Public transport from Edinburgh to Inverness

[PumpkinsAndCoconuts]

We‘ll be staying in Scotland for Christmas this years.

the plan: arrive in Edinburgh (airport) on the 20th, to Inverness until the 25/26th, back to Edinburgh for a few days.

is the journey from Edinburgh to Inverness doable with public transport around Christmas? (As long as there’s no strike etc. obviously.)

we could rent a car and drive up. But the car would be pretty much unused the 5 days well staying in Inverness and would still cost us about 600 £, which is a lot and just seems like such an unnecessary expense…

thanks in advance!!

The train journey is great. There might be some snow but that just gives the whole experience an Anna Karina vibe. There are buses too but the train is the fastest.

There are several trains and buses everyday going via Aberdeen and via Perth so you will be fine. Just book in advance.

Thanks for the responses, sounds great 👍

we didn’t find a Christmas / NY timetable yet, so weren’t sure if the trains/buses would be too reduced that time of the year…

direct trains all go via perth not aberdeen - that would add another 2 hours to your journey.

The 25th and 26th December are both public holidays in Scotland so there may well be no trains/very limited service. My local train line has no trains in those days.
Not sure about buses

Train is good but there's no service on Christmas Day or Boxing Day (26th) as are public holidays

This is useful, joins up all public transport in one planner : www.travelinescotland.com/

Train and bus have food services between Edinburgh and Inverness, just not on 25/26 December. Check megabus and scottish citylink for the bus. Book early and you should bet a reasonable fare.

That’s super useful, thank you very much!

I just wish the December timetables were already available…

@LadinLee but the 27th should have a regular schedule again?
thanks!

Yes 27th is a normal working day so should be fine

We went with a hire car and had an absolutely fantastic time. we will definitely be back!

thank you so much for your help with planning our trip!

Hope you weren't too impacted by the weather !