Help w/Trains-London-Edinburgh-Southampton

[Chesie]

Just starting to look at the possibility of hopping a train from London to Edinburgh, stay a bit, they onto Southampton to pick up a cruise.

 

I have been on a couple sites but confused as to the different London stations and how far they are from Heathrow to get to.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[sddsddean]

For your purposes, the stations you need are Paddington (at the end of the Heathrow Express/Heathrow Connect), Kings Cross (London - Edin) and Waterloo or Victoria (to get to Southampton). However, as you are flying in have you considered flying up to Scotland, then flying back down to Southampton. It is much quicker (the train journey is 4 1/2 hrs), probably not that much more expensive (especially if you go with a low cost airline) and you are already at an airport. Southampton airport is about 20 mins from the cruise terminals. Just a thought, though be aware of luggage restrictions on internal flights.

 

Simon

[John Bull]

Hmmm, I'm thinking along the same lines as Simon.

BMI fly Heathrow - Edinburgh.

http://www.flybmi.com/

FlyBe fly Edinburgh - Southampton.

http://www.flybe.com/

No transfer required at Heathrow

And at Southampton it's a 20 min / approx £20 cab ride to any cruise terminal (you can pre-book a little cheaper, or take a train from So'ton airport to So'ton central station then a £5-£7 cab ride, but the savings are minimal).

 

These are budget airlines - for pricing don't just check the headline price, but run thro' a dummy booking on their websites up to the point where they ask for your name, cc number etc, & watch the prices climb as they factor in taxes, luggage etc. And enter your exact dates of travel, prices are fluid so heavily-booked dates the price will be high, under-booked dates the prices currently on offer will be low but may not stay that way.

Bear in mind too, their cancellation/alteration terms, which are usually quite onerous.

These services are very competetive against the train for those without checked luggage - but checked luggage tends to impact heavily.

 

.............................................................................................

 

If you go by train, from Heathrow you'll need to get to central London's Kings Cross station for Edinburgh trains. Simon's mentioned the Heathrow Express but this journey isn't too difficult by tube, even with luggage, since at Heathrow you board at its terminus & you stay on the same tube train to Kings X station. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/standard-tube-map.pdf

There are cross-country alternatives, but these involve a bus from Heathrow to Reading or Oxford for Edinburgh trains & total journey times are significantly longer

 

From Edinburgh to Southampton, you have the choice of :

Returning to Kings X, then crossing central London (tube or taxi) to Waterloo station for the Southampton train. (I'd be inclined to ignore Simon's London Victoria option, suitable only for those staying in the Victoria area since Victoria to Southampton involves either an awkward change at Clapham Junction to join trains that started at Waterloo, or a long, slow & circuitous route along the south coast to Southampton)

Or a cross-country route with just one change of train at Wolverhampton. This would be a good deal simpler, total journey time is vaguely similar.

From Southampton Central rail station its a £5 to £7 taxi hop to any cruise terminal.

Here's a link to all train options. This website prices the options, but may not give you best prices. The ticketting on UK trains is over-complicated, but the train service is way way way better than in the US.

http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/planjourney/search

 

I suggest you get yourself a coffee and a large bottle of headache pills before you delve into these websites :D

 

Good huntin'

 

John Bull

[Chesie]

WOW! thank you both. I guess I have my work cut out for me.

 

Bring on the coffee and headache pills!!

 

Always appreciate advise from the expert

 

Thanks again!

[John Bull]

A further flight option, to consider only if luggage costs or the Flybe fare or timings foul things up:

 

Leave your checked luggage at Heathrow http://www.left-baggage.co.uk/locations.php

Fly Heathrow/Edinburgh then back to Heathrow.

Collect your luggage when you return to Heathrow & continue to Southampton

- by coach http://www.nationalexpress.com/coach/index.cfm

- or by RailAir bus then train (all on one train ticket).

Coach or bus/train from Heathrow to Southampton both take about 90 mins total, you need to book ahead for the coach

This means having your Edinburgh needs in your carry-on cases.

 

Or mebbe Edinburgh one way by air & the other by train.

 

Best order more pills :D

JB

[Chesie]

Just when my eyes were starting to blink again you come up with yet another fantastic option!!

 

I think I'm going to need something stronger than coffee!!

 

Will check into the hold baggage. What a terrific idea!

 

Thanks again!