Destination: Edinburgh

Your guide to travelling to Edinburgh for the first time.

The thought of finally leaving for university abroad always played out as a movie scene in my head, a crossover between an American coming-of-age movie and a typical Hindi film. Fully aware that reality would be different, I let myself live that dream for just a little longer.

When I firmed Edinburgh, I spent a solid week deliberating how to get there. It was a big step – I’d never travelled alone before. Flights were the obvious option, but I quickly realised there’s no direct flights from India to Edinburgh. I was booking my tickets in end-July and I was sure I wanted to get there well in advance of Freshers Week, given that there was a mandatory 10-day isolation still in place in August 2021. The next week, I constantly had 15 tabs open on my browser, trying to find the airlines for my intercontinental journey.

I eliminated Emirates and Qatar first – and my friends will never let me forget it. They are totally not holding a gun to my head as they politely ask me to type Emirates and Qatar are great airlines overall with direct flights to Scotland; the flights are comfortable, the airports and service good, and their student baggage allowance allows about 40kg of checked baggage. Qatar flies directly to Edinburgh, while Emirates flies to Glasgow, from where you can take a train, bus or cab to Edinburgh. (Threat averted.) Lufthansa and British Airways offer similar levels of service and quality, a slightly lower standard than the Middle Eastern airlines, and both allow two checked bags weighing up to 23kgs. Lufthansa is a German airline which needs a transit visa for the layover (as I realised after hours on call with Lufthansa customer care and the German embassy). Both British Airways and Air India offer flights to Edinburgh with layovers in London, but the quality of Air India is um … well, subpar for international flights. The less said, the better. Trust me!

If you land in London, there are three ways for you to get to Edinburgh – the bus, the train or another flight. The journey takes 8 hours by bus (around £15) and 4 hours by train. After taking an 8-hour flight, I would give an arm and a half for a reduced 4 hours and added comfort. Most trains only allow 2 pieces of luggage per person, while buses don't have an official limit. The train goes through a really scenic route and leaves from King’s Cross, which is an hour by tube (around £6) from Heathrow Airport. The alternative way to get to King’s Cross is a cab (around £60), which may make more sense considering the amount of luggage students usually carry, and that takes about a half hour. The train and cab total would cost around £100, and there is the added difficulty of hauling 3 suitcases around a huge, new city. Often, the last train leaves in the evening and it’s important to keep at least 3 hours between when your flight lands and your train leaves, so if your flight lands in the evening and you want to take the train – be prepped for a long, enragingly tiring night in the airport, or worse, the train station.

Alternatively, you could take a connecting flight to Edinburgh, costing around £80. I booked a multicity Mumbai-London-Edinburgh flight with British Airways, ensuring my luggage allowance would remain the same even on the short, domestic flight. Taking full advantage of being a lone female traveller, I asked the flight attendant to move me up to the much more comfortable last row aisle seat from my middle seat earlier. Immigration is usually very straightforward. Make sure you have your offer letter handy, the immigration officer will likely not ask you anything beyond what course you're going for and things along that line. I had a very short layover in London and I could only make the flight because the security had me skip the queue at immigration and security check. Just to be safe, I’d say a 3-hour layover is minimum. Overnight layovers, though, could be an absolute nightmare as some terminals in Heathrow (such as Terminal 5) are very deserted late at night with barely any shops or cafés open, and the baggage check-in counters closed.

The London-Edinburgh flight takes less than an hour, and the first thing you see when the plane lands is a gorgeous row of pine trees. When you get off the plane, the weather isn’t too cold, just enough for a thin jacket or sweater. To get to the Arrivals area from the plane, you need to climb a couple flights of stairs, so I’d say hit the gym (or keep your carry-on light and easy to carry).

Edinburgh Airport, have you looked at Heathrow? Forget about multiple terminals, there isn’t even a separate departures and arrivals section. The upside – it’s very straightforward and you don’t need to walk too much. I went to collect my baggage from the belt, put it all on a trolley and left the airport.

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Just outside the airport is the Edinburgh sign, and it seems like a rite of passage to take a picture (or Boomerang, in this case) and announce to your Instagram followers that you have, finally, landed in Edinburgh. You could get an Uber to your accommodation, but it may be easier to get a black cab from just outside the airport. They are very spacious, and, in my experience, the drivers are super helpful when it comes to loading luggage onto the cab or telling you about the city.

I remember how new it all felt that first time, as I watched the houses and the meadows pass by, walked past the different accommodations, all the stuff that seems normal today. Beautiful still, but almost nostalgic in its novelty. I’m flying BA again this fall and though I know it won’t be the same, I’m just as excited to go back.

Psst, there's a lot more where this came from. New posts every Friday. Follow me on Instagram @diyagoel4712 for latest updates. Cheers!