Day trips to Edinburgh
Seeing the best of both worlds
Word to the wise: Make sure you buy your ticket before boarding the train as there are electronic ticket barriers at Glasgow Queen Street and at both Edinburgh stations. Whatever you do, don’t leave your ticket on the train, as you’ll need to fork out on another to pass through the barrier at your destination.
If you planned on dividing your trip to Scotland between the east and west coasts, the journey by train is fast, frequent and fairly inexpensive, making it easy to see Scotland’s two main cities. Scotrail operates direct trains to Edinburgh Waverley via Edinburgh Haymarket every 15 minutes during the day and the journey takes between 45 minutes and one hour.
Eastbound trains depart from Glasgow Queen Street station at a cost of GBP 12.90 single and GBP 21 for an anytime day return. If you want to save yourself a bit of spending money for all those sexy woolly jumpers and ‘never-to-be-worn’ kilts the capital constantly thrusts at you, travel after 9.15am but not during the hours of 4.42pm and 6.30pm and the ticket price drops significantly to GBP 12.10 for a day return ticket.
Alternatively, Citylink offers cheaper fares by coach, at GBP 6.80 single or GBP 10 for an open return, meaning you can stay overnight in the capital. For both options, just buy your ticket on the day at the ticket booth.