Travelling from London to Edinburgh/Edinburgh to Amsterdam

Hi
My partner and I are coming to the UK at the end of August, and want to get from London to Edinburgh. I was thinking the train would be a nice way to travel - what is it like in terms of price/time/comfort etc. Should we go a sleeper or do it during the day time?

Also we want to go on to Amsterdam from Edinburgh. I was thinking of catching a ferry - I've seen that we'll have to train back to Newcastle and catch the ferry from there. Any tips/other options people have to offer for this leg of the trip would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

By day it's a bit over 4 hrs. By night it's the Caledonian sleeper. Refer to http://www.seat61.com. Cheapest tix are those booked as far in advance as possible; tix go on sale about 12 weeks before travel, so keep checking.

As for getting to Amsterdam, you'll probably find the cheapest and quickest option are the same; flying. Refer to http://www.easyjet.com. Again, book as far ahead in advance as poss for cheapest tix, only diff is 12 week rule doesn't apply, tix are already available for August for flying, prices start from £40.99 one way per person and include all fees apart from baggage, booking and credit card fees (which are made extremely obvious at point of paying anyway).

Ferry journey (overnight) looks good value, but for August (high season) you should book soon. Ferry actually departs from North Shields, just east of Newcastle city centre, but near Meadowell and Percy Main Metro stations.

Will need to book train tickets soon as well for good price- end of UK summer holidays in late august (actually, think scotland might've gone back already, but will still be packed). I've done the ferry before and liked it, but won't save you any money over booking cheap flights ahead though. But is an experience, free night's accomodation each way. (Having said that, it does have half of Newcastle drinking crazy amounts on there- the bar is a sight to behold at 3am...)

You can catch a ferry from Edinburgh (Rosyth) to Zeebrugge and then a train from there to Amsterdam.

Also, the place where the ferry goes from in Newcastle is a hole. Got the taxi out there and driver reckoned taking the metro there (with a 30min walk) was a pretty quick way to get mugged

The Rosyth to Zeebrugge ferry is now freight only.
Going by train betwen London and Edinburgh is not much slower city centre to city centre taking into consideration travel to and from airports, and check in times etc.
If you haven't booked accommodation in Edinburgh do it now.

Flying will most likely be cheaper. There are plenty of cheap flights from London to Edinburgh both on BA and the various discount/regional airlines. If I remember correctly it was about 4.5-5 hours by train from Edinburgh to London Kings Cross, back when I took the train quite often. But these days if you book your flight ticket in advance it's often cheaper, even when factoring in the cost of the local transit to the airport.

If you're doing a London - Edinburgh - Amsterdam - London trip, flying will most certainly be the most efficient and probably most cost effective solution. Book separate tickets on Easyjet from London to Edinburgh, and from Edinburght to Amsterdam, and from Amsterdam to London.

Train to Edinburgh makes a nice daytime journey if you're starting from central London and you get to see a good bit of the countryside.

Not much point in flying unless you were out at the airport anyway.

By the time you get to Luton airport (for example) you're about 1/4 of the way to Edinburgh in time terms, then there's check-in time and baggage collection at the other end etc. Not to mention the cost of travel to/from airports.

Then get easyjet from Edinburgh to Amsterdam.

We took the Rosyth ferry to Zeebrugge last year and really enjoyed it but now that it's discontinued, it's not worth trekking back down to Tyneside to take it. It takes about 18 hours all in and isn't cheap.

EasyJet is your best bet. There are other airlines that offer the same service - but EasyJet is quickest, fastest and theoretically cheaper.
Do be aware any hold baggage is charged. Check out their website.
As already mentioned - to get a cheap train, book on-line and get you e-ticket or machine/booking office pre-paid ticket before you travel.
B.A. do flights from Glasgow-Amsterdam taking just under 4 hours, at a cost of between £60 and £80 one way. Yes, a bit dearer and longer, but there'll be no hold luggage charge and you'll possibly get free food and drink on board.
It seems the Rosyth-Zeebrugge Ferry is still running on DFDS's website - but it also seems it'a impossible to buy a ticket....

http://www.norfolkline.com/EN/Ferry_routes/TravelUpdate_RZ/

BA Glasgow to Amsterdam requires a change in London. Not worth risking missing your connection. Could do KLM Edinburgh to Amsterdam 1.5 hours. Web site shows cost as £400+ single but book a return and forget to come back and you can do it for £78. I don't suppose you can claim back the return portion of the fare (£3) but legally you can claim for the unused service charges etc.
Yes the Rosyth Zebrugge ferry still runs. I see it when I walk my dog! - but it is as I said above - freight only.

I did mention that the BA flight takes 4 hours.
Thanks for clearing up the very confusing Rosyth Ferry website info.

I was at a trade show in Amsterdam two years ago but had to do a gig in Glasgow on the Tuesday night.
This is how it went:
Amsterdam Tuesday 4pm: Left trade show, jumped on train to Schiphol with handluggage only
Amsterdam Tuesday 5.30pm: easyjet to Edinburgh
Edinburgh airport Tuesday 6pm: pick up car which I'd parked there on Sunday night before flying to AMS
Drive to Glasgow, park and get onstage just as band is sound checking
Do gig, drive to Glasgow airport, stay at Travelodge, leave car there (for free)
Wednesday 5am: check in on KLM to AMS

It all went great up until then, the plane got diverted to Brussels to refuel because of unexpected weather, but I still was back on the stand at the trade show by 12 noon

Friday, flew back to Glasgow, picked up car and drove home.

That KLM flight is never cheap though. Easyjet's the way to go.

Selecting August 31st, Easyjet single flight paying by debit card with 1 piece of checked in luggage is £50. KLM similarly is £78 (return) so the statement 'Easyjet's the way to go' does not always hold true.. Another thing to take into consideration is departure times. KLM provides greater choice..

*15.... Where are you finding this £78 return with KLM?
The cheapest I can find is over £400 single.

www.klm.com - go for the return option rather than a single. I used outward 31/8 back 7/9 as a test. Don't blame me for the ticketing price logic - I'm only a prudent traveller !

thanks for all the comments!
i'm thinking now that we'll fly to amsterdam from edinburgh, just coz it seems a bit simpler.
still undecided about getting from london to edinburgh - i like the idea of train travel, i just wish i could book it sooner. can anyone give me an idea of an average ticket price? flying out of london seems like a hassle coz the airports are so far out.

also while we're on the topic, can anyone suggest good hostels in london/edinburgh/amsterdam? or even just good areas to stay/areas to avoid.

You'll struggle to find any advance train tickets over 8 weeks ahead of your travel time.
You can however, get a single from London to Edinburgh for around £12-15 on selected dates up to mid-May right now. So that'll give you a good idea of what to expect in August, or thereabouts.
I'll leave others to recommend a room in London and Edinburgh, but as for Amsterdam - I often stay here - and it is quite superb....
http://www.oldquarter.com/

Its a little pricey, but everything about it is just perfect.
For something quite a bit cheaper, I've stayed here too. It's less than a minute's walk from the one above....

http://www.hostel-meetingpoint.nl/index2.htm

A brilliant hostel and very friendly. Just beware though, they charge extra for plastic payment if you just turn up and ask for a room on the day. Get some cash out of an ATM first.