travel between London and Scotland

Ck into comfortable National Express coach leaves out of Victoria station London or Heathrow to Edinburgh for 40 GBP ea way pp. takes 8 hrs. Britrail is London Kings Cross station 5 hrs for $177 USD ea way. just estimated these costs for June as I am planning my trip altho w/o golf clubs. Driving can be overwelming for many US drivers in UK. Scotland driving is much easier in gen w/ a lot less traffic! My max in England is 2-3hrs bef drivers fatigue sets in wheras gen europe driving I can go over 4 hrs easily.
Do not underest the fatigue of driving on opposite side of road, car, poss stick shift and not knowing where you are going!

You need to do your homework by pricing out the various options. For four the car probably is a decent option. The railroad system in England is the most expensive in Europe. There are discounts for advance purchase that you need to factor into your evaluation.

Thanks Frank. Price wise, I can get cheap advance tickets from Gatwick to Glasgow, but by the time you add the additional baggage fees, it turns out to be a wash in costs. I'm trying to balance time vs expense. It's a 5 hour drive, but by the time you get out to Gatwick, get through security, land in Glasgow and get a car, I'm not sure we're saving any time. A train to Glasgow drops us into downtown, but our destination is south of there, making our first UK driving experience (well, on this trip) from within a town, always a bit dicey. I think the car from Heathrow makes the most sense, as our last evening is a hotel near Heathrow for our flights out the next day. It just feels funny to be going to Europe and renting a car for such a long time. Guess, I'm just looking for reassurance from the posters that 'yes, sometimes, even in Britain, a car makes sense....'

If you rent a car factor in that 1 gallon of reg petrol is $7.99 per gallon. More votes for National Express coach IMO.

Why go to all the time and expense of getting from Heathrow to Gatwick? You can fly Heathrow-Glasgow on British Airways for less than $100 US.

Why out to Gatwick? Because we actually spend 4 days in London at the beginning of the trip. So, if you have to go back out to an airport, I find Gatwick a bit friendlier. I can get a ridiculously low fare from Gatwick to Glasgow, but the luggage charges make it about the same as your price from Heathorow. This question is really turning more into traveling with ALOT of luggage, and there's not really a way around the golf clubs. At its core, this is a golf trip with some site seeing interspersed. We're still deciding and talking about it. And we need to get to
the west coast of Scotland first based on where we're golfing first. I expect that it would be easier to get to Edinburgh first, but we've already got tee times and reservations in Scotland for specific days. I really appreciate all the suggestions, but what do folks know about where you can store big bags on a train. (I've always been able to flip my bag above where I was sitting.) And how safe is it to leave them away from where you're sitting?

There are direct daytime trains from London to Glasgow. The travel time is around 4 1/2 hours. There also is a direct night train (the Caledonian Sleeper). Leave London at 23:50 and arrive at 07:20. On day trains you can put luggage in the bins at the end of the car and use a cable lock to secure it. On night trains your luggage goes in the sleeping compartment with you. Standard fares for long-distance trains in the UK are very expensive (over £100.00). However, if you book well in advance on the East Coast site, you can get a daytime fare as low as £12.00. Advance purchase Bargain Berths on the Caledonian Sleeper can be as low as £19.00. Book here.