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London to Stirling by train
How to take a train from London to Stirling on the scenic route between these cities
How to buy tickets, what's on board the trains, how to use the stations, plus tips for making the most of the beautiful journey
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Routes
From London King's Cross to Stirling
Journey Summary
5hr 16min
Daily
Travel Information
The train service, which is also known as 'The Highland Chieftain', usually departs from London daily at noon (12:00).
On Mondays to Fridays there is usually a second departure from London at 15:00.
Final Destination: Inverness or Stirling
These trains also call at: Falkirk Grahamston
Mon-Fri = 2 x trains per day
Sat/Sun = 1 x train per day
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.
Where to book
| Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| LNER | * | |
| Trainline | * |
On this journey
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
What makes this London to Stirling journey by train special is the combination of Scottish scenery and stunning sea views!
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:
All of the videos were taken from a train travelling in the opposite direction, when travelling towards Stirling, all of these views can be seen from the right.
Travelling by train from London to Stirling is a journey of five distinct phases:
(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) The final part of the journey on from Edinburgh is pleasant, but unremarkable.
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This second version of ShowMeTheJourney is exciting and new, so we are genuinely thrilled that you are here and reading this, but we also need your help.
We’re striving not to let anything get in the way of providing the most useful service possible, hence a facility has been set up with DonorBox which can be used to support the running costs and make improvements.
Instead of advertising or paywalls, your financial support will make a positive difference to delivering an enhanced service, as there’s a lot of ideas which we want to make happen.
So if you have found the info provided here to be useful, please consider saying thank you.
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