About this journey to Edinburgh?

[Sweetpea302]

More of an "Am I being ridiculous" rather than AIBU...

We have been invited to a wedding in Edinburgh over the winter and need to start booking travel for it from the West Country (near Bristol). I have a grand romantic idea that this would be a really lovely journey to make on the train - kick back, eat lots of snacks and watch beautiful countryside and interesting cities as we swoosh past.

I've just looked into travel costs though and its considerably cheaper to fly rather than travel by train, and also takes a fraction of the time. I'm now wondering whether I'm just being a bit ridiculous to even think about spending MORE money for a longer journey? I'm also starting to have visions of endless journeys, train delays and uncomfortable seats...

It would just be me and my fiancé; no children.

Has anyone else done this (or a similar) journey? What would you guys do?

Oh, and if you've made it this far then tips on what to see when we're in Edinburgh would be great!

You could fly up and drive back. Weather permitting.

Drive cross country via Biggar to Moffat to the M74 which becomes the M6 - it is scenic until south of the Lakes. Then you are probably more than half way there. Time the drive down the south of the M6, then the M5, to miss rush hour, so you probably have to leave Edinburgh by 8am. Tebay service station is good, it is near the Lakes.
I don't think the A1 is scenic so I wouldn't go the east side.
If it's snowy probably better to train or fly.

I'm from Edinburgh, and have traveled there by train from Brighton 20 years ago. It cost a fortune, took about 10 hours and I was freezing cold and miserable the whole way.
My mum came to us recently from Edinburgh to South Wales (via Bristol) and said the same: expensive and freezing.
Trains are notoriously underheated in winter.

I fly now!

Edinburgh is fab, by the way.

Mary King's Close is touristy but really well done. And a ghost walk or literary pub crawl are both really good.

I'd buck the trend and say take the train unless its really huge difference in price - much more relaxing than naffing about at the airport - and factoring in travel to Bristol Airport and security waits etc - it's probably not a lot of difference. Or at least look at training it one way.

I've stayed in serviced apartments in the city centre before, which were lovely and not expensive, if I remember correctly - about £70 for a studio with kitchen I think it was called the Holyrood Apartments, right in the centre near the Scottish Parliament, Royal Mile etc.

Added advantage was that you can cook in the apartment kitchen to save money - Tesco Metro at the bottom of the apartment block for wine/snacks, pizza etc.

I would fly. I live 50 mins from Edinburgh on the train and I hate it lol. I was rather glad when dp moved in with me and I didn't have to do it weekly.

Unless you can avoid the M5 I most definitely wouldn't drive. Most horrendous roadworks just starting just south of where m5 / m6 meet and it's going to be a couple of years of hell for us poor sods that live near there (think 1 lane northbound on M5 20 miles south of roadworks)

Also depending on when you are there the Christmas market will be open in the gardens. I love looking around it. I couldn't go last year as I had a tiny baby in a big pram and it's quite packed but we are taking her over this year and I can't wait.

More great suggestions - thank you!

We would be there during the Christmas market, which sounds lovely.

I'm compiling a list of your suggestions, so do feel free to add anything else that you think we might enjoy. Especially foodie ones... (Insert pig emoji here...)

Have you thought about taking a coach from London Victoria? My DM did this recently and said the journey was long but comfortable enough and extremely cheap

Drive. I used to from Bath to St Andrews. M5 M6 then it's lovely north of Carlisle. Winding motorway with stunning views. Cheaper than flying too. Takes about 7 hours.

Have you been to Edinburgh before, OP? If not, there really is nothing like arriving at Waverley Station by train - it's worth the extra expense and longer journey time just for that! As PPs have suggested, hang on until three months before you're due to travel and then have another look at train prices: if you can get First Class tickets at a reasonable price then 100% do that, you won't regret it. And yes, there is a direct train from Bristol.

As to eating, try The Field which is a really lovely little place that opened a few years ago - you'll definitely need to book!

Oh, and in the vein of OhBegger's suggestion, you could fly to Aberdeen and take the train from there - that line is another lovely stretch of coast, you'd cut the journey time and trains within Scotland are IME ridiculously cheap so you'd save money too.

Yes, you won't be seeing the cheap train ticket prices this far out from travelling. Look at times say 2 months from now to see what those prices are - it'll probably look cheaper.

I'd train it, especially if you can wangle first class (look for weekends for that, you can often get cheap upgrades). I do Edinburgh-London semi-regularly and usually go by train. I hate the massive faff of flying when you have to get to and through and from the airport on both ends.

Last year we had a short city break by train from Ldn to Glasgow with Guardian Holidays. (train + hotel)
Just had a look on their site and see that going on Dec 1 (a Friday) for three nights from Bristol Pkwy to Edinburgh returning Dec 4, costs a bit over £300 per person staying at the Holiday Inn or £289 at a Travelodge. (Don't know about train changes.)

Our trip last year cost about the same, on Virgin Trains. I know they get a lot of stick but it was easy and relaxed, went 1st class as it was only about £50 quid each extra -- drinks and food are free, you get a meal and a snack and use of Virgin First Class lounges at the terminals. Which also have free drinks and snacks. Seats are much better than on a plane, had a table and the carriage was quiet. Free wifi. Nice scenery on the West Coast line.
The trains were clean, comfortable, on time, we were very happy with everything.

Flying anywhere shorthaul these days seems to take up the best part of a day, with travel to the airport, (often quite a way out of town) check-in/bag drop, security, and long walks to the Gate. It can take longer than the actual flight! Then there's waiting to get off the plane, picking up bags and getting into the town or city from the airport. Much stress. At least train station termini tend to be in city centres!

You'll be in foodie heaven, OP. It's difficult to know where to start, but here are a few of my favourites:

David Bann will have you converted to vegetarianism...

Angels with Bagpipes is a lovely small restaurant near the castle at the top end of the Royal Mile. Whether or not you go to the castle itself, you'll probably enjoy moseying around all the little closes there. It might be worth doing one of the many walking tours in that area to get a sense of it, then going back and visiting some of the places you liked the look of.

Over in the New Town I'd recommend The Dogs - very friendly place.

I live in Glasgow and occasionally have to travel to Bristol for work. I have flown and taken train and would definitely go with flying. The train journey just took forever and so many stops so it never really felt relaxed as there was always people getting on and off. The one advantage to the train as that you'll arrive right in center of Edinburgh, whereas if you fly, you'll have to get the tram or taxi from airport.

There are lots of beautiful hotels in Edinburgh but it will depend on your budget. In terms of things to visit, the Scottish Parliament is worth a look. Camera obscura is fun. It's a lovely place just to walk around to be honest (weather permitting.)

Another vote for fly one way, train the other.

Train for sure if you can get advance first tickets for cheap. It's really civilised and you're brought endless drinks and snacks. I find it so much less stressful than flying.

Whatever you do, ignore the suggestion of the coach from Victoria. Cheap but grim. Grim!

Haven't RTFT but just to play devils advocate...

Yes flying direct would be really easy, but I love your idea of it being a romantic train journey. If you're not in a mad rush and fancy an extra explore, you could fly Bristol-Newcastle early AM then get the Metro from inside Newcastle Airport into the city centre (costs about £4 single I think and it's only 1 train- can't go wrong). Then you can have a look around my beautiful city (we have Christmas markets too!) and get the train from the city centre to Edinburgh Waverley.

Takes about 1hr 30 from Newcastle to Edinburgh on the train, and the views as you follow the east coast are stunning!

Do what LittlePear says, that's perfect!

Train, train, train! Because:

1. Unlimited baggage (so long as you can carry it!) Although some train companies are starting to introduce limits, but I've never seen it being enforced yet.

2. All the romantic stuff you said about eating food, chatting, reading books. watching the nice scenery. I've just looked and from Bristol you can go up the east or west coast to Ed. I've got no experience of the west coast but the views on the east coast route are beautiful from Darlington onwards (not Newcastle as a PP suggested, although this is just my opinion). There's the view of Durham, the Angel of the North, going over the bridge at Newcastle, the Northumbrian coastline, the backs of tenements as you arrive in Edinburgh. I've been lucky in the past to be on train where the conductor announced all of these (and the border crossing) over the tanoy to make sure we didn't miss them - he must have been bored that day! From York onwards the train stations themselves are beautiful - all Victorian and (imo) much prettier than train stations in other parts of the country.

3. As someone else has said, you absolutely cannot beat arriving at Ed. via Waverley Train Station. It's one of the most romantic places in the world.

4. Door-to door journey time might not be dissimilar to door-to-door on plane by the time you factor in getting to/from the airports, checking-in in time etc. Edinburgh Airport isn't in Ed., it's in the middle of nowhere! On a direct train you'd be spending that time sitting watching the view and reading your book. On a plane journey you'd be spending it moving from car park to check-in-queue to passport queue to plane to customs to queue for the bus or tram - what a faff!

5. Door-to-door cost might not be dissimilar by the time you factor in cost of getting to and from the airports, extra costs for luggage, and buying expensive water in the airport after passport control make you throw away the bottle you brought.

6. As a few people have said, cheap tickets will be introduced approx. 12 weeks before the date of travel. If you're still five months away that's why they're coming up expensive. Work out when exactly they will be released (ring the train company and ask - they'll tell you). I sometimes log on at 7am on the day they are released.

7. You can get a 'Two Together' Railcard which will save you a third on advertised prices (even the cheap ones). Do check the restrictions though - you can;t use it on journeys that start before 9:30am on weekdays. You could also look at the Split Ticketing website to see if that makes things cheaper.

8. You could end up say next to an annoying/loud person on the plane and in the airport waiting lounge just as much as you could on the train. The last time I flew half the plane was drunk, the queue for the one loo that wasn't out of order was the length of the plane's aisle (literally!), the person in front of me put loud music on their phone and told me I was rude when I asked them to turn it off (and the flight attendants seemed too scared of them to ask them to turn it down), and half the plane refused to put their seat belts on for the landing. It was worse than anything I've ever experienced on a train.

9. Planes get cancelled/delayed too.

I'll think of some more in a minute....!

Most of what I would suggest doing in Edinburgh people have already said, but a few more:

Karen's Unicorn is a lovely Chinese restaurant. The Stand Comedy Club is good. Broughton High Street is nice and is close to the station. North Bridge/South Bridge and all the roads that follow on from those two are good for vintage clothing shops and charity shops if that's your thing.

Someone already mentioned it, but Mary King's Close is excellent so I thought I'd second it!

Don't go to the Elephant House - a cafe were JK Rowling used to write. It used to be amazing - you could buy a drink and sit with a book or a board game for hours and the food was lovely - but then they decided to cash in on the Rowling connection and it's become a tourist trap where they overcharge for crap food and pressure you to leave quickly.

We've booked an apartment through Dickins before and were really impressed.

I like LittlePears idea.

You could also fly one way and train it the other.

I'd fly. Edinburgh to London is just about bearable when it's an express but there's always delays. The tram from the airport to the city centre only takes about 25mins and the airport bus about half an hour.

The scenery on the East Coast Mainline is beautiful though.

I got very excited at the idea of getting the train one way and flying back - but it only refuces the train cost by £1!

I've definitely taken on board (ha! Terrible unintentional train joke!) your comments about it being too early to book cheap tickets on the train. I had no idea about this. I'll call the train company and ask when the cheap tickets will be released.

I've just messaged my OH to tell him that we're clearly going to have to move to Edinburgh as there's no way that we'll fit everything into two days...

I'd just go up the West Coast - far less faffing - save the Newcastle idea for a time when you can spare more time and go off into northumberland too.

I'd definitely wait till the prices come down - book early - upgrade to first class and enjoy it.