hoser88

At the end of May, flying from AUS to LHR (747). First time to the UK. Arrive at 10:00am at LHR. How long should I allow to get from LHR to KGX (either Piccadilly Line or Heathrow Express plus transfer) so I know what advanced ticket time I should buy on Virgin Train? (I like planning ahead and saving money). Is four hours plenty? Don’t mind waiting at the train station but just want to make sure I have enough time.

Swiss Tony

Is there any way you can amend the air ticket to be AUS-LHR-EDI?

4hrs would be about right, but the risk is your flight is an hour late, immigration is backed up and the tube is rubbish, meaning you end up cutting it fine, or otherwise you land 90 minutes early, breeze through immigration have a seamless tube ride in - then spend 4hrs with your bags at Kings Cross station.

One other option might be to buy an Economy Plus fare on BA LHR-EDI. Cheapest I can see for a random date in May is £83. This offers a free same day change if seats are available - Same day flight change BA.

So book the last flight then just find a ticketing agent at Heathrow & bag a seat on the next flight.

UKtravelbear

Don't bother with the HEX and a transfer just stick with the tube direct to Kings X.

4 hours will be fine. They are also pretty good with dealing with people who get caught in tube delays. There are also lots of places to grab a seat a and a snack there as well.

Arctic Troll

Four hours would be plenty, but you wouldn't really want to leave much less. It'd take you a good hour from Heathrow to Kings Cross and you'd want to be there a bit early if you're carrying heavy bags. It wouldn't take much of a delay on the flight and/or at immigration to see most of that four hours disappear. And you cannot amend an advance ticket after the time of departure, you'd have to stump up for a whole new ticket.

If you stump up for first class tickets you can usually get into the First Class Lounge at Kings Cross about two hours before your train departs. It's not amazing but it is somewhere comfortable to sit and wait with a coffee. The Parcel Yard pub in Kings Cross serves a similar function if you're in standard class.

But unless you have an overwhelming urge to see Britain by rail, I'd really suggest you look at flying Heathrow-Edinburgh. See if you can amend your ticket or just buy a seat on a BA flight. It's just over an hour on the plane to Edinburgh. The train is 4h30. In first class it is relatively comfortable, but it's a bit grim in standard class, especially if you've already spent eight hours cooped up on a 747.

WorldLux

On the Piccadilly line, I'd stay in the last carriage. Avoids lengthy walks at King's Cross underground station.

hoser88

Thanks for the info. Will remember that when I get on.

hoser88

I am in no hurry to get to Edinburgh. Will be nice to sit on a train for that long. At least I am not driving. 4 1/2 hours is nothing to me. Living in South Texas (San Antonio), it takes longer than that just to get out of the state!!

Swiss Tony

Yes, but the problem isn't just the length of the train ride. You're sacrificing a whole day of your vacation and could be spending 3hrs sitting at Kings Cross waiting for your train - yet still run the risk that you miss the pre-booked train if there's say a 1hr delay en route and a backlog at immigration. In the first two months of the year, BA190 had an 'excessive' delay five times according to flight stats, which I believe is >1hr.

Flying up would give you the afternoon in Edinburgh. Going up the next morning would give you a day in London. Have you looked at BritRail passes - I believe they give you the ability to get on any train, so de-risking the connection and also saving you time (& sanity).

stc

The train is so much more scenic than flying. And even when connecting at LHR you are still going to need to go through most of the hassle of Immigration.

Arctic Troll

It's a scenic ride from Durham to Edinburgh, so try and get a seat on the right hand side of the train (facing forwards). Enjoy.

Are you travelling anywhere else by rail after Edinburgh? If you are, I'd say the BritRail pass might fit your needs a bit better. No stress in getting to Kings Cross, get on the first train to Edinburgh. They're hourly for most of the day, with them running half-hourly at certain times of day.

DYKWIA

If you arrive early at Kings Cross, there are plenty of places to get some breakfast or just sit around. The Booking Office at the Renaissance Hotel is good. Just across the road from Kings Cross.

stut

Actually, the area round King's Cross is lovely now. You'd barely know it from a few years ago. If you've left a few hours spare and can't convince the conductor to let you on an earlier, quiet train, then put your bags in the left luggage place (under the pub, next to all the Harry Potter nonsense) and head over to St Pancras, or up to the canal for a walk along. There's some lovely stuff up here, some urban gardens, a park in the old gasworks, the towpath itself, a great Indian café/restaurant in the old goods station buildings, some canalside pubs... Plus, there's M&S and Waitrose, among others, to get yourself something to eat on the train (you do get food in 1st class on VTEC, but its availability can be sporadic, sadly).

To set your expectations for the scenic nature of the journey... Most of it is flat. With good reason - if you're going to build a fast railway 100-odd years ago, you choose flat land where you can. But it's not without its charms. Going through big cities by train is always fun, you go past the Emirates Stadium and Alexandra Palace, through the outer suburbs, then burst out of the Hadley Wood tunnels into the home counties. Past the old Shredded Wheat factory at Welwyn Garden City, then over the impressive Digswell Viaduct. Wave hello as pass through Biggleswade and the rolling hills turn to flat land, often reclaimed. You'll pass the diminutive cathedral at Peterborough (you may or may not stop) and then it's the gentle farmland of Lincs and Notts before you hit Doncaster (watch for the trainspotters at the end of each platform) and the handsome old station at York, with great views of the Minster and city walls. Still gentle countryside to Durham, where the cathedral and castle stand proud, high above the river Wear. You can see you're into the old industrial heartlands now with the remnants of coal mining and heavy industry dotted around, and small brick terraces everywhere. Over the viaduct at Chester-le-Street and you'll find yourself swept over the Tyne, with its impressive array of bridges, into another handsome station at Newcastle. As you leave, you can practically reach out and touch the castle, and you head off into Northumberland. It gets a bit more rural and wild now. You can see the causeway-connected island of Lindisfarne as you pass, and catch glimpses of ruined castles along the coast. A sweeping old bridge takes you into Berwick, then the scenery really begins as you head into Scotland and hug the coast. This is the last leg before you arrive into Edinburgh Waverley, a slightly baffling station which drops you right at the foot of the castle.

It's a nice enough journey, but for scenic trips, I'd pick many others in the country. For the experience of a relaxing, long train journey, though - it's a decent bet. Do try and get a first class ticket if you can.

Pa Kettle

My first time at this, so forgive me if this seems like an ignorant question.

We have a similar itinerary planned for later this year. 10 AM arrival at LHR > Kings Cross (staying overnight at The Great Northern Hotel) then on to EDI, INV, FTW, OBN and GLA with anywhere from 2 - 4 nights at each location. Since we live in the US, the Britrail Flexipass with 8 travel days seems like the way to go at about $1,300 for two people. But, I am having a hard time wrapping my head around how it works. I mean, they say ride as many trains as you want on the travel days you pre-select, but are there really no other costs involved? I ask because it also says that there are no first class trains in some areas, but the price reflects this. The price seems fairly set to me if you pay them $1,300 up front for a month's worth of travel, so how is that consideration tendered unless you are also paying for seat reservations and some seats cost less than others because they aren't first class?

I'm sure the answer is a fairly simple one, but I just can't come up with it on my own.

rcspeirs

The pass covers any train except a sleeper service.
You are paying for flexibility with that pass, the ability to travel on any train on your eight travel dates. If you have fixed your itinerary (and you probably will because you'll have hotel reservations), you can travel for less than the pass by using "advance" rail tickets. The name "advance" is a particular ticket type, cheap fare but no flexibility, and yes - you do have to buy it in advance.

:D!

I don't understand what you are asking. The price is the price. If you want to reserve seats, you need to pay extra (not the case if you book a regular ticket as a UK resident would).

If there are no first class trains on your route, you travel in standard class. Just like when you fly on a First class ticket, if a short-haul connecting flight has no first class, you travel in the highest class offered, which might be economy.

What do you mean "how is that consideration tendered"? You pay your thousand+ dollars to the vendor, then they probably pass it on to the Rail Delivery Group or whatever, which then splits the money between all the British train companies based on a complicated formula that takes into account the proportion of services each train operator runs that you could potentially have used.

These passes appear to be valid on sleeper trains, since the websites contain FAQs informing you how to reserve sleeper berths (for additional fees).