Day trip on a plane from Edinburgh with kids?
Discussion
Preparing for heat here but in we go. Looking to take the kids (5 & 8) on a day trip on a plane... maybe overnight depending on logistics but suffering my usual overthinking issues thus struggling to decide where would be suitable.
Flying from Edinburgh... have passports so venturing out with UK territory is viable but nothing over zealous and somewhere to spend a few hours then come back so needs to be well connected to somewhere we can spend a few hours and "safe" more so as none of us are particularly keen on busy places.
I've suggested Bristol (exciting!) but only as I used to do that route regularly so have a bit knowledge. Wife suggested Dublin or Belfast... the latter maybe appeals a bit more.
Appreciate for many this will seem like hell or pointless or will be reporting me to social services for having an 8yr old who hasn't flown yet. But looking beyond that, if anybody has any suggestions as to where round be safe / easy / child friendly.
Thanks
Flying from Edinburgh... have passports so venturing out with UK territory is viable but nothing over zealous and somewhere to spend a few hours then come back so needs to be well connected to somewhere we can spend a few hours and "safe" more so as none of us are particularly keen on busy places.
I've suggested Bristol (exciting!) but only as I used to do that route regularly so have a bit knowledge. Wife suggested Dublin or Belfast... the latter maybe appeals a bit more.
Appreciate for many this will seem like hell or pointless or will be reporting me to social services for having an 8yr old who hasn't flown yet. But looking beyond that, if anybody has any suggestions as to where round be safe / easy / child friendly.
Thanks
Look up Edinburgh Airport on Wikipedia it lists all airlines & destinations.
Belfast is a good cheap weekend with a short flight
If picking a day trip I think you’d need to pick a busier place with multiple flights so you could go in the morning & back at night - would need good transport links too maybe Paris/Amsterdam/Geneva (although avoid the latter during ski season!)
Belfast is a good cheap weekend with a short flight
If picking a day trip I think you’d need to pick a busier place with multiple flights so you could go in the morning & back at night - would need good transport links too maybe Paris/Amsterdam/Geneva (although avoid the latter during ski season!)
I can't think of why anyone would go to Bristol for leisure purposes. If it had a train station you'd be able to go to plenty of better places rapidly, but it don't.
Shetland would be awesome but flying there is very expensive, even more so for the day. Most of the flying is either business or subsidised locals.
I vote for Belfast. If you hire a car at Belfast International the city is still close but you can get to some lovely glens and places on the coast pretty rapidly too.
Shetland would be awesome but flying there is very expensive, even more so for the day. Most of the flying is either business or subsidised locals.
I vote for Belfast. If you hire a car at Belfast International the city is still close but you can get to some lovely glens and places on the coast pretty rapidly too.
Edited by bloomen on Tuesday 20th January 03:42
If you’re thinking Bristol, then maybe Weston Super Mare, but definitely wait till the summer for that.
Brighton (or anywhere else on the Sussex coast) via Gatwick is easy to do by EasyJet and then train.
Various parts of NI via Belfast International or Belfast City as has previously been said.
Windsor Castle etc via Heathrow, probably not enough time for Legoland.
I guess the ultimate, if you want to wait till the end of the year would be Lapland, but I’m not sure if that’s Glasgow only rather than Edinburgh.
Obviously you could visit London, Dublin, Paris or Amsterdam but they’d probably fail on your “busy” score.
Are you absolutely sure you want to do this as a day trip? An extra few quid would get you a Travelodge type place and would take a lot of the time pressure off. You could easily get a change of clothes for the night into the under seat bag allowance.
My two are 7 and about to turn 4, a day trip would be really pushing it for them, but an overnight with a plane and a hotel at the far end would be really exciting.
Brighton (or anywhere else on the Sussex coast) via Gatwick is easy to do by EasyJet and then train.
Various parts of NI via Belfast International or Belfast City as has previously been said.
Windsor Castle etc via Heathrow, probably not enough time for Legoland.
I guess the ultimate, if you want to wait till the end of the year would be Lapland, but I’m not sure if that’s Glasgow only rather than Edinburgh.
Obviously you could visit London, Dublin, Paris or Amsterdam but they’d probably fail on your “busy” score.
Are you absolutely sure you want to do this as a day trip? An extra few quid would get you a Travelodge type place and would take a lot of the time pressure off. You could easily get a change of clothes for the night into the under seat bag allowance.
My two are 7 and about to turn 4, a day trip would be really pushing it for them, but an overnight with a plane and a hotel at the far end would be really exciting.
Shetland or Orkney is a good idea, they’ll feel “different” if your kids if they haven’t been the northern isles before.
Amsterdam might feel special for them and is easy to get from Schipol into the city centre.
Loganair flights to Orkney or Shetland might well be more expensive than getting to NL!
Amsterdam might feel special for them and is easy to get from Schipol into the city centre.
Loganair flights to Orkney or Shetland might well be more expensive than getting to NL!
If I’m reading the post correctly the trip is intended for the kids benefit primarily?
In which case id be looking at things to entertain them first and location second.
Skidoo/Husky sleigh ride in Lapland with northern lights.
Eurodisney in Paris
Efteling in Netherlands
Legoland in surrey
Etc..
In which case id be looking at things to entertain them first and location second.
Skidoo/Husky sleigh ride in Lapland with northern lights.
Eurodisney in Paris
Efteling in Netherlands
Legoland in surrey
Etc..
Just to confirm, I am not a powerfully built PH dictator type... and given that, as great as some of the more adventurous suggestions would be, trips to see Santa in Lapland for the day are probably pushing the budget and the commitment times a bit too much. Really, the main objective is to get the kids on a plane... not only because they've not flown yet, but we've also not been abroad with them on holiday so this could also serve as a wee practice run before we commit to anything down the line. I'd also add, flying is not something that I'm hugely keen on so hence, never been / need to pull up my big boy pants.
Bristol... probably as with many destinations, why would you? But it's an idea as it's a short flight, I know the lie of the land as I used to commute to Bath a few years back plus I have a mate lives fairly locally so could tie in with him. The issue is, I get budget and timescale creep... one day would make sense to become two and if you're going for two, why not make it three and do X, Y and Z whilst there and if we're doing that, then time you factor in the costs then would it just be easier to drive. Which is what happened before Christmas... a day trip on a plane became 10 days and 2300 miles to Cornwall etc in the car.
I could strip it right back, find the cheapest flights to somewhere... fly there, have lunch at the airport and fly home. Belfast, Dublin, Luton... and UK domestic route would suffice but again it creeps and you start to look at where you could spend the day, so something within easy reach of the airport by bus / train... spend a few hours then home again in the evening. Shetland etc does appeal and honestly, I can see big, busy cities far enough but I was on a small regional plane to Birmingham once and I think my bottom is still clenched so I'd rather fly on something a bit bigger!
Cork is a good shout... though again it's hard to then not hire a car to go and explore for a couple of days and if I'm doing that, then a ferry across wit my own car would make sense so again, my eye then starts to wander off the target. Wife has already said Paris but it scares me, blame social media for that and she's also suggested Legoland in Denmark but clearly she's getting budget creep there too! Out with the UK would be good, it'd add to the excitement I think... but flight times limits it. On that note, leaning towards Belfast / Cork I think.
Flying from Glasgow is also fine... to be honest, not sure why I defaulted to Edinburgh... probably because there's roadworks on the M8 just now!
Appreciate the input though, definitely food for thought!
Bristol... probably as with many destinations, why would you? But it's an idea as it's a short flight, I know the lie of the land as I used to commute to Bath a few years back plus I have a mate lives fairly locally so could tie in with him. The issue is, I get budget and timescale creep... one day would make sense to become two and if you're going for two, why not make it three and do X, Y and Z whilst there and if we're doing that, then time you factor in the costs then would it just be easier to drive. Which is what happened before Christmas... a day trip on a plane became 10 days and 2300 miles to Cornwall etc in the car.
I could strip it right back, find the cheapest flights to somewhere... fly there, have lunch at the airport and fly home. Belfast, Dublin, Luton... and UK domestic route would suffice but again it creeps and you start to look at where you could spend the day, so something within easy reach of the airport by bus / train... spend a few hours then home again in the evening. Shetland etc does appeal and honestly, I can see big, busy cities far enough but I was on a small regional plane to Birmingham once and I think my bottom is still clenched so I'd rather fly on something a bit bigger!
Cork is a good shout... though again it's hard to then not hire a car to go and explore for a couple of days and if I'm doing that, then a ferry across wit my own car would make sense so again, my eye then starts to wander off the target. Wife has already said Paris but it scares me, blame social media for that and she's also suggested Legoland in Denmark but clearly she's getting budget creep there too! Out with the UK would be good, it'd add to the excitement I think... but flight times limits it. On that note, leaning towards Belfast / Cork I think.
Flying from Glasgow is also fine... to be honest, not sure why I defaulted to Edinburgh... probably because there's roadworks on the M8 just now!
Appreciate the input though, definitely food for thought!
Edited by Davie on Tuesday 20th January 09:16
I cant think of anywhere in the UK with an airport next to it that I'd like to go. If it was me with the Highlands a relatively short drive away, there's no way I'd want to go to another UK city.
What's in the average city like Cork or Bristol for kids to enjoy? If its all about them I'd just take them to London and do the fun museums and a high viewpoint like top of walkie talkie or the battersea lift. If the trip is for you then ditch them and do what you want.
What's in the average city like Cork or Bristol for kids to enjoy? If its all about them I'd just take them to London and do the fun museums and a high viewpoint like top of walkie talkie or the battersea lift. If the trip is for you then ditch them and do what you want.
If this is a trial trip for taking your kids on a flight I’d strongly recommend staying on the UK mainland and going for at least an overnight. If it all goes pear shaped and one of them screams all the way there (more likely with a baby than your kids ages though) then you can always come back by train or hire car.
We did something similar when my older one was 6 months, I’d suggested London, the Mrs wanted seaside, so we went to Brighton via Gatwick for the weekend. If you’ve not travelled before you’ve not experienced the joys of being up at 4am, wrestling a trolley covered in bags and trying to shepherd 2 weans that are desperate to run around, plus their Trunkis, through security and onto the plane. You get used to it fairly quickly, but some elements can be “challenging”
I’d strongly recommend you do this as an overnight, take at least one checkin bag and avoid Loganair or Aer Lingus Regional, especially at this time of year. Being bounced around in an ATR will terrify your kids & you’ll have trouble convincing them to go on a plane again. Stick to somewhere you can get to on a 737 or A32something.
If you do take a bag and are leaving early, use the twilight checkin at Glasgow or Edinburgh if you possibly can, it’ll make life far easier. Neither have family security as far as I’m aware unfortunately. Gatwick does and it’s great.
We did something similar when my older one was 6 months, I’d suggested London, the Mrs wanted seaside, so we went to Brighton via Gatwick for the weekend. If you’ve not travelled before you’ve not experienced the joys of being up at 4am, wrestling a trolley covered in bags and trying to shepherd 2 weans that are desperate to run around, plus their Trunkis, through security and onto the plane. You get used to it fairly quickly, but some elements can be “challenging”
I’d strongly recommend you do this as an overnight, take at least one checkin bag and avoid Loganair or Aer Lingus Regional, especially at this time of year. Being bounced around in an ATR will terrify your kids & you’ll have trouble convincing them to go on a plane again. Stick to somewhere you can get to on a 737 or A32something.
If you do take a bag and are leaving early, use the twilight checkin at Glasgow or Edinburgh if you possibly can, it’ll make life far easier. Neither have family security as far as I’m aware unfortunately. Gatwick does and it’s great.
Sounds like a great idea. However, my wife and I and several friends have done the day trip thing and it doesn't always go to plan. We flew to Belfast for the day and the return flight was delayed by 3 hours, but we were only informed once we were back at the airport, so were hanging round for 5 hours and got home at 2am rather than the planned 11pm. Other friends have done day trips to Amsterdam and Paris and on both occasions the return flights were cancelled.
Personally, if we were going to take the kids at that age we'd do it overnight and make sure the return flight was not the last flight of the day.
Personally, if we were going to take the kids at that age we'd do it overnight and make sure the return flight was not the last flight of the day.
I’d definitely suggest Belfast then as a trial run, I used to drop over there for a night or sometimes just the day from either Edinburgh or Glasgow (good old Flybe)
With kids I guess that does restrict movements but I found the food was good in Belfast & cheap.
There’s two airports - I used to use “ City” mostly but “international” on occasion one way if timings/cost were beneficial. (City is 5-10mins, international 30mins from town)
Plan if you can what you’re doing - St George’s Market is an interesting wander, as is botanic gardens, the red v blue bus hop on / off bus tours informative but maybe not for kids.
With kids I guess that does restrict movements but I found the food was good in Belfast & cheap.
There’s two airports - I used to use “ City” mostly but “international” on occasion one way if timings/cost were beneficial. (City is 5-10mins, international 30mins from town)
Plan if you can what you’re doing - St George’s Market is an interesting wander, as is botanic gardens, the red v blue bus hop on / off bus tours informative but maybe not for kids.
mikef said:
Some strange ideas here on what can be done in a day trip 
Wasn't there a story in the past of 2 women, one in London, one in Newcastle, who wanted to meet for lunch once a month somewhere in between. But comparing rail fares and air fares, they decided on Malaga. Both could be there for 1pm, a nice lunch in the sun, couple of hours to walk it off, fly back in time for bed. Gassing Station | Holidays & Travel | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff