h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

h2g2 has turned me into the sort of person who goes from Edinburgh to London and back in a day. This is not a journey one does for pleasure, there is only one reason to do this journey, and that's having to be in London for a meeting. I am now an experienced business traveller. Well semi-experienced.

Edinburgh to London is a 7 hour drive, a 5 hour train journey or a 1 hour flight. If you are going there and back in a day, and you need to arrive for 9am, your options are:

1. Train.

The pleasenter and more expensive option. There's the 4am train that only stops at Newcastle, and will get you to London for 9, but that's not cheap. Alternatively you can get the sleeper train. The procedure for the sleeper is straight forward.
- Go out for a drink in Edinburgh. Get drunk.
- Collapse on a train at waverley and fall asleep. Hopefully you'll have collapsed on the sleeper.
- Wake up in London at 6am, arrive refreshed for your meetings and your colleagues will think you're hardworking.

Repeat and end up in Edinburgh the next morning. Hopefully. You have to be careful as the train will also stop at Glasgow and Fort William.

The problem with the train is that it's expensive, you can easily spend £200 on a sleeper berth, and that's sharing a cubical with someone else.

2. Plane.

To get to London for a 9am meeting you need to get the the 5.40am flight.
This is initially confusing. Your ticket will tell you to arrive 2 hours before the plane departs but you will find that the airport is closed until 4am. Once you get to the airport you can find that everyone else is travelling on business as well, and you are whisked through the queue in super-quick time, meaning that you can get a valuable hours snooze in the departure lounge.

The main problem with the plane is that we you arrive you will find yourself at either Gatwick, Heathrow or Standsted, not that there's anything wrong with these places, but they are nowhere near London, well they are nearer London than Edinburgh is, but not by much. You then need to spend an hour or two getting from the airport to wherever you are going.

Heh... see what you've missed A34788667

Deke

That looks like a Guide Entry to me.

My sister who went to Uni in Glasgow used the coach. She ALWAYS got drunk first. She said there was no other way to bear it.

Heathrow and Gatwick are more convenient for London than, say, Luton, which is bleedin' miles away...

I've found the Gatwick Express to be nicer than travelling on the tubes, but if you're travelling light it probably doesn't matter very much.

I missed the last train from London to Birmingham last night and discovered that there is a coach at 12.30. It's actually more civilised than the last train although it overshots Birmingham by 30 miles before returning making it a rather long journey.

Unfortunately the ticket office shuts before you miss the last train and you can't buy a ticket on the bus so you need to find a friendly sober person with internet access to get you an e-ticket...

Luckily I had met a rather obliging chap at the gig. He did offer me a bed for the night which would have meant I could get the 6am from London and be in the office for 8 but I had neglected to take a change of clothes.