Train vs Rental Car

fhandley · July 14, 2016

Going back to Scotland next year, and I have rented a car twice before but have two other guys with me. We are planning to fly in Edinburgh then train/drive to Highlands (Castle Stuart/Royal Dornoch) for two days before staying in St. Andrews for (Old/New/Carnoustie/Kingsbarns).

I don't have a problem driving but really won't need a car once were in St. Andrews. Has anyone taken the train from Edinburgh to Inverness then back to St. Andrews? I know coming back from Inverness you have to make a stop and take a bus to St. Andrews.

Is it nice just to relax on a train rather than making the 3.5 hr drive after the overnight flight? Can you buy beer or bring beer on train to enjoy the ride?

Any other options someone has is welcomed. Thanks

North Butte · July 14, 2016

Once you reach Inverness by train you're going to need a car to get around in the Highlands. For my part I'd rather just get in a car at Edinburgh and do the entire drive. Probably won't take as long and it's all time spent moving rather than wasted in the switch from train to car and back again.

Plus at the St. Andrews part you'd have buses/taxis/shuttles then in Edinburgh you'd end up with taxis or something. Seems like way too much hassle just to swap out a 150-mile section of driving for train riding.

I've taken the train all the way from London to Inverness and that definitely beats trying to drive all that way IMO. Never done Inverness to Edinburgh but I've driven Dornoch to Glasgow and it wasn't bad.

fhandley · July 14, 2016

Thanks that is kinda what I was thinking. Much cheaper to rent the car for the week then pay for the trains/cabs.

duffer987 · July 14, 2016

You can bring beer anywhere and everywhere ;-)

I'm always a car hire person over public transportation - except when explicitly going to from some spot for a city break, like taking the Eurostar to Brussels or Paris.

Cost wise, you're not really saving much - if any divided between two or more people - and you lose all that flexibility of keeping your own schedule and also not having to lug bags through train stations and into/out of cabs.

If you are comfortable driving, then I'd definitely do so.

North Butte · July 14, 2016

Oh yeah, I hadn't thought about the implication of three train tickets vs. three guys sharing one car. Cost-wise, you gotta hire the car for this one.

My upcoming vacation (solo golf holiday) I really wanted to do a car-less trip since I'm staying just a couple miles from the main place I'll be playing golf. But just a few taxi (or even Uber) rides can add up in a hurry. I think for my trip I calculated that the airport-to-hotel and hotel-to-airport transfers alone added up to like 80% the cost of a one-week car hire.

It may be just me but another nice thing about driving vs. public transport is doing a spur of the moment stop off or adding in a short trip to eat where ever you like. I hate that choice between settling for a greasy burger and chips at the place attached to the hotel versus paying a caddie ten bucks to take me somewhere decent to eat.

fhandley · July 14, 2016

Rental car seems more likely especially since we will play somewhere near Inverness after the Castle Stuart and or Dornoch round. We can also cab it after a few brews anyway but worth it for long drive.

duffer987 · July 14, 2016

Rental car seems more likely especially since we will play somewhere near Inverness after the Castle Stuart and or Dornoch round. We can also cab it after a few brews anyway but worth it for long drive.

Yup and TBH, if you are OK with the thousands of dollars such a trip costs, adding a rental car to it versus train makes next to no difference budget wise. It also enables you to chase the good weather if your trip has some flexibility in it ;)

As you know there are a million sites out there or you might always go with a specific company, but if not I highly recommend holidayautos.co.uk. Back in the day you had to live in the UK to use them, but not anymore, last Sept I got a Ford Focus for 15 days for 138GBP, which was the best deal I found by some ways.

fhandley · July 14, 2016

Rental car seems more likely especially since we will play somewhere near Inverness after the Castle Stuart and or Dornoch round. We can also cab it after a few brews anyway but worth it for long drive.

Yup and TBH, if you are OK with the thousands of dollars such a trip costs, adding a rental car to it versus train makes next to no difference budget wise. It also enables you to chase the good weather if your trip has some flexibility in it ;)

As you know there are a million sites out there or you might always go with a specific company, but if not I highly recommend holidayautos.co.uk. Back in the day you had to live in the UK to use them, but not anymore, last Sept I got a Ford Focus for 15 days for 138GBP, which was the best deal I found by some ways.

Awesome I was going to ask about who to use. I'm a Hertz Gold member but figured that didn't matter on the other side of the pond. Hope the when we go we have the weather they are having today at Troon!

duffer987 · July 14, 2016

Rental car seems more likely especially since we will play somewhere near Inverness after the Castle Stuart and or Dornoch round. We can also cab it after a few brews anyway but worth it for long drive.

Yup and TBH, if you are OK with the thousands of dollars such a trip costs, adding a rental car to it versus train makes next to no difference budget wise. It also enables you to chase the good weather if your trip has some flexibility in it ;)

As you know there are a million sites out there or you might always go with a specific company, but if not I highly recommend holidayautos.co.uk. Back in the day you had to live in the UK to use them, but not anymore, last Sept I got a Ford Focus for 15 days for 138GBP, which was the best deal I found by some ways.

Awesome I was going to ask about who to use. I'm a Hertz Gold member but figured that didn't matter on the other side of the pond. Hope the when we go we have the weather they are having today at Troon!

As am I. When taking trips around North America for long weekends, I'll pay a few extra and go through Hertz to save being stuck in a line for 45mins, when you can just walk straight to the car and get out of the airport; however, for a trip that is a week or two long, if I can save $100 for putting up with standing in a queue I'll do it. That's drinking money... for at least one night.

TBH, you can also luck out and still get Hertz and then call them up and add your number to the account and still get the Gold Service. I've had that happen using Hotwire before.

Nah you want a good two club wind, where's the fun otherwise? ;)

fhandley · July 14, 2016

Rental car seems more likely especially since we will play somewhere near Inverness after the Castle Stuart and or Dornoch round. We can also cab it after a few brews anyway but worth it for long drive.

Yup and TBH, if you are OK with the thousands of dollars such a trip costs, adding a rental car to it versus train makes next to no difference budget wise. It also enables you to chase the good weather if your trip has some flexibility in it ;)

As you know there are a million sites out there or you might always go with a specific company, but if not I highly recommend holidayautos.co.uk. Back in the day you had to live in the UK to use them, but not anymore, last Sept I got a Ford Focus for 15 days for 138GBP, which was the best deal I found by some ways.

Awesome I was going to ask about who to use. I'm a Hertz Gold member but figured that didn't matter on the other side of the pond. Hope the when we go we have the weather they are having today at Troon!

As am I. When taking trips around North America for long weekends, I'll pay a few extra and go through Hertz to save being stuck in a line for 45mins, when you can just walk straight to the car and get out of the airport; however, for a trip that is a week or two long, if I can save $100 for putting up with standing in a queue I'll do it. That's drinking money... for at least one night.
TBH, you can also luck out and still get Hertz and then call them up and add your number to the account and still get the Gold Service. I've had that happen using Hotwire before.

Nah you want a good two club wind, where's the fun otherwise? ;)

That's true, when we played Carnoustie, 2 years ago it was blowing sideways, I was dumb enough to open my umbrella on first tee box, picked it up by the green and promptly packed it away for the rest of the day. Course kicked my butt but had a blast.

HoffTTM · July 19, 2016

Take the rental, much easier and you don't want to be doing a walk to the station in Inverness then get a train to Tain as there is no station in Dornoch and then get a cab (The train line doesn't go across a bridge at the Dornoch Firth, it goes ALL the way around such that a train journey from Tain to Golspie takes an hour when in a car its 20 minutes)

Far better just to drive and stop at whichever distilleries take your fancy.