Earlier in the year, I was invited on two ‘luxury’ train journeys. The first was the British Pullman, which I went around the Kent countryside on a couple of months ago, with an excellent ‘murder mystery’ themed lunch.
The second, by invitation of Audley Travel, and their agent member’s club Kindred, was to travel up to Edinburgh on the Northern Belle.
Although I have said it before, we have worked with Audley for nearly 20 years, and were one of the first agencies in the country to work with them. If you book Audley yourself, there is no price difference when booking with us, and you get the benefit of an Audley destination expert and our global knowledge. We will also include a private chauffeur to and from home on any Audley holiday – something you don’t get when you book with them directly!
There was a bit more a logistical challenge with this one, though compared to the British Pullman (which operates out of Victoria), in that we had to catch it in Leeds. Not only that, it was going to be early because we were going up to Scotland and back!
With it being the night of the football, I travelled up quite late from Kings Cross on LNER (which I don’t think is quite as nice as Avanti up to Manchester, and beyond), which got somewhat delayed because of a signal failure and then a slow train further down the line, so I didn’t actually get to Leeds until nearly midnight. Thankfully, for the first night, I stayed at the Malmaison, just around the corner.
Due to engineering work in the Leeds area, the Northern Belle couldn’t make it into Leeds, so we had to go to Woodlesford on the outskirts of the city instead, which made for an interesting morning with the crowds descending upon the small platform, clad with a bagpipe player.
On this occasion, the Northern Belle wasn’t being pulled by steam; instead, a more standard diesel locomotive (not that it’s a problem, just some would like the romanticism of travelling by steam). It did mean that our carriage had air conditioning, though, which, although not as hot as it had been, was welcome.
Heading up to Edinburgh (via York, Durham and Newcastle), we had a brunch. I say brunch, but because of the way it was spread out, it was more like breakfast followed by an early light lunch. There was yoghurt and fruit, pastries, and I had Avocado on toast.
Once we arrived in Edinburgh, our ticket included a tour of the Royal Yacht Britannia, docked in nearby Leith. It’s as well organised as a cruise excursion from the train station, with buses ready and waiting. It was actually really nice that we had a guide on the coach as well to give a commentary of interesting facts and information as we made the 20-minute journey.
As warned by the guide, the entrance to the museum is through a shopping centre (which to their own admission has seen better days), but still its extremely easy and well signposted. There’s a small exhibition as you get in, and once you’ve seen some of the context and history (the exhibition is quite similar to the Titanic Museum in Belfast), they give you what looks like a mobile phone from the 1980’s as an audio guide.
The whole ship experience is most interesting, at least I found it interesting. There really isn’t anything you don’t see, everything from where the crew stayed, rested and worked onboard, right up to the Queens’ residences and the formal dining room. Having been built in the 19050’s, it’s quite a homage to mid-century modern design (with some of the pieces onboard being second-hand from other ships anyway), and its so lovely to see that so much has been preserved in full, for us all to enjoy.
I have done lots of things in Edinburgh over the years, and I would say it’s one of the must-see attractions in the city. Although I did go on a very nice day (it wasn’t too hot!), that might change if it were raining!
We had a couple of hours on the yacht before being shuttled back to Waverley train station, although we still had about an hour and a bit before the train departed. I had a wander around for a little while, as it has been a couple of years since I had been in the city, and given the fire the other day, the trams were not operating, which made quite a difference to the centre and the traffic.
Leaving at about 1730, we got on board the Northern Belle again, departing back to Leeds. This evening we had a six-course meal – I had a Beetroot soup and Sea Bass, with set desserts of a trio of different Strawberry sweets.
Later on, some musicians made their way through the carriage, singing a song to each ‘booth’ of seats individually, rather than the whole. We got back to Woodlesford just past 2230, and then of course had to get back to Leeds (slightly annoying because we were staying at The Queen), which is adjacent to Leeds station!
All I can say is it was a really enjoyable day out, and is a great idea for a special occasion – anniversary or birthday. We’re able to book all of the luxury trains in the UK, with night stays and extensions.
