We are in the very early stages of planning a family trip that starts in London and ends in Edinburgh. If one takes the train north (as we plan to) what are the options for stopping overnight in a town on the line for a day or two and then continuing? Do you buy the tickets from one city to the next (in advance) or is the London-Edinburgh ticket honored?
Posted by
Chicago
7837 posts
The more expensive or flexible tickets allow for stopovers. Or you can just buy separate non-refundable tickets London to York York to Edinburgh for example which could add up to less than cost of a flexible ticket depending on how early you book
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
To find tickets and prices, use National Rail: https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/
Note that the cheapest tickets are Advance tickets (with a capital A - not just any ticket bought in advance). These go on sale about 11 weeks out, and you can only take the exact train on your ticket. In exchange for these restrictions, you can save a fortune. For instance, a full price ticket from London to Edinburgh is £146.40, but I'm seeing some Advance fares as low as £42.50. There are other fares in between these two extremes, if Advance fares don't work for you.
More about train travel in the UK: https://www.seat61.com/UK-train-travel.htm
Posted by
Seattle, WA
16254 posts
We got Advance tickets (with a capital A) from London to York for 32 GPB a couple of years ago. It makes a great stopover pointe. We stayed two nights.
Then buy a separate ticket from York to Edinburgh.
Posted by
Chicago, IL
97 posts
We did this trip last summer. We bought Advance tickets and stopped for 3 nights in York. Then a separate, Advance ticket took us from York to Edinburgh.
Also, depending on how much and how extensively you’ll be traveling around by train, look into purchasing a rail card. There are many different types. We purchased the Family & Friends card for £30 and with all of our train travel we saved so much money! It was extremely worth it in our case as we only bought Advance rail tickets and applied the rail card discount.
We absolutely loved Edinburgh! Planning a return trip next summer and will explore further north in the Highlands this time!
Posted by
OP
Chicago
75 posts
Thank you everyone for the advice. We will probably buy separate Advanced tickets for each leg of the journey.