FROM SOUTHAMPTON TO SCOTLAND
My husband and I are going on a cruise from Cape Town to Southampton in April 2019. We would like to travel to Scotland after the cruise. What would be the best way to get there? We are pensioners. — Shamrita (Sharma) Bhikha
You don’t say where in Scotland you’d like to go, so I have looked up information on getting to the capital, Edinburgh. Southampton to Edinburgh is a driving distance of 682km, which will take you about eight hours in a rental car or about 13.5 hours by bus. Bus fares vary dramatically depending on the time and date you choose to leave. I found, for example, a £16 fare with National Express (nationalexpress.com) on a Saturday in January (April bookings aren’t open yet), but you leave at 4.30am and have to change buses in London at 6.50am. It arrives in Edinburgh at 6.20pm.
More reasonable departures will still involve a change in London and 13-ish hours on the bus, with fares around £48. Or you can shave off an hour and take a direct bus for a shocking £150.
Unless the £16 appeals to you, it would be far wiser to fly. Southampton has an airport from where you can fly to either Glasgow or Edinburgh in about 90 minutes. Only one airline — Flybe — operates this route.
A test booking on their website for a one-way flight to Edinburgh in April 2019 turned up seats from £67 per person (about R1 200).
The catch, however, is that this is the “Just Fly” fare, and allows you to bring only one standard-sized cabin bag on board. If you want to check baggage — which presumably you will since you will have luggage from the cruise — the fare rises to £96 (R1 800). So you’d be looking at about R7 200 for both of you for a return flight.
Then of course, you have the option of travelling by train, although trains in the UK open for booking around two to three months in advance so you won’t be able to book for your trip yet.
As there are no direct trains between Southampton and Edinburgh, you will also have to change trains at least once, possibly in London, and some journeys require two changes — bear that in mind if you have lots of luggage. Direct services from London to Edinburgh are operated by the LNER, or London North Eastern Railway (lner.co.uk), the government-owned train operator, with multiple departures daily. They take around four hours.
If you do opt for the train, note that it is always cheaper to buy your tickets well in advance rather than just before departure. Also note that it is much cheaper to travel by train after 10.30am — rush-hour tickets can be eyewateringly expensive.
A search of rail booking website
loco2.com turned up various options from Southampton. The lowest fare I could find was £51 per person one way for a seven-hour trip, with a change of trains in London, departing Southampton at 11.30am and arriving at Edinburgh Waverley station — in the city centre — at 6.22pm.
The best place to check train times and fares for any train journey in Britain is nationalrail.co.uk.
Until you reach the Northumberland coast, there is little dramatic scenery on the trip north but some of the railside attractions you will see include Durham Cathedral, the beautiful Angel of the North sculpture near Newcastle, and Lindisfarne Castle.
The fastest services to the Scottish capital make just four intermediate stops — normally at York, Darlington, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Berwickupon-Tweed. Some slower services may make as many as 11 stops.
Another nice option is the Caledonian sleeper train, which leaves London Euston at 10.50pm daily except Saturdays and arrives in Edinburgh at 6.20am. Current fares are from £70pp (fixed advance) to £95 (flexible). For more information see the Caledonian Sleeper page on seat61.com — click on the “Scotland by sleeper” link on the upper left-hand side of the home page.