Daveholman

I know all the caveats about late planes etc, but what is a realistic time to get from the plane to the train station landing at 11 a.m. on a Saturday, with only hand luggage, and a US passport?

Also if I buy a single ticket from Gatwick to Glasgow, is the underground from Victoria to Euston station included?

I'm trying to get to Glasgow for dinner 😄

Scots_Al

Daveholman

It may come to that. Flying North then coming back by train... But I really prefer trains to airplanes, if I can make the timing work.

UKtravelbear

Without luggage these days (now you can use the e-passport gates) I'd allow 1/2 an hour between disembarking and getting to the train station and collecting your tickets. There can be some long walks at LGW!

Yes if bought as one ticket the tube between Victoria and Euston would be included.

However I would also price up the trip as GTW-VIC then EUS-EDB as two separate trips as it can be a good saving on the single ticket fare

Daveholman

Excellent. So,1 hour 6 minutes is very doable, again provided there are no delays. Someone on another forum suggested buying 2 advance fares... The noon departure and the 1pm. I am waiting for the advance fares, which should be out in the next week or so, it looks like that would still be about half the price of a more flexible off peak. And even the 1 p.m. departure would get me there in time for the main course. 😄

As far as your other suggestion - I will check out separate tickets. I'm willing to turn backflips to save a little money. It's why I'm flying to London instead of Glasgow to start with.

:D!

The flexible price is £146 from Euston.

In the UK it is currently 6am Saturday (i.e. the same day of the week as you are arriving). Advance tickets are available for departure at various times today at £70 and there is one train selling at £83 in 1st class. The earliest would get you there by 6pm or so.

I appreciate you might be on a plane at 6am on your day of arrival, but unless there is a big event going on it is likely that there will be some good priced tickets left even when you land. Of course you may not wish to risk it, but if you were travelling today you would have spent more buying two tickets earlier unless they were less than £35 each.

For Gatwick to Glasgow tickets there are fewer options available, as just because an advance is available for Euston-Glasgow doesn't mean it will also be available for Gatwick-Glasgow on the same long-distance train. The £70 fare bucket ticket becomes £93.50 starting at Gatwick, whereas you could use a contactless bank card and get there for £8.30 (or buy an Oyster for £5 refundable the next time you go to London - not refundable immediately when you get to Euston in your case).

Rather than going to Victoria I would take Thameslink to St Pancras and walk to Euston. You could also shave £2 off the oyster fare by exiting and reentering at East Croydon. Doing these requires some sense of the timing involved and knowing the walking route, so it may be easier to take the tube.

Daveholman

Awesome...I had just figured this out... And decided that since getting from Gatwick to Euston I have several options, I might just buy when I get there, but get an advance ticket Euston to Glasgow leaving at 1:30ish.
so, if everything goes smooth getting out of the airport, I'll have an hour to walk around London, and even if I encountered delays, I could probably still make it.

rcspeirs

Up In The Air

2.5 hours between touchdown and your train from Euston should be doable in normal circumstances; but I'd proceed with caution.

At which terminal are you arriving? If it's 'North' you may have a very long walk from the aircraft to immigration; and you will have to take the shuttle train to the 'South' terminal. The shuttle journey time is just a minute or two, but of course there's waiting time, escalators/elevators, following the signs etc.

If you purchase a through fare from Gatwick to Glasgow you'll need to collect your physical ticket from Gatwick station. This could add some time to the journey. Alternatively, if you purchase separate tickets from Gatwick to Victoria/St Pancras International and then Euston to Glasgow you'll be able to put your tickets on your smartphone in advance (and use a contactless card / ApplePay on the Underground from Victoria to Euston if you go that way ). Trainline https://www.thetrainline.com is a decent booking site.

The Thameslink service to Bedford via St Pancras International, and then walking to Euston is by far the easiest route, but slow. The walking time is more than the suggested 10 minutes, even if you go 'as the crow flies' through the housing estate.

If you go to Euston via Victoria: The Southern Rail service from Gatwick is considerably cheaper than the Gatwick Express and only 5/10 minutes slower. However, the Gatwick Express trains are much nicer. Note that there is now a 'one way' pedestrian system in place at Victoria Underground station, adding 3/4 minutes on to the time needed to get to the northbound Victoria Line platform (to Euston).

If you don't have an 'off peak' ticket and miss your 'advance' ticket train from Euston to Glasgow, you'll have to pay the full price of a 'walk up' ticket. If the worst happens and you need to do this, check Tickety Split https://www.ticketysplit.co.uk, which offers the best 'split' fares for tickets booked on the day of travel.

If your flight gets in on time and there's no panic on your part, and there's a convenient, not much more than an hour service from Gatwick to St Pancras International, I'd choose this option. There are two wonderful places to visit between St Pancras International and Euston: The Francis Crick Institute (biomedical research), open to the public on Saturdays https://www.crick.ac.uk, and the British Library https://www.bl.uk. Both are located in the complex across the road from St Pancras International on the way to Euston.

Another factor to consider is that from time to time the seat reservation system on Virgin Rail goes down, so it's probably worth being at Euston at least 15 minutes before your train is due to depart, so you can 'crick' your neck (along with hundreds of other travellers) looking up at the departures board at Euston for your platform number, and avoid being last to board the train (and avoid the risk losing your seat).

Good luck. (If it were me I'd take the 13:55 BA flight up to Glasgow: Cheaper, quicker and much less hassle.)

Daveholman

Thank you all! You've given me plenty of options to consider. Hopefully I can squeeze in the British Library. I've never been there.

As far as flying up...I'd rather be late than miss an opportunity to train across the countryside. I am from the California desert (not far from Death Valley). Some of my best days have been spent driving and narrowboating in England and Wales. All that greenery and water everywhere! I'm sure some of you, who live there, take it for granted. But for a desert rat like me, it's exotic and fascinating.

I have promised myself if I got the chance I'd do a cross-country train trip. This is that chance.

Again ..thank you all for your help

​​​​​​

UKtravelbear

Don't forget that you can also get the train to Glasgow from King's Cross so that gives you some extra trains into the mix (and a different route which is arguably more scenic than the west coast route)

Search options using www.nationalrail.co.uk using London All Stations and Glasgow All stations in the search boxes (King's Cross is also next door to St Pancras so direct train from Gatwick and less than 5 mins walk to King's cross.)

Also no need to use the train line to book - they charge booking fees whereas the train operating companies don't

Daveholman

The only problem with the eastern route is it takes an hour longer...though if the price is right I might do it anyway.
i am seeing that separate tickets gatwick-london and london-glasgow opens up a lot more options than gatwick-glasgow, which I guess shows the fastest route only.

:D!

For a Virgin Trains (West Coast) trip you should always book on the Virgin Trains website as you can choose your seat properly.

dddc

Just as a data point, I landed at the South Terminal at 5.40am on a Monday morning. Off the plane 5.50 (A350) through immigration (e-gates), waited for and collected bags, out to the station and onto a train at 6.25am. The train was pulling in as we were going down the escalator and we had out tickets already.

Can you get e-tickets for the GTW to whatever central London destination? Or will just using a credit/debit card with contactless payment work? What about Googlepay?

UKtravelbear

d'uh yes! I'd forgotten the Gatwick to London route is now on oyster / contactless

Fare is £15.10 peak and £8.30 off peak (peak is Monday to Friday 06.30 - 09.30) (same fare to Victoria and St Pancras)

Avoid the Gatwick Express as that is £19.80