Hi everyone!

I’m creeping up on the departure for our trip to Edinburgh (June 12!]. Every detail has been arranged except for the trains. Rather than refer back to my older thread, I thought I’d start a new one.

We’ll be arriving in Southhampton the morning of June 20. That plan is to take the train from Southhampton to London then from London to Edinburgh. We plan on traveling 1st class from London to Edinburgh on the LNER service. A few questions before I begin the process:

• Am I correct in assuming I should treat both legs as separate purchases?

• I know we’ll need to change stations in London. Can anyone tell me off hand what the two stations are? And how much time should I allow for changing stations in London? And should I make allowances for possible train delays in that?

• Is a cab the best and most efficient option for changing stations?

• Is there a question I ought to be asking that I’m not?

Thank you everyone for the input. Links to where I can buy the tickets would be very much appreciated to save me doing a google search without feeling confident of the results.

Here’s a gratuitous watch shot (in a parking lot) for your troubles…

Not sure whether you can book both legs on one ticket. As you’re doing London to Edinburgh 1st class, maybe not.

I’m pretty sure that Southampton trains arrive at Waterloo and Edinburgh trains definitely depart King’s Cross.

I wouldn’t recommend the Tube/Underground with your luggage. Take a cab.

Depending on the time of day your train to Edinburgh might have a dining car attached; worth looking into.

Hi Drew

As a Southampton resident who has taken the train to London a few times I would definitely plan for delays! Maybe give yourself a few hours between journeys?

I'm sure others here will be able to advise more. Trainline is a good place to get tickets or directly with the train companies, don't think there is much difference.

Good luck!

London Waterloo to Kings Cross would typically take say 15 minutes for the tube bits. Assuming normal tube frequency.

Waterloo to Oxford Circus via the Bakerloo line. Change for the Victoria line to King’s Cross.

You also need to add in getting from the station to the tube at Waterloo and from the tube to the train at King’s Cross.

I would probably allow 30 minutes from getting off a train at Waterloo to getting on the train at King’s Cross. That’s with knowledge of the respective station and tube lines.

Less hassle would be a taxi from Waterloo. Journey about 3 miles. The time taken? Anything from say 12-30 minutes.

Yes allow for a train delay coming into Waterloo.

Neil

nbg wrote: ↑Mon Mar 24, 2025 9:25 pm London Waterloo to Kings Cross would typically take say 15 minutes for the tube bits. Assuming normal tube frequency.

Waterloo to Oxford Circus via the Bakerloo line. Change for the Victoria line to King’s Cross.

You also need to add in getting from the station to the tube at Waterloo and from the tube to the train at King’s Cross.

I would probably allow 30 minutes from getting off a train at Waterloo to getting on the train at King’s Cross. That’s with knowledge of the respective station and tube lines.

Less hassle would be a taxi from Waterloo. Journey about 3 miles. The time taken? Anything from say 12-30 minutes.

Yes allow for a train delay coming into Waterloo.

Neil

Thanks Neil, just to summarize so I know I’m reading this correctly. The train from Southhampton will arrive at Waterloo. The train to Edinburgh would leave from Kings Cross. And it would be a 12-30 minute cab ride, depending on traffic, between them. I’ve got all that right? Again, thanks Neil! That’s incredibly helpful.

@jkbarnes
Yes Drew. On the basis that you then need to add in the train to taxi rank at Waterloo and in reverse at King’s Cross, you see that, when combined with the train being only say 5 minutes late arriving at Waterloo (regular commuters would regard 5 minutes late as a result! ), allowing an hour from scheduled arrival Waterloo and departure King’s Cross, doesn’t leave much margin for error.

Neil

You can go online and purchase a ticket from Southampton to Edinburgh as one ticket, having just looked, by default they allow c. 1h to 1h15m between arriving in Waterloo from Southampton and departing Kings Cross from Edinburgh. If purchased this way, I'm 99% certain you are entitled to use the ticket on a later train from London to Edinburgh if you missed the connection due to a late train from Southampton. You could purchase separate tickets with more of a gap between them for a more relaxed transfer, say 2 hours gap, but then if the Southampton train was very late and you missed even that later train, the ticket wouldn't be automatically valid as not purchased as one ticket (of course if your flight was delayed and you missed the train completely then I guess your travel insurance would kick in).

You can buy tickets on Trainline as mentioned which is one of the most well known sites, however each of the half dozen or so TOC (train operating companies) in the UK sell tickets for all train journeys for each others trains, at the same price. I normally use Crosscountry Trains https://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/ as they do not charge a booking fee (unlike Trainline) plus if you buy an Advance Ticket (for a specific train) and then cannot make that train for any reason, you are able to change the ticket for another train on that same journey at a different time (and different day if required) and just pay the difference in fare. The other option is to buy a fully flexible ticket which can be used on any train however these are much more expensive. With the ability to swap the Advance ticket for a different train relatively easily, I find that a much cheaper way to achieve flexibility should my travel plans change.

I don't live in London but would agree with the guys advice above, I'd definitely not be getting on the tube with all my luggage, take a black cab (or Uber/Bolt if you have the app).

My conclusion would probably be to buy a separate advance ticket for each of the legs with a comfortable time gap in between arriving at Waterloo and departing Kings Cross, with the knowledge you could change the ticket for the Edinburgh leg if severely delayed.

One other thing to note is that there are much fewer return ticket options available on UK rail routes that there used to be, it is more normal to purchase a single ticket for each direction of the journey. Admittedly I'm not sure if return tickets are available for your route.

Hopefully the above hasn't confused your decision, please let me know if any other questions ('m no travel agent but do travel multiple times by rail per month down to England with work!!).

@jkbarnes all good advice so far.

Remind me, how are you getting back from Edinburgh? Will you need a return ticket?

You seem to be getting some great advice with the train tickets and I won’t add much that hasn’t already been said.

When I travel to London, King’s Cross is my station. I’ve spent many hours there over the years when a meeting finished earlier than planned and there’s not a great deal of seating, especially if it’s a busy time of day. However once you enter the main station, if you head to the back, pass the queue of people outside the Harry Potter shop waiting to have their photo taken with the carriage trolley going through the wall. Then up the stairs (I think there’s a lift as well) is a decent bar called the parcel yard. I usually head up there and hopefully find one of the leather armchairs where I can sit for a hour before my train.

If you are planning to factor in extra time to make sure you’ve enough time to catch your connection, then this might be worth going to if you’re earlier than planned. There are plenty of local places just outside the station, but with all your luggage in tow this might be the better option. Just be warned, it’s London pub prices…….

https://www.parcelyard.co.uk/

jkbarnes wrote: ↑Mon Mar 24, 2025 7:04 pm Hi everyone!

I’m creeping up on the departure for our trip to Edinburgh (June 12!]. Every detail has been arranged except for the trains. Rather than refer back to my older thread, I thought I’d start a new one.

We’ll be arriving in Southhampton the morning of June 20. That plan is to take the train from Southhampton to London then from London to Edinburgh. We plan on traveling 1st class from London to Edinburgh on the LNER service. A few questions before I begin the process:

• Am I correct in assuming I should treat both legs as separate purchases?

• I know we’ll need to change stations in London. Can anyone tell me off hand what the two stations are? And how much time should I allow for changing stations in London? And should I make allowances for possible train delays in that?

• Is a cab the best and most efficient option for changing stations?

• Is there a question I ought to be asking that I’m not?

Thank you everyone for the input. Links to where I can buy the tickets would be very much appreciated to save me doing a google search without feeling confident of the results.

Here’s a gratuitous watch shot (in a parking lot) for your troubles…


IMG_2587.jpeg

just thinking, Drew. You may be able to fly from Southampton for rather less than train fares. Maybe it depends if London is optional or not, or whether you are actually visiting London. Hope the weather is kind, anyway.

I just checked, and the cheapest direct flights seem to be about £220 return so I'm not sure.

You could buy a 'Two Together Railcard. 'Costs just under 40£ but gives a third off discount from
all rail tickets. Obviously you have to travel together! We have one, it is worth it even for a small number of journeys. Can be bought online.

RichM wrote: ↑Mon Mar 24, 2025 11:13 pm @jkbarnes all good advice so far.

Remind me, how are you getting back from Edinburgh? Will you need a return ticket?

We’re flying back home Edinburgh, so no need for a return ticket.

iain wrote: ↑Tue Mar 25, 2025 7:38 am …Then up the stairs (I think there’s a lift as well) is a decent bar called the parcel yard. I usually head up there and hopefully find one of the leather armchairs where I can sit for a hour before my train.

If you are planning to factor in extra time to make sure you’ve enough time to catch your connection, then this might be worth going to if you’re earlier than planned.

https://www.parcelyard.co.uk/

Excellent, thank you! I’m sure there will be extra time, as I tend to over compensate in that regard when traveling.

JAFO wrote: ↑Tue Mar 25, 2025 11:58 am just thinking, Drew. You may be able to fly from Southampton for rather less than train fares. Maybe it depends if London is optional or not, or whether you are actually visiting London. Hope the weather is kind, anyway.

I just checked, and the cheapest direct flights seem to be about £220 return so I'm not sure.

We considered it, but decided that we wanted a rail journey as part of the trip.

That’s a great point about the Two Together railcard, which I never thought but I guess nothing stopping you buying one as an overseas resident.

On the point on waiting at Kings Cross, there is an LNER first class lounge that you will be able to access with your tickets, free hot and cold drinks and snacks and a comfy seat.

Thegreyman wrote: ↑Tue Mar 25, 2025 4:20 pm That’s a great point about the Two Together railcard, which I never thought but I guess nothing stopping you buying one as an overseas resident.

On the point on waiting at Kings Cross, there is an LNER first class lounge that you will be able to access with your tickets, free hot and cold drinks and snacks and a comfy seat.

Oh my, you have no idea how much this is stressing me out! Flying is out because we simply don’t want to fly and deal with the transfers to & from airports with our luggage and going through security screening. The doomsday option is a car service recommended by a friend who travels frequently for business. He’s says it’s super reliable and is his go-to option when dropping the ball is not an option. It’s expensive, but given the nature of this trip, we have no qualms spending the money.

The wrench thrown into the gears is that there is that I don’t have a definitive arrival time. The best I can deduce is that disembarkation is typically between 8:00 and 11:00 in the morning. We would definitely sign up for the earliest disembarkation when we arrive. It looks like the train station is a short 3-5 minute cab ride from the port. Im looking at trains with an “worst case scenario” about getting off the ship. Tell me if these times look manageable:

Depart Southampton at 12:00, arrive at Waterloo at 13:21
transfer via cab to Kings Cross
Depart Kings Cross at 15:00, arrive in Edinburgh at 19:24


I’d purchase a Two Together Railcard to get the discounted fairs and the fully flexible ticket for the final leg.

Thoughts?