How to Plan a Trip to Scotland from London?

Scotland Travel Advice for Independent Travellers
So far in our Scotland blog, we’ve mostly shared lots of traditional Scottish celebrations and unforgettable Scottish experiences from our multi-award winning 3- to 7-day tours of Scottish Highlands. Now we’re excited to announce that we are starting a new blog series where we share our best tips on how you can make most of your trip to Scotland. We want to offer the best expert Scotland travel advice for young independent travellers and backpackers, whether it comes to getting to Scotland the best way possible, exploring Scotland without a car, or seeing Scotland in a week. 

Our first Scotland travel advice is about visiting Scotland from London. If you live in London and want to experience most of the Scottish Highlands, this is a must-read. 

How to Plan a Trip to Scotland from London?

Whether you’ve lived in London all your life, just moved there or are visiting, a trip to Scotland is a must-do! Scotland is ever-so-popular destination amongst both domestic and overseas visitors. Last year, over 15.5 million overnight tourism trips were undertaken in Scotland! 

The UK and particularly Scotland might look tiny on the map. After all, Australia is about 32 times bigger than the United Kingdom and the USA about 40 times bigger. But sometimes visitors are surprised how long it can take to travel across our beautiful country. Just driving from London to Edinburgh takes at least 7.5 hours, and that is with little traffic and without traffic disruptions. So if you don’t have a car or don’t want to rent one, what are the best ways to visit Scotland from London? 
How to get to Edinburgh from London on a budget?
We recommend travelling directly from London to Scotland’s stunning capital, Edinburgh, and then spend more time exploring Bonnie Scotland once you’re here. Here are our recommendations on how to get from London to Edinburgh:

Bus It:
Taking the bus is usually the most affordable way for the trip between the two capitals. National Express offers some bargain rates on coach travel between London and Edinburgh. The journey can take between 9 and 10 hours, but if you like night buses, this might be the way to travel for you. 

Train - Choo Choo:
Edinburgh has two primary train stations within the City Centre: Waverley (Main) and Haymarket serving over 20 million passengers every year. Waverley train station offers links across the United Kingdom with connecting journeys across Europe via the Eurotunnel. For the latest information, you can visit the Network Rail’s website. 

Fly In:
Edinburgh Airport is Scotland’s busiest airport. In 2018, 38 airlines served 157 destinations and 14.3 million passengers travelled through the airport. It is located on the outskirts of Edinburgh with plenty of local transport links for Edinburgh City Centre and the rest of Scotland. 

For more information, including departure and arrival information, visit the Airport's website. 

 What is the best way to travel around Scotland?
Once you’re in Edinburgh, you have endless opportunities to explore Scotland. We’ll tell you more about the best ways to travel around Scotland in our next blog post, but in the meanwhile, you can find some inspiration here. These tours of Scotland are the perfect way to see Scotland for any young and independent travellers, backpackers and students.

If you have any topics you would like our Scotland travel experts to write about on this blog, contact us!