Private Transfer from York to Edinburgh
This fantastic private day trip from York to Edinburgh is one of our most popular private tours. Rather than travelling on to Edinburgh by train (using up a whole day without really seeing the sights along the way), a bespoke private transfer tour takes you through some of the most beautiful coastal scenery in the British Isles, making the most of the fascinating places located between York and Edinburgh.
On the way to Edinburgh – Summary
This bespoke private tour is a fantastic way for you to see some of the amazing sights and locations between York and Edinburgh, including Alnwick Castle, the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, Bamburgh Castle and the Northumberland coast. One of the best things about this tour is that you are gaining an extra day of your holiday – turning a transfer day into a sightseeing tour.
How it works:
Check-out of your hotel in York and join your driver-guide for the journey through Northumberland towards the Scottish border. This ‘transfer tour’ allows you to spend the day exploring the amazing locations and destinations in Northumberland before continuing up to Edinburgh.
After a day of sightseeing, you’ll have the choice to take photos at the Scottish border, before concluding the transfer to Edinburgh with your guide or on a short 45-minute journey by train from Berwick upon Tweed.
Take a look at the ‘suggested itinerary’, add in some of the ‘options to consider’, or simply tell us the sort of experience you would like to have and we will do the rest.
Suggested itinerary:
Start the day with collection from your accommodation in York (or wherever you are staying) at 8:30am and travel out of the city as we begin the journey north.
The first part of the day takes us past Durham and Newcastle before we reach Northumberland. A brief detour of the main route allows us to see a small section of Hadrian’s Wall at Heddon-on-the-Wall, before we continuing to the town of Alnwick (prounounced ‘Anne-Nick’), for a visit to Alnwick Castle. The incredibly well-preserved Norman castle is the seat of the Duke of Northumberland and historic ancestral home of the Percy family. The castle was famously used in the filming of Harry Potter and is a wonderful site to explore. Join a fascinating tour of the castle grounds and learn about the history of Alnwick Castle from the informative guides on duty in the house. You can see the filming locations at Alnwick Castle, while younger visitors might enjoy the broomstick flying lessons!
Continuing the journey north, it’s not long before we reach the Northumberland coast. A scenic drive along the ‘Coastal Route’ passes through Seahouses, where you could enjoy the option of a boat trip to the Farne Islands, where huge colonies of seabirds, including the adorable Puffin, have taken over the uninhabited islands.
We then reach the village of Bamburgh, where you can take a walk along the sand dunes and across the beach on a circuit around the dramatically imposing Bamburgh Castle.
The next part of your tour will be dictated by the tide, which determines whether you can make the road crossing to the Holy Island of Lindisfarne. The ‘island’ is connected to the mainland by a tidal causeway, which means that Holy Island is not always accessible on the day’s itinerary (tide and crossing times are published many months in advance, so the day’s itinerary can be pre-planned). If we are able to get onto Holy Island you’ll have time to walk out to Lindisfarne Castle, visit Lindisfarne Priory and to take in the views of the stunning coastline.
Finally, this private tour ends at the Scottish Border. After pausing for photographs at the border point, you have the choice to catch the train to Edinburgh, only a 40-minute journey away, or continue to the Scottish capital with your driver-guide.
Options to consider:
- Hadrian’s Wall – spend the first half of the day discovering the forts, scenery and sites along Hadrian’s Wall, the dramatic northern frontier of the Roman Empire. You can walk a section of the Wall, visit the Roman Army Museum and see live excavations at ‘Vindolanda’.
- Explore Yorkshire – you can include a tour through the North York Moors as we begin the journey north, with the option to visit Whitby before heading for Northumberland.
- Durham Cathedral – include a visit to the city of Durham and its remarkable cathedral before continuing to Northumberland.
- Farne Island Boat Cruise – plan the itinerary around a boat trip from Seahouses to see puffins, seals and a huge variety of seabirds.
How to book:
Use the form on this page to enquire about booking this transfer tour – tell us when and where you would like to go.
Our transfer tours are competitively priced, available for 1 – 8 people (larger groups can also be accommodated) and run all year round.