britontour

I'd fly, my ex use to live in Edinburgh I dove it once and never again, it all depends on traffic nothing worse than being sat in traffic on a warm humid day. Flyings just as cheap these days if you book in advance even cheaper than the train, I used to fly nearly every weekend from London Luton.

clydegirl

Fly or get a train to Glasgow or Edinburgh.

Then you will have more time to spend in beautiful Scotland.

It would be a long drive 10/12 hours.

Wish I was going.

Angry White Pyjamas

And miss out all the beautiful parts of Northern England and the Borders!?

Its not the arrival but the journey that counts. People are too determined to get somewhere as fast as possible these days and they miss out all the bits in between.

clydegirl

Just a suggestion ,we don't know how much time he has to spend when he gets there.
Yes it is a nice drive, used to do it when I lived in B'ham.

Rushman

I could do London (Heathrow) to just shy of Glasgow (Lesmahagow) in 9 hours in a truck!! Have done Dagenham to Scotch Corner in 4.5 hours (pre speed limiter days).In neither of these regular journey's did the truck go over 70 mph.
I reckon he could do Heathrow to Edinburgh in under 8.5 hours (not including stops).

Rushman

Notoriously innaccurate I'm afraid.

Rushman

I've been up the M1, M18, A1 more times than I care to remember. I would personally fly. The route is only really scenic in some parts of North Yorks and then north of Newcastle through to Edinburgh. The rest is mind numbingly boring!!

britontour

Trouble is some jerks bound to have and accident or roadworks that put you in traffic for hours.

Pre speed limiter days how many years ago are you talking, was there any other traffic on the road?

Rushman

Speed limiters came in during the mid 90's. I left Dagenham at 10.20 in the morning and arrived at Barton truck stop at 2.45 that afternoon AND that was when most of the A1 was dual carriageway and not upgraded to motorway. I was in my old Volvo F1012 (my first owned truck and it was a complete shed, a 1978/79 ). I just sat at about 65 to 70 mph with the odd burst on straight empty stretches up to 75 mph. So anyone could that in a car today.

dunroving

Have to agree with the comments on the beautiful train journey.

If you have the time, go on the train. Book early enough via TheTrainline.com and you can get a good deal (but you have to either have the ticket mailed to a UK address or pick up at the station - and not all stations have a pick-up facility).

Also agree re: visiting Glasgow. I prefer it to Edinburgh personally.

FlyergirlUK

Is that driving backwards or something?
Used to take me 'n' the ex 8-9 hours driving from Cornwall to Edinburgh, well, Fife, to be exact.

DaveC

I have to disagree with that. I think Edinburgh's much better as a city and for tourist attractions. I mean it has a castle and stunning views to the Pentlands and across the Forth into Fife!! What does Glasgow have to offer? Plus, it always seems to rain when I go to Glasgow .

If it was my trip, I'd take the East coast by train from London to Edinburgh. If all goes well the rail journey will be about 4 1/2 hours.

If I was driving then I'd go up the West Coast on the M6/M74. Birmingham will be a 'mare but it'll be clear after that.

dunroving

That's your prerogative - I said I like Glasgow better personally, not that Glasgow is better.

Sure, Edinburgh has all the older historical stuff, but I prefer the feel of Glasgow more. Architecture may not be as old or posh, and there's no castle in the middle of town, but I prefer the style, I like the Modern Art Museum, enjoy the West End more than anything Edinburgh has to offer. Like you said, Edinburgh has more stuff for the tourist, which may also be part of why I don't like it as much.

Each to their own - I still agree that a trip to Glasgow is worth it if you're up that way anyway. Not like it's a half-day trip to get from one to the other.

And there's no way I would drive it - personally. Much rather sit back on the train and enjoy the trip.

DaveC

I recognised that, and your right to express your opinion. If the OP has limited time in Scotland then the capital city is by far a better tourist destination than Glasgow - if that's what they want to see

Sure, the two cities are relatively close. But if a visitor has limited time then I can't think of a good reason why they would want to leave Edinburgh on the most expensive train journey in Europe to visit Glasgow or drive across on the congested M8.

Ray

Stay in Farnham... why would you want to go to that cold place where they speak no English...

Here's a thistle ..that scottish enough ..