Britpick Question

[amberfocus]

How long does it take to drive from London to Scotland approximately?  Is it something that can easily be done in one day?  Or would it take longer than that?  Jonathon's going to take Rose to Scotland on the anniversary of the death of his family to visit the graveyard where they are interred.  Don't worry, there really will be gravestones there with the correct names and dates.  But if it's more than a day trip then that will change whether I have them go during the school year or at the start of the summer.

Comments

[frakup.livejournal.com]

I'm no Brit, but I think I can answer this one. It's not a trip I'd make round trip by car in a day. Driving is often the third slowest way to get there. You can fly, including all the waiting around at the airport time, in slightly less time that it takes to take the train, and driving is way slower than either of those.

Google maps says it's 7+ hours London to Edinburgh by car.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&saddr=Edinburgh,+City+of+Edinburgh,+UK&daddr=London,+UK&hl=en&geocode=&mra=ls&sll=51.554021,-0.126343&sspn=0.385954,0.966797&g=London,+UK&ie=UTF8&z=6

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

Okay, thanks.

[electrictoes.livejournal.com]

I live in Portsmouth & that's about 8 hours to the border, depending on traffic & whatnot. So... from London... 6/7 hours to the border? It depends whereabouts in Scotland you're putting them I suppose. I wouldn't say you could do it one day though.

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

They'll be going to Hamilton.

[electrictoes.livejournal.com]

Probably about 7 hours then, I guess. Providing Hamilton is near Motherwell, which is where I think it is...

[editrx.livejournal.com]

I've done it, but you really need relief drivers and drive straight out both ways -- it's a hike. Doing it in one day is rather insane, and you'd have to leave very early and get back very late.

Also, remember, Scotland is a pretty big area -- where in Scotland are you thinking of? Because I've done London to both Edinburgh and Glasgow, but only London-Edinburgh as a roundtrip in one day with 3 drivers tag-teaming it and and left early in the morning from London and spent only a few hours in Edinburgh, then back to London in the wee hours of the morning again. If you are going much further north (and just about everything in Scotland is north of Edinburgh), you really can't do that as a day trip.

Also, train. Train makes the most sense. Best thing ever is the night train to Edinburgh from London: leaves 10-ish at night, and you wake up in Edinburgh first thing in the morning. It's godlike. And not that expensive. From there you can take the train to your closest destination north. I've done it more times than I can count. (And yeah, I live in the States, but spent most of the 80s and 90s in and out of the UK, as I taught there in the 80s.)

I'm editrix1 on AIM if you need me. I'll be up for a bit more, but should go to bed soon -- it's 5am here now. Bad me. Been reading fic. Hah!

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

Oh, the night train sounds perfect. They could leave on a Friday night, spend Saturday there and then come back on the train on Sunday, I suppose. They'll be going to Hamilton, the town Jonathon "grew up" in and where Elisabeth and the rest of his "family" are buried.

[solarflar3.livejournal.com]

I'd say about 7 hours by car to the border. I went to Scotland last year by car, to Melrose which is just across the border and from where I live, in Yorkshire, it took 4 hours with a 30 minute stop. From here to London is about the same, though London is horrendous for traffic so you need to factor in the hell that is the M25. You can lose hours of your life on there!

Like editrx says, the sleeper from London is a better bet. And it gives Jonathon and Rose and opportunity for train!sex!

*whistles innocently*

*Unleashes hoards of train!sex bunnies on Amberfocus*

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

Oh, you evil, evil woman. I love you! I hadn't even thought about sleeper cars. I figured they would just sleep in their seats, but of course Jonathon can afford a sleeper car and now, oh, yes, the challenge of writing train!sex. So much fun. *grins*

[doctorsdiva.livejournal.com]

Us Brits live in such a small country that we think 400 miles is a long way. My relatives in Canada think nothing of taking us on a day trip of 500 miles cos the country is so **** huge!

So yes, it would feel like a very long journey to Rose and our roads are not always good, either congested motorways or very narrow country roads with lots of bendy countryside driving. A lot of our country roads still follow the boundarys of farms and settlements from 1000 years ago.

So this big answer is just to say please put them on the train - they'll be so much more comfortable *smirks* I'm with solarflare3.

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I know. For us driving from the West coast of WA to the far side of Eastern WA to visit my grandparents we did in an 8 hour day and we thought nothing of it. That was around 500 miles. But the roads were relatively straight and if you hit Seattle at the right time of day traffic was okay, too.

They will definitely be going on the train.

[blodges.livejournal.com]

The sleeper train has one-person cabins in First Class, and two-person cabins in Second Class. BUT, the two-person cabins are bunk beds! One person has to crawl into a bunk while the other dresses or undresses. There's a little packet with drinking water to brush your teeth and some toothpaste, etc. There's a sink, but the toilet is down at the end of the train car. They bring you tea (or coffee) and some kind of inedible roll in the morning.

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

So they don't have a two person first class cabin? Hmm...well, but it's AU so I can fudge that if I need to.

[blodges.livejournal.com]

I fogot to mention that it's a great trip!

And if you get up very very early in the morning, you can watch the sun rise over the fields in the west of England. It's beautiful.

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

Hmm, maybe they can do that out their window while they lay in bed.