How to take the rail journey from London to Aberdeen

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London to Aberdeen by train

There are two options available for taking the train from London to Aberdeen:
1: taking the scenic journey by day, which involves travelling over the magnificent Forth and Tay Bridges.
2. Travelling overnight on one of Europe's smartest night trains.

Routes you can take to go from London to Aberdeen

When travelling between most cities by train there is only one logical option, though on other journeys there is a choice between different trains or alternative routes. If different options are available you can use the info to decide which is best for you.

Choose one of the following options:

Looking for connections?

Journey guides for travel to London

Route Information

Option 1: travel during the day

Station Guides

At the bottom of this image is the walkway that leads off from the mezzanine level

London King's Cross Rail Station Guide

Aberdeen Rail Station Guide

Travel Time (approx)

7hr 5min - 7hr 15min

Frequency

Daily

Travel Info

Monday-Friday = 3 x trains per day
Saturday-Sunday = 2 x trains per day

Journey Summary:

Is the journey direct? = Yes; more options are available by making connections
Is the journey scenic? = Yes; see the Journey Information
What other tourist locations are long this route? = York, Durham, Newcastle, Berwick-Upon-Tweed, Edinburgh, Kirkcaldy, Arbroath
When is the usual approximate earliest arrival at the destination? = after 17:00 by direct train
When is the usual approximate latest departure? = 16:00 on Monday to Friday; 14:00 on Saturday / Sunday
Are tickets cheaper if booked in advance? = Yes
How soon ahead of travel are tickets typically placed on sale? = 12 weeks; see the Ticket Information
What are the child ticket terms? = aged 5 to 15 = 50%; 4 and under = free
Does the ticket include assigned seats? = Varies; Yes with Advance Tickets; see the Ticket Information
Do rail pass users need to book reservations? = No
Is catering available on the train? = Yes = bar/bistro car and At Seat Catering; Complimentary catering in 1st class, which can include a full meal service

Travel Information

These trains usually depart from London daily at 10:00 and 14:00 and also on Monday-Friday only at 16:00.

Final Destination: Aberdeen

All trains also call at: Dundee; Arbroath, Montrose and Stonehaven

Connecting for the ferry on to Orkney and Shetland

The ferries to Kirkwall on Orkney and Lerwick on Shetland usually depart Aberdeen at either 17:00 or 19:00.
So travellers connecting into the 17:00 departures have the options of:
(1) Taking that night train and spending the day in Aberdeen
(2) Taking the day trains and spending the night in Aberdeen.

However, for the 19:00 ferry departure, the 10:00 train from London is scheduled to arrive in Aberdeen in time to check-in for the sailing.

This is a direct journey

You will be travelling on one of these trains...

The Azuma with 'Together', the Pride-themed livery! Together', our Pride-themed livery with each carriage featuring a different LGBTQIA flag

LNER Azuma (UK) Train Guide

Journey Features

Scenic - YesCoastal views

Good to Know

Yes it takes more than seven hours to reach Aberdeen from London by train, but if you travel by daylight, for more than half the journey time, you’ll be enjoying one of Europe’s greatest coastal train rides.
For once the train nears the Scottish border, the East Coast Main Line, which you’ll be travelling by, lives up to its name.

To take in those spectacular sea views you’ll need to be sat on the right-hand side of the train when facing north.

So to increase your chances of making the most of the stunning journey aim to be at King’s Cross station, ready for boarding, 30 minutes before departure.
Then if you discover when entering the coach in which your assigned seat(s) is located, that it is on the left, check to see if any unreserved window seats are available on the right.
If there are any free, you can occupy them for the journey, as you don’t have to sit in the seat(s) you have been assigned, for your ticket to be valid.

Journey description:

Travelling by train from London to Aberdeen is a journey of six distinct phases:

All of the videos were captured from a train travelling in the opposite direction, so when travelling towards Aberdeen, all of these views can be seen from the right.

(1) For the first 20 -25 minutes the train will be racing through the London suburbs and the commuter towns which surround it - though look out for the view from Welwyn Viaduct around 17 minutes into the journey

(2) Then between the fringes of London and Darlington the train predominantly travels through pleasant, but unremarkable countryside - though if you are in a backwards facing seat on the right, look out for a view of York Minster as the train departs the station.

(3) North of Darlington, approximately 2hr 25mins from London the journey becomes epic!

Around 15 mins after departing from Darlington comes the first highlight of the journey - the stunning views over the town of Durham.
Over on the right before and after the station, the town's stunning castle and cathedral can be clearly seen in all their glory.

After Durham the next highlight of the journey is the passage over the River Tyne, as the train approaches Newcastle Central station and heads over the King Edward VII Bridge.
Looking to the right, five other bridges that span the river can be seen and there are also some great views of the Tyne Bridge as the train arrives in Newcastle station.

(4) Around 30 mins after departing from Newcastle, the village of Alnmouth comes into view on the right, and just to the south of it is the first glimpse of the North Sea, which can be seen on this journey.

For most of the remainder of the journey northwards the route lives up to its name of the 'The East Coast Mainline'.

The next highlight is the view from the majestic Royal Border Bridge as the train sweeps into Berwick-upon-Tweed.

Around five minutes after the train has either passed through or departed from Berwick, it begins to travel across the clifftops as it crosses the border into Scotland - these are the most dramatic coastal views on the journey.

The coast then comes back into view to the south of Dunbar...

...and there are distant glimpses of the sea available until the train reaches the suburbs of Edinburgh.

(5) More than four hours into the journey and many of the highlights are yet to come, which is why it’s a good idea to target the 10:00 departure from London year round, or the 14:00 train in the summer time when days are longer.

For much of the journey between Edinburgh and Dundee the railway line is beside the coastline of East Fife.
Virtually any time a UK coastal train journey is shown on film and television, what will be seen is a train travelling by the sea in South Devon, but from inside the trains, the views are just as spectacular on this journey – and they’re sustained for longer.

Though the views from the train as it travels by the shore are superseded by those from two of the most stunning train journey experiences which can be found anywhere in Europe!
Namely the views from the Forth Bridge, which occur around 12 -15 mins after the train has departed from Edinburgh...

....and the views from The Tay Bridge just before the train arrives in Dundee.

(6) Much of the final part of the journey north of Dundee also offers lovely sea views, particularly as the train leaves the city behind...

...and then north of Stonehaven, the railway line runs across the cliff-tops.

The harbour in Montrose, which is by the station is also rather lovely and is pretty-much the only location on the entire trip, on which the best of the views can only be seen on the left.

The castle and cathedral in Durham from a backwards facing seat to the north of Durham station

Crossing the River Tyne as the train arrives in Newcastle

The view of the Tyne Bridge on departure from Newcastle

The village of Alnmouth with the North Sea beyond

Arriving on the outskirts of Berwick-upon-Tweed

By the sea to the south of Dunbar

Looking towards the Bass Rock near Dunbar

The view looking east on the other side of The Forth Bridge

A typical view as the train travels along the East Fife coast

Passing through Kinghorn

The view from The Tay Bridge looking east

Arriving in Montrose with its Basin harbour on the left

Arriving in Broughty Ferry north of Dundee

North of Dundee on route towards Arbroath

North of Dundee on route towards Abroath

Looking down on spectacular Lunan Bay

On the clifftops north of Stonehaven

Looking left on the Royal Border Bridge just after departing Berwick

A glimpse of the ruins of the smugglers bothy at Lamberton Skerrs south of Berwick

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Tickets

If you want to travel at the cheapest possible price, look for the 'Advance tickets', though the two key things worth knowing about booking and using 'Advance' tickets are:

(1) This type of ticket can't be refunded if you subsequently change your travel plans, or miss the train in circumstances not to do with a connecting train.

(2) A £10 admin fee will be payable if you want to exchange your ticket to a different departure to the same destination, to that which you selected when making your booking PLUS you will ALSO be charged any price difference with the new ticket you'll then have to purchase.

Also what is unusual about booking with LNER is that Advance tickets are now available online up to only 5 mins before departure.
They will have sold out sooner on the most popular trains, and the earlier you can book the cheaper they will be - but before buying walk-up Off Peak or Anytime tickets at a station, just prior to departure, it's worth checking on your phone to see whether Advance tickets are still available, before heading to the ticket counter or machines.

Travelling on Monday - Friday:

Tickets are usually available 12 weeks ahead of the travel date.

However, when you look up a journey you may see dates further ahead on the calendar, but you'll be informed that tickets aren't yet available for those dates.
On the LNER website you'll be prompted to sign up to a Ticket Alert service - if you will be using a PC, over on the right on the screen you'll be taken to, you'll see the furthest date ahead that tickets can be booked for.

Travelling on Saturday-Sunday

Tickets are usually available 12 weeks ahead of the travel date, but maintenance work on the route is periodically undertaken at weekends and if it is scheduled on your travel date, it can affect when tickets will be released for sale.

If you're looking up a journey less than 12 weeks ahead and tickets aren't available, it can be a good indication that works will be impacting on your travel date.
It can be worth checking this on the National Rail website - enter LNER as the operator.

Making an end-to-end journey will still be possible, so it can be worth signing up to LNER's ticket alert service, though you MAY ultimately have to take a substitution bus service for part of the trip.
It's the confirmation of these alternative travel arrangements which can hold up the release of the tickets for sale.

Reservations:

When you book an Advance ticket for a London to Aberdeen train journey, you will be automatically assigned a seat(s), but if you book the other types of ticket ahead, you can request a complimentary reservation - more info on this

Seat reservations aren't automatically included when booking Off Peak or Anytime tickets online, but you can add the complimentary reservation, once you've made choice of departure, either when booking or afterwards.
When booking walk-up tickets at a station ticket counter, if the Advance tickets aren't available for the next departure, confirm whether a seat reservation has been added to the booking of an Anytime or Off Peak ticket, in theory reservations will be available until around 5 mins pre-departure.

If you will be using a rail pass, including a Britrail or Eurail pass, you should be able to obtain a reservation, at no charge, from a ticket counter up until 5 mins before the departure; keep this in mind as it is not the norm when using rail passes in Britain.

Receiving Your Ticket(s) booked with LNER

The four options for receiving your ticket(s) are:

(1) You will receive a booking reference number on your order confirmation email and you can use this reference number to collect ticket(s) from a ticket machine.
Some stations will have dedicated ticket collection machines, but standard ticket machines will also have an option for collecting pre-booked tickets.

You will need to enter your reference number into the machine, so make sure you'll have easy access to it when you are using the machine.
You will also need to insert the specific credit or debit card you used when making the booking, so have that with you too.

Showing the email you have received to staff at the ticket gates won't get you on to the train, nor will this be valid if you can only show the email to the conductor when you are on the train.

If you forget to bring your ticket(s) with you to the station, but do have the card with you that you used when booking, you can use the machines to collect your ticket(s).

Take your time and take care that you have picked up all your ticket(s) and seat reservations.

(2) Print off the tickets you receive before heading to the station - the instructions for doing this are available here.

(3) Opt to pay an additional charge to have your tickets posted to you; not available when booking tickets from outside the UK.

(4) Mobile tickets - if you select this option when making a booking you will need to download the LNER Travel Buddy app so that you can 'Activate' your ticket.

The LNER website states that 'Advance' tickets will be automatically activated, but there's no suggestion on the LNER website that it will be OK to save the ticket(s) you will receive as a PDF to your mobile device.
So download the app to be sure that you can use a mobile ticket.

The potential to save by splitting tickets on Trainline

It can be worth looking up this journey on Trainline.

It can be possible to save money by using split ticketing, with the booking process being no more complicated than booking conventional tickets - find out more.