UK and Europe, 2025, Travel and Day 1

I love international travel and I love Europe. I subscribe to an email list that notifies me when good miles deals on business class seats become available. Nine months ago a deal for a one way flight from London to San Francisco came in my email. It was such a good deal so I booked it right away expecting that I would be able to find a flight to Europe, anywhere in Europe, from the west coast. A few months later another great deal from San Francisco to London arrived in my inbox and I hopped on it. I don’t have much interest in spending too much time in London having been there many times. But it’s a great gateway city.

Half the fun of travel for me is the planning. And it’s been fun planning what to do and where to go in between the two bookends of these flights. I thought about returning to Switzerland, going to the South of France, and several other ideas. I finally settled on some time in Edinburgh, Scotland (my first time!), Buxton England and Venice.

Planes, Trains and no Automobiles

I am flying “Upper Class” on Virgin Atlantic direct from SFO to LHR on their 787-900. I’ve never flown this airline so I’m excited to experience their business class product. I get into London late morning and get to spend the day there before hopping on the Caledonian Express Night Train to Edinburgh.

A cheap flight on Ryan Air (think Europe’s version of Spirit Air) from Manchester to Venice. Then British Air (an Airbus 321) back to London and Virgin back home.

Travel Day

After a smooth drive to the airport (Sacramento to San Francisco , SFO) I parked and only had to wait for a few minutes to check in for my flight. I breezed through security and was sitting in the Virgin Atlantic lounge by 1pm. My flight departs at 4:30pm so I have plenty of time to enjoy the lounge food and comfortable seats. The Venison Burger and chocolate lava cake were delicious.

The upper class seats were a little coffin-like. Very narrow. And I’ve never been on a plane where the seat actually flips down to turn into a bed. Usually it just reclines into the lie flat position. Weird, but comfortable enough.

Dinner on the plane was fine and I enjoyed a great video of the Billy Elliot Musical which I saw in London in 2005. I managed to doze in and out for maybe a total of an hour or so before it was time to have breakfast and get ready to land. We sat next to the terminal for 30 minutes waiting for a plane to move out of our gate. Funny how that 30 minutes can feel longer than the 10 hour flight.

London

I breezed through customs and found the Virgin Atlantic Arrivals lounge by around 11:45am where I was able to take a shower and have a cup of coffee. My night train to Edinburgh doesn’t board until 10:30pm so I had 8 or 9 hours to kill in London.

I took the Underground from the airport to Euston Station and dropped off my luggage at the luggage hold place. I then took a journey out to a Hertfordshire.

As some know, I’ve been collecting and restoring old Star Wars toys from the 70’s and 80’s and that is influencing parts of this trip. Hertfordshire has a little brand new vintage toy shop that I’ve been following on Instagram and I thought it would be fun to drop in and check it out. The owner was really fun to chat with and has an extensive knowledge of vintage toys. I ended up getting a tiny Mighty Max playset which is really neat! (I know, not Star Wars, but neat!)

By the time I was done at the shop and made my way back into central London it was around 4:30pm. I was getting really sleepy on the way to Hertfordshire but I caught my second wind coming back so I walked around Kings Cross Station and got some cheese at a little food stand outside the station and took a few pictures here and there.

A quick tube trip back to Euston station so I could look for a place to eat. A pizza joint fit the bill nicely. Their crust is better than mine and mine is pretty good.

I’m now sitting in the Caledonian Sleeper Lounge trying to keep my eyes open long enough to board the train and sleep. This has been a great start to the trip.

A hour and a half later and I am tucked in my little bed on the train. It’s a cute tiny room!

I am so ready to sleep. I imagine I’ll wake up around 3 or 4 in the morning due to jet lag but in the mean time…good night.

Thanks for following along!