Travelling to Edinburgh

Spudnik_2

Hi guys,

10 of us need to be in Edinburgh 9th-16th August but have no idea how to get there. Price is my main priority, so I was wondering whether any of you could suggest the cheapest way of travelling to Edinburgh from Derby/Birmingham? As far as I can tell flying will be cheapest, but some of you are likely to be more informed!

Livingthedream

You could try the group discount deal with Virgin trains and get the direct train from Birmingham New Street to Edinburgh don't know how much it will save you but its worth a phone call to try;

http://www.virgintrains.co.uk/buy_tickets/group_travel/default.aspx

Spudnik_2

Excellent, thank you very much. Have just called and apparently they're having technical difficulties, so I'll try again in the morning.

Rallydriver

Also consider that there are other costs with flying like getting to or from the airports. I've been to Edinburgh airport once and its a long way from the centre and took a long time to get in by bus at rush hour, where the train gets straight in to the centre and the hub of the bus network for the city.
Also, alot of internal flights seem to get cancelled from Glasgow and Edinburgh when there aren't enough passengers so you end up waiting another 3 hours or getting transferred across the country.
You should get a good discount on a train ticket by booking this far in advance.

dzug1

You might need to wait a little longer for cheap train tickets on the return leg

Keep an eye on http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/booking_horizons.html

DrScotsman

I haven't bothered checking your dates are not Fridays/Saturdays/Sundays, but Megatrain do the Birmingham New Street to Edinburgh route on Mondays-Thursdays, so check that out.

ailuro2

have you looked at Megabus?

Have you got your accommodaiton booked?

Edinburgh prices are awful at the best of times, but August is cripplingly expensive.:eek:

torbrex

Train works out about £95/person and BMI Baby flight at about £72/person, cheaper if you can be flexible with your dates.
I could not find bus times or prices.

nesssie1702

August in Edinburgh is Fringe/Festival/Tattoo month and it's an expensive place to stay at the best of times, but the prices go up then, so hope you've got somewhere to stay?

Flybe have regular flights from East Midlands airport to Edinburgh and they're not that expensive if you book early enough.

Getting from Edinburgh Airport to the city centre on the Airport Bus takes about 20 minutes - there are dedicated bus lanes which speed up the journey. There is also a service bus that takes much longer, as it really does go round the houses.

As there are 10 of you, have you thought if one way car hire might be an option? Enterprise Rentacar do a 24 hour hire for £29 for the likes of a Ford Focus although you'd need your fuel on top of that.

Brooker_Dave

Spudnik wrote: »

Hi guys,

10 of us need to be in Edinburgh 9th-16th August but have no idea how to get there. Price is my main priority, so I was wondering whether any of you could suggest the cheapest way of travelling to Edinburgh from Derby/Birmingham? As far as I can tell flying will be cheapest, but some of you are likely to be more informed!

Hire a minibus for the week.

Rallydriver

nesssie1702 wrote: »

August in Edinburgh is Fringe/Festival/Tattoo month and it's an expensive place to stay at the best of times, but the prices go up then, so hope you've got somewhere to stay?

Theres a travelodge at Dreghorn services on the bypass that never seems to be affected by demand during festival time because its so far out of the centre and no buses run to it. But if you're willing to walk 5 minutes from the services you get to a Spar shop where the buses come to. I think its a 3 or 3a and used to be every 20 minutes during the day, running until 11.30 at night.