Bristol to Edinburgh (return): suggestions on possible splitting of tickets

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Completing the picture, £44.60 each way with National Express - journey time about 11 hours each way, daily through service.   Add 1 pound booking fee.   Add £1 "booking fee" ...

[Brucey]

That compares to 1h 10m by plane, so with check-in and getting to and from Bristol Airport and Edinburgh Airport (9 miles from Edinburgh) perhaps 4 hours?

Having done a similar journey (Stansted to Edinburgh) several times this year (once by train, three times by plane), I can confirm 4 hours is about right for the total travel time when flying, assuming about 45 minutes travelling time to the airport at the England end and a taxi to the city centre at the Scotland end.  This also assumes you are not checking in any luggage and capable of getting through security without flustering around too much (i.e. read up what's not allowed before travelling so your luggage doesn't need to be searched by hand).  Domestic arrivals at Edinburgh are dumped into the departure lounge, from where you can exit to the taxi ranks very quickly.

On the train journey, it took about 8 hours (total travel time, including connections either end) due to a delay.  Nevertheless, flying offered the option of making a day return (therefore saving on hotel costs), that wouldn't have been possible by train, even without the delay.

[John R]

A material factor for me would be the prospect of much, if not all, of the train journey being on a Voyager most likely (unless one was lucky or foresighted enough to travel on one of the HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) services).  That would make the journey more of an ordeal, rather than the pleasure that I normally get on long distance rail journey.

From Edinburgh Airport into the city there is also the choice of the express bus (every 10 mins - takes 25 mins), or the tram (every 10 mins, takes around 30 mins).  I'd probably go for the tram purely for novelty value, even though it is slightly slower and more expensive.

[Timmer]

A material factor for me would be the prospect of much, if not all, of the train journey being on a Voyager most likely (unless one was lucky or foresighted enough to travel on one of the HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) services).  That would make the journey more of an ordeal, rather than the pleasure that I normally get on long distance rail journey.

The very reason that every time I go to Scotland it's always via London using either Virgin West/East coast.

[Western Pathfinder]

Thanks everyone for your help and advice its most appreciated
I'm going to have to drive up north as it turns out
Went base over apex last night on wet leaves and now have a sprained ankle on my left side twice the size it should be ! But the car is an automatic so I will be able to cope with the drive cheers WP.