Train? Drive? I think I would prefer to take the train, which sounds fast, cheap, and easy, but many are weighing in and suggesting car to see beautiful scenery and make stops.
Can one see beautiful scenery from the train as well? Is it possible to stop in York and then continue train trip up to Edinburgh? |
The train ride is awesome! (or was ten years ago, not sure current status) Seriously that'd be my first choice. Then, if you have time to travel around, I'd rent a car in Edinburgh to explore the lochs. |
We took the train with an overnight stop in York, which I highly recommend. |
WE drove in Scotland this summer. My husband had to drive a manual transmission on the other side of the road with the steering wheel on the right5 side. HE had to concentrate so hard he missed entire scenes. Take the train. |
If you are going to check the train, check that it will be train all the way, and not coach bridge (i.e. buses connecting train lines).
The man in seat 61 is a great site for planning train journeys. https://www.seat61.com/ |
I 'm impressed. I don't know if I could shift with my left! |
+1 but otherwise train all the way! |
Train. 3 hours faster, can rest, etc. New competitor, Lumo, has nice new trains, or LNER also operates that route. If booked in advance it's cheaper also. |
The Seat 61 site has an overview of the journey with a preview of what you can see from the train: https://www.seat61.com/london-to-edinburgh-by-train.htm#journey
And yes, you can absolutely break the trip and visit the places en route. York and Durham are particularly worth it. |
Train....definitely....been doing it nearly every summer for 15 years now....multiple departures each day from kings X.....tube station is right there, so access from anywhere in london is simple....pleasant ride, splendid scenery....4 1/2 hours.....over the years, 35# - 50# per ticket (i always buy 3-5 months in advance and exclusively from https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/)......can't comment on york.....train was completely full during last trip mid-july '22....never saw that before! |
We sprang for the fancy suites on the Caledonian Sleeper, but would not advise it. That train leaves super late from Euston Sta. and arrives @ Waverley super early the next morning. Impossible to sleep deeply with the noise. The train lurches too much to dare to take a shower in the en-suite. Plus breakfast was not as nice as I'd hoped. For the expense, we should have just enjoyed the view during a daytime ride and booked a nice hotel. |
We did the day train up and stopped overnight in York (which we loved) and then took the overnight back, which was fine. |
Train, absolutely. Just plan your stops in advance if you want to stop anywhere. |
+1 If you catch the faster train it will be faster than driving, you get to see the scenery and it's a lot more enjoyable than driving (and York is great for a visit) |
We just did this in April. We flew from Gatwick to Edinborough on EasyJet. Very inexpensive and fast. We kept our bags minimal since we were only there for a few days. The hike in Gatwick to EasyJet's terminal was long, but other than that it was fairly smooth. |