London to Gleneagles - fly or drive??

[wax lyrical]

...and if drive, what route?

Car: BMW 335i auto convertible, so may depend on the weather!

I'm going up to Gleneagles for a few days next week for a work jolly. Flights are already booked and paid for, but I'm seriously thinking about driving as the opportunity for hoonery must be amazing.

Thanks in advance for all input.

[Rosscow]

I reckon you could do that in 6 or 7 hours, depending on traffic and where in London you are starting from.

I'd make my decision the night before once the weather had been on the TV

[Alfachick]

Fly.
Unless you're going to be in the area for at least a week it's too long a drive realistically. An idea of travel times, gleneagles to glasgow will be about an hour, then glasgow to liverpool about three hours of fast driving.
Its a long long drive, on boring roads.
If you are going to be in the area long enough to a) recover from the drive and b) have time to sample some of our fantastic scottish roads then drive but if you are just coming up for the weekend then fly.

[nick s]

I'm sure the petrol bill driving a 335i fast to Scotland would be horrific aswell!!!

We had the same dilemma, but we're going to see the other half's family in Stonehaven (Near Aberdeen) But decided to fly in the end!! Don't mind driving there, but don't fancy an 8-9 hour drive home when it's not as exciting!

[wax lyrical]

Thanks for all the input, all! Much appreciated.

So on reflection, I think I'm gonna fly.

[bad company]

Taking the train & hiring a car could be fun. That's what we did.

[downthepub]

Really depends what side of London you live on and what airport you'll fly into at the Scotch end. Assuming flying between LHR and EDI, will take 3 hours (including check-in, baggage faffing, flying time, and disembarking), then with transfers taking an hour at each end, it could be 5 hours to get from door to door. A bit less with only hand luggage. Bing Maps reckons it's 435 miles from Central London to Gleneagles, so you do the maths.... Plus if taking clubs and golfist paraphernalia, might be a little easier?

[g3org3y]

bad company said:

Taking the train & hiring a car could be fun. That's what we did.

Not my cup of tea. Trains in the UK are crap and overpriced.

I'm often going up there as my gf is Scottish and her family live in Peebles (Scottish Borders)

Google maps quotes 378 miles with a time of 7hrs 30 mins. We can usually do it in 6hrs 45mins (my best was 6hrs 15mins). That morning we nip into Tesco, buy a few sandwiches, bottles of coke, sweets etc to eat on the way. We make one stop at Scotch Corner for a wee and petrol.

We've done it so many times now that I'm used to it and with some good music the time goes quickly. For the two of us, it often works out cheaper than flying especially if it is a last minute decision.

It also depends on what you're planning on doing up there and whether you need a car. We always seem to need one, so it makes sense to drive.

Plus if you drive, you get the opportunity for cool photos

[FiF]

Personally, unless the weather was going to be rubbish, I would always drive, especially if not a solo trip. The only exception would be if it were an overnight or short meeting only.

As for train, just done the Worcester to Edinburgh run by train with two of us. As the two of us got off at Droitwich station, knackered, no taxis available, we both reflected that if we'd driven would have had feet up with a cup of tea and a biscuit a good hour earlier.

Not helped by Cross Country trains not serving food in 1st class on weekends, so you have to make do with the hoi polloi offerings of melted Kit Kats and so on.

Have spent enough hours on planes and faffing around in airports in my career, so that isn't an option either, unless forced.

I suppose a nice cruise up the coast in a ship in the manner of the Norwegian Hurtigruten might be an option. < Not serious obviously. Those picturesque destinations of Hull, Grimsby and Hartlepool.