• Peterborough station by Ben Sutherland

Edinburgh tickets

At New Year, tens of thousands of tourists head north to party in Scotland at Edinburgh's Hogmanay festival (edinburghshogmanay.org). It's the winter equivalent of the Edinburgh Arts Festival. Head for the rail websites to book early for discount fares on your Edinburgh train tickets.

East Coast Trains (eastcoast.co.uk) offer Advance Saver tickets from London Kings Cross to Edinburgh from just £16.50 one way. These are strictly limited and go on sale 12 weeks ahead of your travel dates. You can register online for an email alert to tell you when the tickets for your chosen dates are available.

Further discounts may be available if you use a railcard, like a Family and Friends Card, or travel in a group. Check the details of the offers on the East Coast website.

If you are travelling from outside London, or from a town that is not on the East Coast mainline, you can still buy Edinburgh tickets on the East Coast website, or use another train booking site like the Trainline (thetrainline.com) or My Train Ticket (mytrainticket.co.uk).

For the Caledonian Sleeper trains from London Euston to Edinburgh visit the Scotrail site at scotrail.co.uk. They have a regular offer on cheap Edinburgh tickets in the Bargain Berths section of the site. These tickets offer a sleeping compartment bed on the overnight train, with one way fares priced at £19, £29, £39, and £49, with the cheapest fares going to those who book earliest, or at the least popular times.