Originally Posted by
NeedMoreCowbell
Advice gratefully accepted - my thinking is, a 4.5hr train ride from Kings Cross to Edinburgh might be a cool experience (they've never been on a train). Is such a route generally a boring affair or would we see some nice countryside? Is a 1st class ticket something to consider, ie would it potentially include a meal (that might make the time expenditure easier to rationalize).
In most other countries in Europe, I'd agree that a train is a cool experience. In the UK, not so much. Prices are eye-watering, the trains themselves are actually narrower than on the continent for some reason, and the seats in second class have the comfort of an ironing board.
These are the sort of seats you get in second class on a London-Edinburgh Azuma train. I've felt comfier on a marshrutka shared taxi in Tajikistan, swear.
There's a Warner Bros studio experience for Harry Potter near London:
https://www.wbstudiotour.co.uk/