Britrail pass?

[Phil]

I'm appreciative of all the advice! I think the newest plan is to take a train from London to Newcastle. Rent a car there, drive to Chirnside for a couple days, drive to Edinburgh, hang out there for a few days, go to St. Andrew's, go to Inverness, loch ness and all that, and then drive back to Newcastle, return the car and take the train back to London.

But perhaps return the car in Edinburgh and take the train to St. Andrew's and on to Inverness? A lot we just want to play by ear when we get there, but I'd at least like to know what sorts of options we have!

There is no train service to St. Andrews - the nearest train stop is Leuchars and then you have to catch a bus from there to St. Andrews. I don't know if every train stops there so you might have to ask when getting a ticket. Similarly Chirnside and the Borders have no train service so it is definitely either a bus or car to go anywhere there. The train from Edinburgh to Inverness takes about 3.5 hours, longer if it stops in Perth. As Jock says, Loch Ness is completely devoid of trains although you should be able to get a bus from Inverness to Fort William and a train from there. I don't know how frequent a service it is or where you would go to catch a bus. It does mean, of course, that you cannot stop or explore any areas. Unless you have business in Newcastle you would be better taking the train all the way to Edinburgh, hire a car there and drive to Chirnside. The A1, particularly south of the border is not a road for the unwary tourist - mostly one lane in each direction, carrying heavy traffic and is notorious for the number of fatal accidents. They even have lots of signs at the roadside informing you how many fatalities!