Transport from Edinburgh to London and back

Ok I am trying to get to London from Edinburgh cheaply on the 14th of september and returning on the 16th and I for the love of me cannot figure out how to get a cheap ticket. I am trying GNER at the moment and they are quoting ninety something pounds. Am I doing something wrong? I went to GNER because a friend said I could do it for 47 pounds on those dates last night. Am I missing something that would make my trip cheaper.

I don't see any options for students under 26 for example. Anyway help would be appreciated.

www.thetrainline.com

Also look at the flights. It's a popular route so you might get lucky.

Generally it's cheaper to fly than get the train these days...especially if you leave it last minute

Add onto any price around 5 pounds for the bus to the airport. The airport in edinburgh is about a half hour, perhaps three quarter hour, bus ride out of town. Obviously there is cost the other end though. This might be the clincher for you though as Stansted to London is around 20 pounds return and not sure of Heathrows to Londons prices these days.

well I am trying to book a month in advance. and I was quoted 47 pounds yesterday, by someone that checked at GNER. I am trying to book b/w Waverly and London this is the right thing to do yes? Is there any student discounts.

Looks like I might end up flying or walking.

www.carshare.com or National Express from £16 return.

you dont get student discounts on trains in uk - you could buy a young persons railcard that gets you discounts but prob not worth it for one trip. i never took train from edi to london as flights, especially with easyjet or globespan (i think) usually cheaper

just on trainline - have you tried two singles rather than return? looks cheaper
ie leave edi at 1010 for 28.50GBP
return leave london at 1800 for 34.50

will try to find the link for you, paid 47pounds for london edinburgh return in march.

Trainline is the site to go for.
You need to play around with the dates and times of the trains you want.
If you are doing a return trip, two singles MAY work out cheaper than a reutrn ticket.

GBP 47 Edinburgh-London return would be very good on the train and GBP 47 one way fairly OK, for UK standards.

Do remember if you fly to add on the extra times and COSTS for airport transfers as mentioned above.

Further discounts on SOME tickets availalable for holders on UK issue Young Persons Railcard if you are under 26.
Don't bother with that I'd say, just look out for heavily discounted tickets.

does anybody kno if the fast ticket collection would not have to be done until day of travel? Because I can't seem to get the tickets mailed outside of great britain.

What the hell is wrong with your rail system! I need to put in an address and it is providing me with errors on the postal code! both for valid german and scottish address'!

That is one MAJOR pain in the arse with this system. I end up getting them mailed to my mother and then getting them forwarded. You also just about to find out they charge you more to mail the tickets out in advance...

I am doing the pick up the tickets in the train station and i am trrying to give them my aunts or grans address and they just don't seem to want to accept the postal code. which I shouldn't have to give in anyway.

and that you prob have to pay to reserve a seat - yes a ticket doesnt guarantee you a seat or so I was told at christmas time!

this whole british rail thing is horrible. I think I may be 'spoiled' by the german system

Not too sure. No human being can book a ticket at the best price , book a seat and get the tickets to the right place on either booking system. The British trains are a lot dirtier and far less punctual though...

The whole valid UK address thing is a nightmare!

I use a valid UK address but pick them up if I can at a Fast Ticket machine that are located at MAJOR stations, Edingburgh Waverley is probably one of the but CHECK.
or get them sent via a UK address.

NB: On NO railway system of the world I have travelled on does a valid ticket in itself guarantee you a seat.
Some of the cheapest tickets do include a seat reservation.

If it's 14-16/9 and thus over a weekend, a seat reservation might be worthwhile or get to the station EARLY.

47 squids return from Edinburgh to London isn't bad at all tbh.

The best I ever did London to Edinburgh was GBP99, and that was booked months in advance. Definitely book a seat, those trains are FULL at the weekends, I've seen people stand in the aisle most of the way to Edinburgh.

you can do the ticket pick up on the day of travel (if there is a machine at the station)

I think I wrote somewhere on TT how to get a foreign address entered. Something like first enter a valid UK postcode then later on edit the address

UK rail travel has been discussed before, with many of the same issues being raised:

• British Railways
• Getting from Birmingham to London
• British trains much worse than German trains

Off topic: just a couple of years ago Amtrak went to all-reserved trains on the Northeast Corridor (Washington-Philly-New York-Boston). Hence tickets are sold for specific trains and in theory they only sell as many tickets as the train has seats. Of course, people do occasionally board the wrong train 'by accident' and the train consists are not always consistent, but for the most part it works. Of course, this would only mean that everyone has a seat, but says nothing about which seat you might have. What's even more frustrating is that as far as I know, it's not possible to reserve specific seats, meaning even if you book far in advance it's still a cattle rush to try to get everyone in your group sitting together.

We eventually managed to book a return for £61, which is fair enough considering it's a weekend job, i.e. when the trains are busiest. The train seems to be generally cheaper than the plane (singles start from £14 - about the same as the Stansted Express from Stansted Airport to central London), and it only takes five hours from city centre to city centre. Obviously to get those cheapest tickets you need to be travelling at quiet times and/or book far in advance.

I flew from London to Edinburgh return for cheaper than I could do it on the train. Check out Cheapflights.co.uk or recently the cheapest flights and hotels I've found have been on Expedia

Sometimes its cheaper to fly sure but you MUST add on the transit times and costs and stress.
£61 Edinburgh-London return would see me on the train hands down.

You could also factor in the social and environmental costs of flying.

STB, I left that for a greeny left tree hugger like yourself to say!

um yeah I actually looked into flying but you really have to be flexible to and book well in advance to get cheap tickets. Cheapest thing I could find was 74 gbp and that was before you factor in all the costs of getting around. So although the environment is my main concern when traveling it was really cheaper to take the train and to be honest it's not that much quicker to fly. Once you factor in the getting to the airport checking in at least an hour ahead of time, plus the hour and a half flight, getting off the plane and reclaiming baggage. Then you have to find your way into town which always takes longer than you think it will.

Ah well I've got the tickets sorted and am looking forward to a nice relaxing holiday.

The 225 trains operating on that route are excellent trains.
As the old British Rail slogan went, "have a good trip!"