London to Edinburgh by train

Get the London station right

This route leaves from King’s Cross — not Euston, which is a ten-minute walk away and serves the completely different West Coast route to Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow. Turning up at the wrong one is a genuinely common mistake because the two are so close together.

King’s Cross is the southern end of the East Coast Main Line, which runs up through Peterborough, York, Darlington and Newcastle before reaching Edinburgh. In Edinburgh you arrive at Waverley, which sits in the valley right in the middle of the city, below the castle. You walk out into the centre; there is no onward transfer to budget for.

Two operators, two different propositions

Most services are run by LNER, which offers the full intercity product: standard and first class, at-seat service on many trains, and lounges at both King’s Cross and Waverley for first-class passengers. There are getting on for thirty direct LNER trains on a typical weekday, so you are rarely waiting long.

Lumo is the other one, and it is worth understanding. It runs a handful of services a day on the same tracks with a deliberately stripped-back, airline-style model: one class only, book ahead, buy your own food. Journeys run slightly longer — nearer four and a half hours — but fares are often materially lower.

How long it really takes

The quickest LNER services do it in a little over four hours; a more typical booking is around four hours twenty. Lumo is usually around four and a half. All of these are start-to-finish city centre to city centre, which is the number that matters.

Train or plane?

The flight is about ninety minutes, which sounds decisive until you add everything around it. Getting to a London airport, arriving ahead of departure, security, boarding, then the journey from Edinburgh Airport into town puts the realistic door-to-door figure close to the train — and the train has no baggage rules, no separate transfer at either end, a table and a plug for the whole journey, and a fraction of the emissions.

Where flying still wins is if you are starting near a London airport rather than near King’s Cross, or if you find a fare far below anything on rail. Otherwise the train is the easier trip.

Worth doing on the way

Because the line runs through York, Durham and Newcastle, breaking the journey is unusually easy. York in particular is under two hours from London and is a short walk from the station to the walled old city, which makes it a natural stop rather than a detour. If you might do this, look at the ticket rules before booking — an Advance ticket is tied to specific trains and will not let you break your journey, whereas an Off-Peak ticket generally will.

Getting the fare down

British fares reward planning more than almost any other network. The cheap Advance fares are released around twelve weeks before travel and sold in limited batches at rising prices — buy early and you pay a fraction of the walk-up fare, buy on the day and you pay the lot. The catch is that an Advance ticket is valid only on the train you booked.

Two other things are worth knowing and neither is a trick: a railcard costs around £30 a year and takes roughly a third off most fares, and split ticketing — buying two tickets covering consecutive parts of the same journey, staying in the same seat — is entirely permitted and frequently cheaper than the through fare.

Our guide to train travel in the UK goes through ticket types, railcards and split ticketing in full.

Common questions

Which is cheaper, LNER or Lumo?

Neither reliably. Lumo is the low-cost operator and is often cheaper, but LNER runs far more services and releases its own cheap Advance fares. Because they compete directly, check both for your specific date rather than assuming.

Is it worth paying for first class?

On a four-hour journey it can be. LNER first class typically includes food and drink and lounge access at both ends, so if you were going to buy a meal anyway the gap narrows. Lumo has one class only.

Can I stop at York or Newcastle on the way?

With an Off-Peak ticket, generally yes — breaking your journey is normally permitted. With an Advance ticket, no: it is valid only on the specific trains booked. Two separate Advance tickets often cost less than one flexible through fare.

How far ahead do tickets go on sale?

About twelve weeks, as across the British network. The cheapest seats on this route go early because it is a popular long-distance journey.