Traveling from Columbus to Edinburgh- an adventure

In the summer of 2022, I spent three weeks in the UK, mostly focusing on Scotland. My first travel days were long ones, 26 hours traveling from Columbus to Edinburgh making it quite an adventure. Read on to learn all about it. 

Airport #1 & 2: Columbus to Boston 

On Wednesday I had a 10:10 flight to Boston. I arrived at the airport at 9, and on the plane I was seated next to a very friendly lady. We had a nice chat the entire flight. I arrived in Boston at a bit after noon, and had a two hour layover.  I went to Legal Seafood where I enjoyed a glass of wine, and a bowl of clam chowder. And this was all while eavesdropped on some very interesting people, and then walking around the terminal to stretch my legs. 

Airport #3 & 4: JFK & London Gatwick

My first travel day, Columbus to Edinburgh, was pretty complicated. I had a layover in Boston before arriving in JFK. That flight left at 14:38 but only took an hour. When I arrived in JFK I had to switch terminals because I switched airlines. JFK is not well marked and I had no idea how to find the terminal train. I had to ask a TSA employee, and I found out I had to go through the security checkpoint again (thank goodness for TSA precheck). The terminal had very little in it, and it was a 4 hour layover- so in short it was boring. When we finally boarded we had to sit on the plane for an hour because someone was a no-show and they had to take their luggage out of the hold. It was a less than 7 hour flight, during which time I watched some movies, and slept maybe two hours before arriving in London.

Travel tips from Catching Katie

I get asked a lot how I travel on a budget- and you might be asking now, why such a long travel day? I originally found a very cheap ticket from NY to London on skyscanner. Then then I just had to find a ticket to and from NYC to Columbus. There were no direct flights from Columbus to JFK except really early in the morning. So I settled for a connection in Boston for a “shorter” layover. And then after I bought my ticket I decided I wanted to visit Scotland. For this, I thought a train would be a nice change of pace. So that’s traveling from Columbus to Edinburgh, quite an adventure right?

I will end my trip in London, spending a few days there visiting friends. And with my jumping from place to place and switching airlines, I’m really glad I was able to pack everything into a carry-on and small backpack for my personal item. It would’ve made it a lot more difficult to get around.

Travel day #2: London & Edinburgh

I arrived in London at 8:30am the next morning. British Airline (my second airline) caught up our schedule from the hour we sat in NYC. Because I packed so small, getting through customs was pretty fast. Went through the e-passport line and didn’t have to wait for a suitcase so I was out of the airport before 9:30. I walked to the “underground” station and was immediately helped by an employee/security to figure out how to get to Kings Cross. In London, you don’t have to buy a physical ticket- you can could just use your chip credit card to enter and exit the turnstile! I wouldn’t have known that without the help of the lovely security guard. Waited 10 minutes for my train, which took me into the center of London in less than 40 minutes. Even got to see the Tower Bridge and the skyline (and it was sunny out!). 

British Library 

When I arrived at London St Pancras station I noticed a sign to the British library. So, since I had over 3 hours to kill decided to walk there.

Once again, the security guard upon entering was very kind, and gave me tips about what to see while I was there. He told me the National Library of UK is one of the largest libraries in the world. And, it’s free to visit, unless you want to visit one of the special exhibits.

Unfortunately to get access to the reading rooms you need to go through a sort of interview so I didn’t get to see those (they even have a room of maps). However, I did get to go into the historical room where I saw original scores by Mozart, handwritten manuscripts by the likes of Oscar Wilde and Emily Brontë. They also had notes written by the Beatles, some very old maps and even older Bibles and other sacred texts from all religions, the original Magna Carta, and what is believed to be the oldest complete printed book document in the world- the Diamond Sutra- which dates back to 868.

They also house the British Philatelic collections with thousands of postal stamps that can be pulled from sliding cases in the hallway to be viewed . It was a very cool library, with the building being built in 1998.

St Pancras Hotel 

From there I walked to kings cross station, first passing the St. Pancras hotel (a Renaissance hotel) which is magnificent! Built in 1873 it is stunning outside, and they give tours of the sumptuous interior.

Platform 9 3/4

I still had a little bit of time to kill before my train (they only announce what platform it leaves from about 15 minutes before it leaves) so I had time to visit the most famous platform- 9 3/4! There was a queue to get a picture taken there. I just snapped a quick one between people and headed into the store.

You can buy things to support your house (I’m a Hufflepuff) and even score your own wand.

And taking in the store I decided to grab and coffee and continue people watching before catching my train. At least during my brief time I did see some important London landmarks- 1) a red phone booth (which has seen better days) 2) the “look left look right” street markings {so tourists don’t get hit by cars or the 3) black cabs}.

London to Edinburgh 

My train to Edinburgh left at 13:00 and was about 4 hours long. I was able to get a little sleep, and the scenery was stunning. 

First evening in Edinburgh

I arrived in Edinburgh at 5:23 and decided to walk the 1.4 miles to my hotel. And wow- walking out of the train station I was rewarded with beautiful views of the Edinburgh castle.

The castle sits in top of a volcano! It’s aptly named castle rock, and there has been a castle there from the 12th century. As I walked down Princes Street the views just kept coming, made even more enchanting because I had the view from Princes Street garden. I couldn’t resist stopping over and over to snap pictures. The gardens were created in 1820 when Nor Loch was drained.

There’s actually two gardens, separated by ‘The Mound’ and artificial slope on which the National Gallery and the Royal Academy are both located.

The walk was lovely, and much needed after being seated for so long. Another thing I passed along the way was the my second drool-worthy hotel of the day- the Caledonian. This a Waldorf Astoria hotel that was built in 1903. 

Where I’m staying in Edinburgh

I arrived at my hotel- the Haymarket Hotel. It is located about a mile from the center of town and near a tram stop.

After a quick freshening up I asked for a dinner recommendation and was told to check out Haymarket pub. It was a cute pub, great service, decent food, big beer selection. 

There you have it- my first days of travel from Columbus to Edinburgh. Be sure to check out some of my other blog posts about my trip to the UK, including driving from Edinburgh to Aberdeen and driving the North Coast 500. Catch you soon!