London to Edinburgh by Chauffeur

Plenty of good reasons exist for driving. Luggage that would cost a small fortune in the hold. Dogs. A family who would rather not be split across separate flights. A schedule the airline timetable simply refuses to accommodate. Or a straightforward wish to arrive on your own terms, with the car standing ready once you get there. Where any of that holds, the road wins. Where none of it does, you'll hear as much from us before you book, not after.

Most often we head north on the A1, through Peterborough, Doncaster and Newcastle, then out along the Northumberland coast past Alnwick and Berwick-upon-Tweed before the border. There is another way, the M1 and M6 through Cumbria, occasionally quicker and a good deal emptier, and which we take is decided on the morning itself. Whichever it is, the thing swallows most of a day: eight to nine hours, proper stops included.

Payment comes in the final two hours of it. Up there the A1 hugs the North Sea, past Bamburgh and Holy Island, and the border country beyond it is about as good as long-distance driving gets anywhere in Britain. Guests who break the trip tend to stop near York or somewhere in Northumberland. One punishing day becomes two gentle ones, with a genuinely good evening dropped in the middle.

Every Edinburgh run gets at least two stops built in, and where the clock permits, a sit-down lunch instead of a sandwich bought at a service station. For very long days a second chauffeur can be arranged. Up in Scotland the car may stay with you for touring, since the Highlands, St Andrews and Loch Lomond all lie within reach, or it can head back south and return for you later in the week.