So, my boss has insisted that I take a couple of days off after a stupidly stressful few months. So, I’ve decided to go explore Edinburgh. My question is, should I consider riding from London, or am I being foolish? I’m looking at leaving after work on the Thursday evening, maybe stopping somewhere around Leeds for the evening, and then continuing to Edinburgh on the Friday morning. I’m riding a 2002 ZZR600 and have no idea if I’m going to be able to survive that long on the bike. If anyone’s done this or similar before, I’d love to hear your opinions. One of the things I’d obviously want to do before this, is get a GPS mount and USB power for my phone first.
I was planning on being back in London on the Sunday evening. I have the Monday off too, but I was planning on attending the ANZAC Day dawn service. This may be flexible if there’s a service I can attend in Edinburgh though.
I’d fly. It’s technically doable on a bike, but unless you’re the sort of person who enjoys 8 hour motorway stints the ride’s not going to be very pleasant, and flying’s probably cheaper.
If it’s just a matter of getting from A to B, fly. If you want to enjoy the route, ride. Sh*t forecast the rest of the week, so would defo fly if it were me.
Unless you want to stop over in Leeds for a reason, it’s a boring journey. There are A roads and detours you could make it more interesting but not on that timeframe.
You don’t need a car in Edinburgh.
Take the train.
Get the train. Much less hassle than flying & quicker by the time you add all the faffing about getting to/from/through airports. Great scenery too as it rolls along the coast north of Newcastle.
I’ve thought about this trip but 200 miles for a day is about my limit of enjoyment/focus on a motorway, so for a long weekend I’d catch the train – King’s Cross to the centre of Edinburgh in about four and a half hours, quicker overall than the plane. And you can spend the extra time sampling the delights of Edinburgh.
Might spend a week or so over it on the bike in the summer though, and include the Highlands.
Defo train for a short trip to Edinburgh. As yourebarred says, you don’t need a bike to get around the city, unless you want to venture a bit further out.
You can do Whitby in a day and then spend another couple riding the moors and dales of Yorkshire, also York is worth an explore. I came back from Edinburgh in 2 days when I bought my FJR, nice ride, came down tha A1 most of the way but stopped in Whitby to see my mates. Also came back in 1 day a couple of years later, bit of a slog but still enjoyed it.
Hmm, fair enough. Looks like riding it may not be on the cards for this one then :P I’ll have a poke around plane and train fares and see how they look.
Mark! Just because you don’t like it lol
People have different interests, it’s a place I’d like to explore without a bike too. Not good riding around it like we have.
I´ll be doing London-Edinburgh at some point in the next 2 months, in order to attempt a 7 day ride to Scotland, I´m gonna have to suck it up and eat those motorway miles if I want to enjoy the highlands etc…
Yea as others have said it is doable. I’ve done London to Aberdeen a few times I’m always too tight to fork out for a hotel on route home. But it’s not enjoyable. Fly would be my advice for that time frame.
