The Scotland trip - booking train journeys

Now that all the essentials for a relaxing sleep are booked, it’s time to crack on and get the tickets for the trains.

To be perfectly honest with you, the peculiarities of the British rail system and the costs involved never cease to amaze me. First of all, there are more train operators than I have fingers on one hand.
Secondly, if you do not book in advance whenever you can, it shows that you are complete fool because a little bit of planning can save you a whole lot of money. 

If you have the luxury of being able to plan ahead enough to know what train you will be taking, make sure to book it weeks in advance. What am I saying, even months in advance. And while we are at it, make sure to check if first class is not cheaper than standard. Yes, you heard correctly! And trust me, if you can travel first class on longer distances, do it. It is very much worth it.

That being said, I have booked first class for the train from London to York with Grand Central and from Glasgow to London with Virgin.
For the journey from York to Edinburgh, standard class in a quiet coach should suffice. For all the other trips I stick to standard class only, since they are small regional trains where the price for the first class ticket is out of sync with the comfort one gets.

All the train operators have the option of either sending me the ticket via snail mail or picking them up at the station with a booking reference. Since I am booking very well in advance and I might be pressed for time once I get to the stations, I have them send me the tickets via snail mail. Life is good!