Transportation from Bath to Edinburgh

Did a quick look on Travelocity for one way plane fares at random dates and found that the lowest cost average from any London airport to Edinburgh is around 60 GBP. Looking at the National Rail web page for the same random dates and also one way tickets found the lowest average train from London St Pancras/Kings Cross to Edinburgh is about 40 GBP.

So not sure where you might be looking to come up with rail more expensive than flying from London to Edinburgh. Time consuming yes since the train takes about 5 hours and the plane is around 30 - 45 minutes. Of course you can pay a lot more for either option depending on how close to departure you book, which airline or rail company you choose and if you pick basic coach vs 1st class.

When I made the same trip last summer the schedules were there about 4 to 6 months in advance for the train. Air fares were there nearly a year in advance. I even went for 1st class on the train since it was only 10 GBP more than coach for the day I traveled and included entry to the club at the train station for a predeparture snack and drinks and then meals and unlimited alcohol on the train. I also really enjoyed the entire experience much more than flying.

The journey is Bath to Edinburgh, not London. Main airports close to London tend to have higher fees compared with such airports as Bristol, the nearest to Bath.

There has already been a number of posts on this in the England section.

Thanks for the help. Research is a lot easier after being pointed in the right direction with advice from the forum. It is definitely appreciated. TC

Marco,

Thanks. Looking at Bristol to Edinburgh does show air ticket prices lower than from London. However, I was answering the statement that trains from London to Edinburgh were more expensive than flying.

Going from Bath to Bristol by bus and then flying to Edinburgh sounds like a good option. 170 GBP by train. Bus to the Bristol airport and then flying easy jet to Edinburgh is about 90 GBP total. So this route, yes train costs more. (But I won't fly easy jet due to previous experiences, so train would be the only option for me on this route ;-) You can train to London for about 25 GBP and then train from there to Edinburgh for my previously stated amount of around 40 GBP for a total of 65 GBP. This would be less than the Bristol flight. (Your actual costs may vary due to all the normal reasons.)

Mark,
With regard to "...train to London for about 25 GBP and then ...to Edinburgh for...around 40 GBP...", could you please tell me the site with that info? Can't find same info for some reason. Thanks. TC

TC,

The site I use to find rail prices in the UK is: http://www.nationalrail.co.uk

Did the search in two parts right now. First "Bath Spa" to "London Kings Cross" for a random week day about a month out one way shows 20 GBP. Part 2 was "London Kings Cross" to "Edinburgh" starting at 60 GBP. So that's 80 GBP total for the day I picked just now. Looking further out, the Bath portion is fairly constant in price, the Kings Cross to Edinburgh varies widely from 40 GBP to 170 GBP..

If you do the same search as a single journey from Bath to Edinburgh, the site is showing 160 GBP or higher.

Mark, Many thanks for the idea of searching as two legs instead of one. Really appreciate the detailed info!!