By Angie Aspinall
Travel to the Scottish Borders and you will find yourself in a stunning part of the world with plenty of easily-accessible transport links
Getting here
By air
Edinburgh Airport has a transfer time of around an hour to most towns in the Borders. Newcastle Airport and Carlisle Lake District Airport have transfer times of between an hour and a half to two-and-a-quarter hours, depending on your Borders destination.
Travel by air to your Scottish Borders holiday destination
By road
From Edinburgh
To Peebles, take the A703. To Melrose, take the A7. To Kelso, take the A68. Each route takes approximately one hour.
From Newcastle
To Peebles, take the A68 (2hrs 15min)
To Melrose, take the A696 (1hr 39min)
To Kelso, take the A1/A697 (1hr 33min)
From Carlisle
To Peebles, take the A701 (1hr 35min)
To Melrose, take the A7 (1hr 28min)
To Kelso, take the A7 (1hr 34min)
Discover the wonderful town of Peebles
By train
From Edinburgh
Direct travel from Edinburgh Waverley Station to Galashiels or Tweedbank takes approximately one hour on the Waverley line. Trains run hourly throughout the day. Galashiels station is directly across the road from the bus station for onwards travel to other Borders towns.
From Tweedbank station to the nearest town, Melrose, it is approximately two miles, and takes around half an hour on foot. Local taxis are available. The 226 bus journey between Tweedbank Station and Melrose Abbey Car Park takes around 10 minutes. For timetables, visit www.bordersbuses.co.uk.
Travel to Galashiels or Tweedbank in just one hour from Edinburgh Waverley Station
From England
LNER’s East Coast Mainline service stops at Berwick-upon-Tweed. To cross the border into the Scottish Borders, travellers need to change at Berwick and take a local bus to their destination. From Manchester or Carlisle, change at Newcastle to travel to Berwick-upon-Tweed.
By coach & bus
National Express coaches travel to Berwick-upon-Tweed. To cross the border into the Scottish Borders, travellers need to change at Berwick and take a local bus to their destination.
Getting around
By bus
‘Borders Explorer’ is ScotRail and Borders Buses’ all-in-one rail and bus ticket, which enables joined-up journeys between Edinburgh and the historic Borders towns. A ticket includes ScotRail return travel from Edinburgh Waverley to Galashiels or Tweedbank, and any Borders Bus onwards to Borders towns Hawick, Jedburgh, Peebles, Kelso, etc. Services in and around the Scottish Borders are run by Borders Buses. For timetables, visit www.bordersbuses.co.uk.
The Scottish Borders are easily accessible by road
By car
There are good road links between the Borders towns, and driving in this area is an enjoyable way to get around, as most routes provide beautiful, scenic views.
Read more about the Scottish Borders
