Planes Trains And Automobiles -5 Cheap Ways Of Getting To Edinburgh

(Category: Europe Guide)

Edinburgh has an almost otherworldly draw to it. Whether you have lived there and moved away, or even if you have never been it has something special about it that makes it somewhere where you want to be, you want to live and you want to call home.

Understandably then people often want to get to Edinburgh with increasing regularity and in the best possible way without necessarily spending a ton of cash getting there. There are indeed many ways to get there by spending big, but here is some information on how to get there without spending more than you have to. (For the sake of simplicity, London has been selected as a common starting point.)

Fly

There are about two-dozen flights a day from London to Edinburgh and back and about the same number coming back again. You can fly from Gatwick, Heathrow, Luton or Stanstead, all of which offering different airlines and a range of prices.

EasyJet is probably the cheapest and runs the most regularly form Gatwick and Luton for around £50 one-way a couple of times a day.

Train

You can get to Edinburgh without any changes on both the East and West Coast lines, though at the moment the East Coast tends to be a lot cheaper. It is of course cheaper the earlier you book but normally settles at around £60 one way from Kings Cross to Edinburgh Waverly (central). The journey takes about 4.5 hours and is probably a more relaxing way to travel compared with flying.

Bus

If you really need to save some money and don’t mind a long journey but still don’t want to have to change anywhere, the bus is probably what you’re looking for. Megabus runs a service about 5 times a day from London to Edinburgh that costs about £17 when you book in advance. It does take about 9.5 hours though which if you can’t fall asleep is a long time sitting down.

Car Share

An increasingly popular way of travelling in the UK is to go on a classifieds site like Gumtree and find someone who is going that way and is willing to let you ride in the car with them for a small fee. It is good because they get some company and you save a ton of cash.