Glasgow from london and the south · From London and the South in Glasgow
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From London and the South in Glasgow
From London and the South in Glasgow
Glasgow can be reached from London by either the West Coast or East Coast main lines. The quality and reliability of the rail services has improved a lot over the years, and it can be cheaper and almost as fast as flying once the time spent travelling to airports with their associated security hassles is taken into account.
Faster: Virgin Trains run 13 trains a day from London Euston via the West Coast route. Journey time is 4hrs 30 mins, with one northbound express completing the 400 mile journey in just over 4 hours. Single one-way fares £17.50 is booked up to 12 weeks in advance, rising to £59. Open off-peak return £110. Virgin also operate a two-hourly service from Birmingham.
Slower: East Coast run 1 direct train a day from London King's Cross via the East Coast route (taking in York and Newcastle also), with a roughly hourly service to Edinburgh throughout the day, which connects with the Shuttle (see above). Journey time 5hrs 45mins-6hrs 30min (if connecting at Edinburgh). Single one-way fares start at £12.50 one way if booked online and up to 12 weeks in advance. Open off-peak returns are the same as for Virgin Trains.
The Caledonian Sleeper is an overnight sleeper train that runs every night except Saturday to/from London Euston The journey takes approximately 8 hours, although is deliberately scheduled for a late departure and a reasonable arrival time. Tickets can be booked in the usual manner at any main line railway station in Britain or online from Scotrail : the cost of a return journey to Glasgow from London varies from around £100 for two one-way "Advance" tickets rising to the full open return fare of £165 (being the basic fare plus the cost of the sleeping berth in a compartment with either one or two beds). Note that solo travellers may have to share the sleeping compartment with a stranger of the same gender. You can also travel in a seated carriage for around £23 one-way or £95 return (full fare). Certain BritRail passes can be used to buy tickets on the Sleeper trains, but supplements are payable for the berth: check before leaving your home country.
The best value fares on the sleeper are inclusive (travel and berth) one-way tickets known as "Bargain Berths" available only online from ScotRail and are sold in limited numbers for £19, £29, £39 or £49 depending on how far in advance you book. If no fares are available to/from Glasgow Central, an alternative is Westerton, a station on Glasgow's suburban network north-west of the city. It is a calling point of the sleeper to/from Fort William which otherwise does not call in Glasgow. It is occasionally possible to find "Bargain Berths" to/from here after they have sold out to/from Glasgow Central.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Glasgow
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Glasgow Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.