Advice on how to travel from Kent to Scottish Highlands Cheaply throughout the year

elise_clay

Hi Guys

I am just trying to research the cheapest way to travel up to the Highlands.

We are not regular train travellers so not too sure how to go about get reasonably priced tickets but may need to be travelling several times this year.

Any advice would be great

Thank you

Lithian

The highlands are a big place, what station are you trying to get to?

vikingaero

Get one of the various railcards if you qualify for them. Then book as far in advance as possible.

WobblyDog

You can get "bargain berth" tickets on the Highland Sleeper trains at
http://www.travelpass.buytickets.scotrail.co.uk/BargainBerths/Default.aspx

Availability seems to be limited, but I'd recommend doing it at least once just for the experience. It's best done in summer, so you can see the mountains when you wake up. On the other hand, cheap tickets are likely to be easier to get during the winter.

squack

maybe worth looking into taking the train to london or some other airport then a flight to inverness or wick

scotsbob

squack wrote: »

maybe worth looking into taking the train to london or some other airport then a flight to inverness or wick

A flight to Wick!!!! LOL!

wealdroam

Is Manston Airport still open?

Kent too is quite large.

duchy

Might be cheaper to fly as Easyjet do Gatwick Inverness for £49 return

smitchy73

I think Megabus do a service to Inverness, then you've got First Scotrail who serve from Inverness up to Wick/Thurso, but if you wanted to go to say Fort William you'd have to go via Glasgow.
Flights in advance could be cheaper but I think most of these smaller airports are a bit more expensive, although not sure as I've never needed to look at flights from Glasgow to Inverness.
Getting a railcard should help to cut the price's of the train by a lot, and if you have to travel on from a mainline station to another town, Scottish Citylink usually have some decent offers, obviously when booking trains or buses, book them as far in advance as possible and travel in off peak hours/days.

StrangelyBrown

elise_clay wrote: »

We are not regular train travellers so not too sure how to go about get reasonably priced tickets

As there are 2+ of you, I expect driving would actually be cheapest per head, especially if your car can get a good MPG during motorway driving.

Flying is all well and good, but then you need to add in the cost of getting to/from the airport, which can often match the cost of a 'budget' flight.

Similarly for the train - will you need to pay for taxis to/from the station?

Again, depending on which part of Kent and the Highlands you're travelling to, you might see having a car with you as added value once you're there. A cheap trip up would soon be offset by a few taxis/buses during your stay.