Iain from The Ski Podcast and Ski Flight Free travelled on the Caledonian Sleeper from London to Edinburgh in February 2024.
This is super simple journey compared to travelling to the Alps, as evidently there is no changing trains in Paris after the initial Eurostar leg of the journey.
London to Edinburgh
I only travelled to Edinburgh as I was going on to Killin to ski Ben Lawers.
However, our guide Blair Aitken told me that many of his clients now take the Caledonian Sleeper direct to Aviemore to maximise use of their time (by travelling overnight) and minimise their carbon emissions (the train is around 10% of the footprint of flying).
You can see the full route map here:
Caledonia Sleeper route map
Points to note
- I travelled in a Classic Twin. These are pretty small bunk rooms, so with two adults you need to take turns using the sink to brush your teeth. I’m sure the Club Twin and Club Doubles are bigger, but maybe next time I’ll test them!
- If you are over 6 foot tall, I think you’d find it tight in the Classic Twin. I am 5’10” and it was fine.
- There’s no way we could have fitted our bags packed full of ski gear in the cabin. However, there was a big storage area in the first carriage of the train
- In our cabin there was a travel pack including eye patches, ear plugs and water. Personally, I didn’t need any of these and slept pretty well.
- WiFi on the train was excellent
- The Club Car is pretty cool, but as it was already past my bedtime when the train left at 23:30, I didn’t spend long in there. If you’re a night bird you could have dinner and a whisky to help pass the journey!
- As with most night trains, there’s a point in the night when the train stops. Don’t panic. It’s just making sure you don’t arrive in Edinburgh ridiculously early!
Iain in the Club Car
Skiing in Scotland
Iain was on his way to ski at Glencoe and Ben Lawers in Scotland. Listen to Iain’s report on skiing in Scotland and taking the train in Episode 202 of The Ski Podcast, going live on 01 March 2024.
