The Caledonian Sleeper, and Overnight Train
The Caledonian Sleeper is an overnight train that goes from London’s Euston station to a few destinations throughout Scotland. The destinations of note for the train are Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, Aberdeen or Fort William, although it does make stops along the way. On our trip to the UK this past summer, we took it from London to Glasgow, and again to get back to London before heading home.
Why we chose this overnight train
As Americans, we aren’t used to having good rail options to get around. Its always nice to go to countries that value this mode of transportation. There are tons of reviews of the Caledonian you can read online, so we don’t go deep into all of the experience here. As always, we want to focus on why we chose this and how it fit in to our overall travel plans. If you’d like to read a great in depth experience, I’d recommend this post.
Cost and convenience
We only had a week to spend in the UK. We didn’t want to lose half a day to travel, and we wanted to spend a little time in London before heading to Scotland. By taking the overnight train we were able to spend the day in London before heading to Euston station after dinner. There we hopped on the train to sleep recharge for our first day in Glasgow. So yeah, we slept on a plane one night and a train the next, but thats a small price for fun.
As of writing this post, a classic room (two bunk beds) will cost you $360 total, for two people. Cheaper, traditional seat options are available too for around $130 each. Hotels are probably going to be 2 or $300 for a night in either city and on a weekday, the ScotRail will be around $50 each, and possibly $100 if you’re traveling on the weekend. Without considering food or drinks, we’re between 3 – $500 plus a 5 hour train ride during the day.
The Trip
We arrived in London on a Wednesday morning. We’d spend the day exploring London markets and pubs instead of navigating Heathrow flight connections. Upon leaving the Heathrow, we found “the tube” and headed for Euston station to store our bags for the day. Excess Baggage Company has a stall in the station where we were safely stored our things while we trekked around the city.
We’d return to Euston later in the evening to get settled and wait for our overnight train to board.
Lounge access and club car
Our reservation for the overnight train provided us access to their lounge ahead of departure. It isn’t quite business class airport lounge, but there were complimentary snacks and drinks to enjoy before departing. Mostly for us, it was a place we could relax after about 36 hours of traveling. You can access to the lounge two hours ahead of departure so we arrived around 9:30pm and headed up to relax.
Boarding began at 10:30 to give the staff enough time to get everyone settled. We headed for the club car after finding our room for a few drinks and a snack as we waited for the train to depart. The service in the club car was excellent, and the atmosphere is lively considering the time of day. This is a really nice touch, especially considering how early you’re asked board.
Room
Room Type: Club Twin room
Several types of accommodations exist. Some rooms have double wide beds, others have bunks, and there are even traditional seats. The Club twin is quite cozy…but it has a sink and a toilet. Other room types share toilets which isn’t ideal.
The bunks are perfectly comfortable for what they are, albeit a bit short for someone 5’11”. The bedding was nice, and I slept well considering we were on a moving train. I bit the bullet and took the top bunk which had very little clearance. I was a little nervous I’d sit up and bang my head on the ceiling. It made getting down a bit precarious, but obviously, I survived.
Breakfast
The club rooms also come with breakfast, which is a nice touch. You place an order by filling out an order card and hanging on your door when you go to sleep. An attendant will pick the cards up overnight to expedite service the next day. The food is quite good, better than you’d expect from an airline. You can even try haggis if you’re feeling extra adventurous. The coffee is also great in the club car. Its from a machine which is ideal when traveling by train or plane.
Return to London
We chose to take the Caledonian back to London 5 days later as well. Leaving from Edinburgh, the whole operation seemed quite disorganized. The train was late and as a result boarding was chaotic.
For the return, we did not book the club car which was disappointing for a few reasons. By That point we were exhausted, and having a nice breakfast before arriving in London would have been nice. Additionally, the room did not have a toilet which meant using a shared bathroom at the end of the car.
Putting it all together
The ride up in the club room was smoother and topped off with a nice breakfast. Despite a rough experience on the way back, it was still nice to know that we had the whole day to explore. After all, its a sleeper train, the point is to sleep. Traveling this way saved us time by allowing us to travel when we’d be sleeping anyways, and money by eliminating the need for a two hotel nights on our trip.If you’re traveling on a time budget from London to the major cities in Scotland this is a great option and a fun experience.
