ScotRail and LNER run direct from Edinburgh Waverley to Pitlochry, a journey of just under two hours with five stops. There are not many of them: on the weekday we checked, the direct trains left Waverley at 08:38, 10:33, 13:32, 16:33, 17:33 and 19:34. Build your day around one of those six and the trip is as simple as rail travel gets, with the quickest run taking 1h48.
When none of those times fits, changing at Perth costs only about 20 minutes. Trains on that pattern left Edinburgh at 06:36, 09:39, 11:35, 14:41 and 18:41 and took around 2h10, and the 06:36 gets you moving two hours before the 08:38 direct.
A change at Stirling works as well, from 06:32, 09:35, 11:34 and 14:34, at about 2h15 in all. The 19:34 direct is also the latest departure of any kind we found from Edinburgh, so it is the one to make if you are leaving Edinburgh in the evening. Put the three patterns together and there is a way north from the capital at least every two hours or so between the 06:32 and the 19:34.
Routes through Glasgow Queen Street, via Dunblane and Perth, or via Inverkeithing and Dundee also turned up on the weekday timetable. Each of them took more than three hours, so they are only worth knowing about if something has gone wrong with the trains above.
The drive is 71 miles by the M90 and A9 and takes about 1h40, so a direct train from Edinburgh is only about ten minutes slower than the car and spares you the A9.
Pitlochry station is 357 metres from Atholl Road, about five minutes on foot, so the walk into town after the Edinburgh train is a short one.
Journey times and changes below come from the rail and bus timetables for Tuesday 1 December 2026. Weekend and holiday timetables differ, so check the day you travel.
From Edinburgh Waverley on the weekday we checked: 08:38, 10:33, 13:32, 16:33, 17:33 and 19:34.
By road it is about 71 miles from Edinburgh to Pitlochry, mostly via the M90 and A9 — roughly 1h 40m with clear roads. Car parks in Pitlochry are listed on the Getting Here page.