The Caledonian Sleeper Train

20 November 2015

In order to make the most of our weekend trip to London, Nico and I took the Caledonian Sleeper train from Edinburgh to London on Friday night. It’s billed as a fancy, comfortable way to travel the distance without losing any time. With a ‘Two Together’ Rail card, we were able to get the tickets for much cheaper (75 pounds each) than the normal price (100 pounds or more!). With a regular train costing 50 to >100 pounds per ticket, the sleeper is a pretty good deal. 

All aboard!!

We arrived at Edinburgh Waverley at the earliest boarding time (11:00pm), about 40 minutes before the train was scheduled to leave. We walked past the train car with the ‘reclining seats’ and peered into the window and felt happy that we had opted for the twin berths with actual beds. We were checked off a list by the attendant, and then we stepped into the correct train car and worked our way down the tiny corridor to our room.

The room was tiny, but sufficient and cute. It had a sink, two beds, and hangers for coats. There were storage areas for luggage by each bed and there were little flip-out trays for tea service or breakfast in the morning. They even gave us a little packet with a sleeping mask, earplugs, and a little bar of soap! The bathroom was down the hall, but it was the cleanest train toilet I've ever seen. 

Before the train even left, we wandered to the lavish dining car with leather couches and got a snack before bed. The food is supposed to be regional and delicious. We didn’t really get any of the signature dishes (unless you count haggis and bacon rolls) – I guess there’s something to try next time! We were waiting for our food when the train started moving.

The dining car with fancy leather couches and great service. 

Back in our room, we changed into pajamas and crawled into our individual bunks. The beds were comfy enough and, with the sleep masks to block out the bright green night light, we slept relatively well, despite several stops along the way. They add cars to the train on the way to London – the train was a lot longer in the morning than it was when we went to bed!

Normally, arriving early would be great, but it is less exciting when it means the train arrives at 6:15am instead of 7am. Who knew we would wish for a LONGER train ride! Other than being a little sleepy when we arrived, we had fun trying out the sleeper train. On to adventures in London!