For my 60th birthday Paula, my wife, bought me a trip on the Caledonian Sleeper from London to Edinburgh. We travelled down early on the train from Holyhead with a day sightseeing in London. We felt like proper tourists on the hop-on hop-off bus we had booked which included a river tour and a guided walk around the area made famous by the Ripper.
Some pictures from the boat on the River Thames
This turned out to be an excellent bargain as we spent virtually the whole day on either the bus or the river tour. We were too tired after all this to go on the guided tour so we found a Wetherspoons and had a pizza and a couple of beers.
Some pictures from the hop-on hop-off bus
We eventually made our way to the baggage drop near Euston only to find it closed and the roller shutters robustly padlocked. With a bit of panic rising we eventually spied a slip of paper sellotaped to the door nearby requesting we call a mobile number to gain access so we could pick up our luggage. To our relief the phone was answered promptly and within 5 minutes the shutters were up and we had a anxiety busting reunification with our suitcases.
Feeling relieved we made our way to the Caledonian Trains platform but they weren’t allowing anyone through for another hour so we made our way upstairs for a rubbish overpriced coffee in a grubby cafe and sat people watching whilst the pigeons did the work of the staff and picked up all the food rubbish from the floor.
We made our way back to the Caledonian check-in and this time we were ushered through. As we had booked a sleeper cabin we had full use of the Travellers Lounge for a couple of hours before boarding. Coffee, cakes, fruit and crisps were all available fee of charge and, if you wanted to, you could have had a shower as well. We rested out weary legs on the comfy leather sofas before eventually boarding.
Selection of goodies from The Caledonian Express Sleeper Lounge at Euston Station, London.
But there was a problem! Apparently the toilet in our cabin didn’t flush. We were given another cabin further down the carriage with single bunks. This we were instructed, would be our toilet for the night! I started feeling a bit peeved but when they said they’d knock a third off the price I suddenly warmed to the idea!
I still don’t know how much it cost but I know it wasn’t cheap!
The cabin itself was small but as we were only sleeping this wasn’t an issue.
Getting ready for the night on the Caledonian Sleeper between London and Edinburgh
It felt strange to be in bed on a train and I remember waking a coupe of times to the clanking and jostling train hurtling through some unidentified part of the UK at speed in the night. So surreal – I did smile to myself in the dark a couple of times as to how cool this was.
As we neared Edinburgh the cold blue dawn light heralded us with a full English Breakfast in the restaurant carriage. We could have had this in our cabin but we wanted the experience.
We rolled into a cold wintry Edinburgh morning and made our way through the quiet railway station. What a contrast to Euston!
This was my first experience of a sleeper train and I loved it! Would I do it again? Probably, but not for this expensive service, but it has crossed one item off the bucket list. I’d definitely recommend if you get the chance you give it a try at least once if money allows. No guarantee of a good night’s sleep but it’s an experience you won’t forget.
