you Kevin...
So the Britain Flexi-Rail pass is not a good idea? Dan

Hi Dan It depends. A 3 day BritRail pass will cost you something like $270, which is $90 or about £60 per day. If you buy an Advance ticket today for an Edinburgh to Leeds train at the end of May, it will cost you £37.50 for the 10.10 departure. Leeds to Liverpool at the end of May would be as little as £8 with an Advance ticket bought today, and even an Anytime fare would only be £30. If you want to avoid using Advance tickets (so you aren't tied to particular trains at fixed departure times and run the risk of having to go to customer services if a train is late and you miss a connection) then a rail pass may well cost less than Anytime or Off-peak point-to-point tickets. To know for sure you need to use www.nationalrail.co.uk to get times and ticket prices for each leg of your journey.

As Kevin said, booking well in advance can get you discount fare tickets. There is an allotted number of seats for each discount fare. When the cheapest ones sell out, the price increases to the next level, so book ASAP. Even though you'll be taking trains operated by more than one company, you can book all your tickets on the East Coast Trains site. As of today booking is open through 5 July. Edinburgh-Leeds: As low as £15.15. Leeds-Liverpool: As low as £8.00. Liverpool-Southampton: As low as £10.00.

Thanks guys. Our trip is not scheduled until May 2014. So about what time should we be making our advance reservations?