London Heathrow to Edinburgh, 24 October

[India Four Two]

A friend of mine, who is an inexperienced traveller, is arriving at Heathrow from Canada at 1205 on 24 October. She needs to travel by train to Edinburgh.

Can she buy a through ticket for the whole route?

Is there an advantage to buying online, in advance? If so, which website?

Which of the Heathrow railway lines is the most convenient for getting to King's Cross?

Thanks,
Simon

 

[Merseysider]

Just about to nod off so I'll keep it short.

Advance tickets (valid only on the selected train service) offer a discount when booked in advance.

For example, the 1639 London Euston - Edinburgh 2221 is currently only £35 one way on 24th October.

Faster journeys from Kings X are available at a much higher price with LNER. Lumo are hit and miss - best avoided for someone coming off a long haul flight.

The Heathrow Express is the fastest but also the the most expensive way to Central London (Paddington) and is generally agreed to be a rip off.

They'll want to look at getting an Oyster card / using a contactless card to take the cheaper (quite fast) Elizabeth Line or much cheaper (not fast) Piccadilly Line into London. For Kings Cross / Euston, Tottenham Court Road can be used for interchange onto the Northern line.

Edited to add that BA do have direct flights from LHR to EDI, currently priced at ~£170 with an end to end journey time just under 90 minutes, if your friend would find that preferable.

 

[Dirty_Mac]

Going to KGX its about the same time using Elizabeth Line and Piccadilly Line, and you don't have to transfer on the Piccadilly Line

 

[crablab]

They'll want to look at getting an Oyster card / using a contactless card to take the cheaper (quite fast) Elizabeth Line or much cheaper (not fast) Piccadilly Line into London. For Kings Cross / Euston, Tottenham Court Road can be used for interchange onto the Northern line.

Why not just buy a through itinerary from Heathrow Rail which will include the tube journey, for simplicity?

From the forum's ticketing site: https://beta.trainsplit.com/results...Adults=1&OpenReturn=false&adv:ob:MaxChanges=7

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 26 Sep 2024 ==

Can she buy a through ticket for the whole route?

Yes. See above.

 

[Dirty_Mac]

Why not just buy a through itinerary from Heathrow Rail which will include the tube journey, for simplicity?

I find it to be cheaper to use contactless to King's Cross

 

[India Four Two]

Thanks everyone for your responses, particularly about the merits of the different train options. It's so long ago when I went into London from Heathrow, that the only option was the Piccadilly Line!

I have recommended to my friend that she consider flying up to Edinburgh. Less hassle and stress, interlined baggage and a shorter trip. She will already have been travelling for over 18 hours.

 

[Alfonso]

Unless she's already bought her ticket, one from Canada to Edinburgh is likely to cost little more than one from Canada to london, and include protection in case of missed connection at Heathrow.

 

[Dirty_Mac]

Unless she's already bought her ticket, one from Canada to Edinburgh is likely to cost little more than one from Canada to london, and include protection in case of missed connection at Heathrow.

fwiw when I flew from Canada it was far cheaper to go via London then take the Lumo train up to Edinburgh

 

[richardderby]

Picc to kings cross direct in an hour, and then the 1500 to Edinburgh arrive 1922, £73 advance or £93 flex allowing 70 mins earlier or later boarding at kings cross..trains leave every 30 minutes..

 

[gazthomas]

Not having all the background, but direct flights into Glasgow and Edinburgh from Canada are available

 

[AlterEgo]

Thanks everyone for your responses, particularly about the merits of the different train options. It's so long ago when I went into London from Heathrow, that the only option was the Piccadilly Line!

I have recommended to my friend that she consider flying up to Edinburgh. Less hassle and stress, interlined baggage and a shorter trip. She will already have been travelling for over 18 hours.

Is the 1205 arrival a Westjet flight from Calgary? Has she already booked her ticket? If so, there are implications to your plan and it is important you know these before advising her about interlining or connecting.

 

[DanNCL]

I have recommended to my friend that she consider flying up to Edinburgh. Less hassle and stress, interlined baggage and a shorter trip. She will already have been travelling for over 18 hours.

Just to advise that, unless she’s flying into London with British Airways, she will need to change terminals at Heathrow for the flight to Edinburgh which’ll leave from Terminal 5. Terminal transfers can be done airside at Heathrow by shuttle bus and are fairly simple. If she’s flying with Air Canada she’ll arrive at Terminal 2, if she’s flying with Virgin Atlantic she’ll arrive at Terminal 3, or if she’s flying with West Jet she’ll arrive at Terminal 4.

If arriving at Terminal 4, rail options into Central London are more limited than they are from the other terminals.

 

[MarlowDonkey]

Picc to kings cross direct in an hour, and then the 1500 to Edinburgh arrive 1922, £73 advance or £93 flex allowing 70 mins earlier or later boarding at kings cross..trains leave every 30 minutes..

If coming off a flight aren't Advance or semi flexible tickets best avoided beacuse of the possibility of flight or airport delays?

 

[redreni]

If coming off a flight aren't Advance or semi flexible tickets best avoided beacuse of the possibility of flight or airport delays?

That's a trade-of with cost. £200 for an anytime day single seems excessive.

If she has a contactless payment card that will work here, I'd throw in the option of just going to Kings Cross on that.

If she can get there in good time for the 14.48 then go to the ticket office and ask for a single to Edinburgh on the 14.48, which will be £89 for a Lumo-only Anytime day single (* though I've never done this and heard scare stories about having next to no chance of a seat if doing that). Failing that, go to Euston and pay £125 for a Route Avanti Anytime day single.

If wanting to book something in advance I'd suggest a connecting flight, but only if it can be booked as such and includes protection in the event of a missed connection.

An overnight stop in London may make the journey less gruelling and the cost could be partly or wholly offset if a cheapish Advance fare is booked for the following day.