Advice: Flying to Scotland...

When you fly in to Scotland chances are you'll land at Glasgow or Edinburgh International Airports. Both are great!... I've been there. They're modern, comfortable, with restaurants, shops, babycare facilities; everything you'd expect. But if you're like me, you wont want to wait around, you'll want to get your baggage and go...

Currency Exchange

Glasgow

Thomas Cook and Travelex each have units at the terminal and offer a guaranteed £500 worth of at least 10 major currencies. The Thomas Cook Bureau is open for all international arriving and departing flights.

Edinburgh

International Currency Exchange (ICE) operates a bureau located at international arrivals which offers instant availability of at least 23 currencies. But they're only open at limited times, so check first. But there are autotellers which accept most major credit cards.

Travel and Car Rental

Glasgow

You can get into the center of Glasgow by taxi cab or bus, but if you want to be independent and fully mobile when you tour Scotland car rental is the answer. Avis, Hertz, Eurodollar, etc., have desks located in the International arrivals concourse.

Edinburgh

Again, there are buses and taxis and Avis, Hertz, Eurodollar, etc., have desks in the main terminal building, with courtesy telephones for other car-hire companies. (Perhaps the easiest thing is to arrange your car rental in your own country before you leave.)

If you are driving from London the journey time to Edinburgh or Glasgow is about 8 to 10 hours, depending on the traffic. From there to the far North its about the same again.

Public Transport: Railways and Buses

Some people choose public transport because they feel nervous about driving on the wrong side of the road... don't worry! Although driving is on the left-hand side throughout the British Isles, its easy to get used to. Most other drivers in Scotland are courteous and considerate, and many roads especially outside urban areas have little traffic.

Rail

Railway trains used to connect very many towns throughout Scotland, but in the last thirty years the service has been pared down to main routes between major cities. Essentially there's one North-South route on the West, and another on the East. Travelling in Scotland by train can be a great way to get a flavour of the country in a limited time: some routes such as the west coast line north of Glasgow, are especially scenic.

(London Euston West Coast line to Glasgow takes about 5 hours
and London Kings Cross to Edinburgh East Coast line takes about an hour less.)

Special tickets offering unlimited travel over a period of days can be bought. There are a number of different options and an agent such as Thomas Cook will be able to advise.

Buses

Buses connect many smaller towns, but the service can be slow and limited at times. If you are travelling on a low budget they are perfectly good, but you may find they slow your pace, and you may not be able to use them to visit more remote attractions.