The Best Way to Travel Between London and Edinburgh

London and Edinburgh are about 400 miles apart. By US standards, that’s not a lot. There are several ways to travel between the capital of England and the capital of Scotland, but which is best? Here are all your options, and the pros and cons of each.

Travel Between London and Edinburgh By Plane

Flying between London and Edinburgh is usually a good option, and might seem like the fastest at first, but don’t forget the travel time to get to and from the airports. The flight between the cities takes a little over an hour, but it could take several hours to get from central London to central Edinburgh.

There are four main airports in London – Gatwick, Heathrow, Stansted, and Luton. Heathrow is the only airport connected to London by the tube. Luton is perhaps the hardest to get to, taking up to two hours from central London to departures, depending on traffic.

As to price, flights can seem to be the cheapest option at as little as £10 ($13.00) each way. We just have to take into account the other expenses. The cheapest option to get to each of the London airports is between £3.50 and £10 ($5-$13). In Edinburgh, both the bus and the tram cost £4.50 ($6) between the airport and the city center. Oh, and don’t forget the cheap tickets are also only if you are traveling really light.

To recap, the plane is a good option. Relatively fast and cheap, but not always the fastest, and definitely not the cheapest.

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London to Edinburgh by Train

The train can be one of the fastest ways to travel between London and Edinburgh but’s also the most expensive. The average ticket is about £80 ($115) and goes up to £250 ($325).

I’ve also heard there are trains for as little as £15 ($20) with the new Lumo service, but I’ve yet to find any ticket close to that price myself. They must have all sold out as soon as they were put up for sale.

Depending on which train you book and the number of stops it has, it will take anywhere between 4.5 and 7.5 hours. The great thing is the train will take you from King’s Cross Station in the center of London to Waverly Station in the center of Edinburgh. So the train can be relatively fast, without a need for as much transit time on either end, but certainly not cheap.

The best thing about taking the train is the scenery, which almost makes up for the price of the ticket.

Check train prices between London and Edinburgh

Edinburg By Bus

The bus is almost always the cheapest option, but also the slowest. The ride is about 9 hours long. Tickets are as little as £1 ($1.30) each, but usually around £10 ($13.00).

There are three main companies: Megabus, National Express, and most recently Flixbus. I’ve always found Megabus to be nicer than National Express, which is surprising as Megabus also has the cheaper tickets. I’ve yet to ride on Flixbus since they entered the UK, but I’ve had great rides with them around Europe…and some horrible rides too.

The long journey probably puts off a lot of people, but if you’re like me, sleeping on the bus is like sleeping on any other mode of transportation. I love falling asleep in London and waking up in Edinburgh, or vice versa. Again, you travel from city center to city center, departing from London’s Victoria Coach Station and arriving in Edinburgh’s New Town.

Check bus prices on this route here

…By Car

Finally, there’s renting a car. If you’re traveling in a group and don’t mind driving for 7-8 hours (or perhaps longer, depending on traffic), this will be your cheapest option. Just make sure to research all the rules about driving in the center of London, and where to park in both cities. Car rentals have dipped as low as £5 a day at times, but you won’t normally find a rate that low. Check current prices here.

To sum things up, each mode of transportation between London and Edinburgh, Scotland has its pros and cons. If I’m in a hurry, I fly. Otherwise, I prefer the bus, or renting a car with friends as I personally love the idea of an 8-hour road trip.