Britain/United Kingdom/England/travel from London to Edinburgh

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Expert: - 4/1/2005


Question
Can you advise on how to get from London to Edinburgh by train?  Which train station would we depart from, how often do trains run, what can we expect to pay for a ticket, and can we purchase tickets at Waterloo Station in London?  A friend had suggested trying to purchase the train tickets before we departed on our trip, but we're running out of time I think.  Thank you very much.  

Answer
Hi Pat,

There are lots of sites to buy train tickets on.  As there are many train companies offering tickets in Britain, it can be a little cofusing.  The express trains from London to Edinburgh are mostly run by GNER, but you might find their tickets cheaper on the trainline or national rail.  Stupid isn't it?

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/
http://www.thetrainline.com
http://www.gner.co.uk/GNER
http://www.virgintrains.co.uk/default.aspx

The trains leave Kings Cross Station at least once an hour and take between 4 and 5 hours to do the 400 mile trip.  Prices vary from about £25 return if booked far enough in advance, to over £100.

You can probably buy the tickets at Waterloo and take the underground from there to Kings Cross.

I hope that helps.

Cheers,

Willie
http://www.rental-cars-scotland.com  

Britain/United Kingdom/England

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Willie Wallace

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I live in Edinburgh and travel a lot, myself, in Scotland. I`m especially keen on the many beautiful and remote islands, whisky distilleries and golf and can help with travelling around and good places to stay. Also reknowned, locally, as an expert on Edinburgh pubs :o)

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I am a travel operator myself, but also contribute to chat lines (Scotchat and Electric Scotland) on Scotland, advising prospective visitors, to help them, not to make money!

Organizations belong to
Leith Initiative for Tourism (Treasurer)
Scottish Health Export Association
http://www.dialysis-scotland.com (to make possible visits to Scotland for people on regular kidney dialysis)
http://www.fareshare.org.uk (distributing fresh food to homeless people)
Publications
I wrote "Pack it all in", an eight page colour newspaper for the Australian Tourist Commission - a guide to budget travel in Australia and also "Stray out there" a guide to budget travel in the UK and Ireland. Updated the Fodor Guide to Scotland for 2004 - the Argyll and the Isles section.

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