Four & Five Star Quality B&Bs in Scotland Travel & Transport Guide for your visit to Scotland

Useful info addresses - Disabled access
Online Maps - Money
Travel by air - ferry - train - coach
Car hire - Bike hire
Scottish weather

Useful info addresses

Visit the official UK Government Foreign Office web site for all information about Visa Requirements.

If living outside the UK, you may find it helpful to contact Visit Britain / British Tourist Authority which has overseas offices in numerous countries.

First time visitors

• www.i-uk.com: UK Government web site
• Driving in the UK

Contacts for disabled travellers

• Capability Scotland which offers an Advice Service at 11 Ellersly Road, Edinburgh EH12 6HY. Tel: 0131 313 5510. Fax: 0131 346 1681.
• Holiday Care Service. Tel: 01293 774 535 / Fax: 01293 784 647
• Allgohere.com incorporating Everybody.co.uk offers disabled-friendly accommodation listings
• ShopMobility - great scheme offering motorised buggies for disabled shoppers in many UK cities including Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow & Inverness
• Mobility Scotland
• Try the accommodation search engine provided by VisitScotland (the official Scottish Tourist Board). Click on the accommodation section and enter 'disabled' or 'wheelchair' in the General Search box. VisitScotland can also send you a copy of their brochure called 'Accessible Scotland' - phone 01463 723040 or contact them via their web site. The brochure only covers accommodation and visitor attractions which are members of the tourist board.
• The Association of Scottish Visitor Attractions lists contact details for over 400 places - email them about disabled access to the properties you want to visit.

Online Maps

To calculate driving distances, use the RAC route planner or MSN Maps UK.

If you are trying to identify the location of specific places, check out these other sites where you can view searchable maps online:

• Streetmap.co.uk
• UK Multimap.com
• Ordnance Survey Get-a-Map

Money

The currency in the UK is the pound sterling where 1 pound (£) is made up of 100 pence. This is the currency of England and Scotland, although you will find that Scotland has different notes for £10, £20, £50 and sometimes £5 as well. Yahoo keeps up-to-date figures on currency rates (select British Pounds).
Credit cards such as Visa and MasterCard are accepted in major shops and hotels, but not always at small B&Bs.

Travel between Scotland and Ireland

Ferries between Scotland and Ireland:

• P&O: between Larne (in Ireland) and Cairnryan (in Scotland)
• Stena Line from Stranraer (Scotland) to Belfast (Northern Ireland).

• Combined coach and ferry tickets between Belfast and Scotland: CityLink
• Also check out air travel below.

Air travel

For international and domestic flights, see:

• Highland Airways operate an Island Hopper Service linking Inverness - Stornoway (isle of Lewis) - Benbecula, and Inverness - Shetland.
• British Airways online searchable timetable. Tickets from London Heathrow or Gatwick to Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow, also to Inverness (more expensive). Flight connections to the islands of Barra, Benbecula, Islay, Lewis, Orkney and Shetland. GO FLY (part of BA) operates flights from Stansted to Edinburgh.
• EasyJet operates daily cheap flights from Gatwick (London), Luton Airport (about 30 miles north of London) direct to Inverness, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen. Single journey tickets allow flexibility to fly into one part of the country and fly out of another.
• RYANAIR operates cheap flights from Stansted (near London) to Prestwick (south of Glasgow).
• KLM UK is another company which is offering flights from London City Airport to Edinburgh, or from Stansted to Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow.
• Fly Bmi (British Midland Airways Ltd) has a variety of cheap flights (domestic and international).
• cheapflights.co.uk and cheapflights.com (for US residents)

English Airports (based around London): Gatwick - Heathrow - Stansted

Main Airports in Scotland:

• Edinburgh Airport (7 miles from the city centre). Coaches every 10-20 minutes. Car hire and taxis.
• Glasgow Airport ( 8 miles from the city centre). Coaches every 20 minutes direct to city centre. Coach service to railway station 2 miles away. Frequent coach service to Edinburgh. Car hire and taxis.
• Prestwick Airport. 30 miles south of Glasgow on the Ayrshire coast. Coaches every hour to Glasgow. Trains every 30 minutes to Glasgow. 50% discount on rail tickets. Car hire and taxis. .
• Aberdeen Airport (at Dyce 7 miles from city centre). Numerous airlines including BA, Ryanair, Flybe, bmi, Eastern Airways, KLM, Easyjet, etc. Scheduled services include USA, West Indies, Europe, Scandinavia and the Middle East, plus many regional flights. Regular coach service to/from the airport/city at peak times. Dyce railway station is a short distance away by taxi. Car hire and taxis.
• Inverness Airport (at Dalcross, 8 miles from Inverness, 7 miles from Nairn). Frequent bus service to/from Inverness. Train stations at Inverness and Nairn. Car hire and taxis.
• Dundee Airport - flights by ScotAirways to/from London City. Also private planes.

Other airports in Scotland include:

• Stornoway (Isle of Lewis)
• Balivanich (Isle of Benbecula)
• Isle of Barra
• Isle of Islay
• Kirkwall (Orkney)
• Sumburgh (Shetland)
• Lerwick (Shetland)
• Campbeltown
• Wick

For more info on these, visit the Highlands and Islands Airports official web site.

Flights between Scotland and Europe include:

• Ryanair flies from Glasgow Prestwick to Girona (Barcelona), Bergamo (Milan), Ciampno (Rome), Beauvais (Paris), Charleroi (Brussels), Hahn (Frankfurt), Skavsta (Stockholm), Torp (Oslo), Gothenburg.
• Germanwings flies from Edinburgh to Cologne.
• Germania flies from Glasgow Prestwick to Berlin.

Ferry travel

Most ferries in western Scotland are operated by Caledonian MacBrayne based in Gourock. They sail to 23 islands off the west coast and have special tickets for multiple journeys (Island Hopscotch and Island Rover tickets).

Ferries to Orkney and Shetland from the Scottish mainland are run by Northlink Orkney & Shetland Ferries Limited.

Ferries between the various islands of the Orkney group are run by Orkney Ferries Ltd. in Kirkwall - Telephone: 01856 872044 / Fax: 01856 872921.

Ferries to/from Europe:

• P&O North Sea Ferries operate ferry links from Holland and Belgium to Hull (northern England) from where it is a 6 hour drive to Edinburgh.
• DFDS Seaways operate ferries to Newcastle (northern England) from where it is a 3 hour drive to Edinburgh.
• For all the different European ferry routes, visit ferrybooker.com

Rail travel

The main railway lines within Scotland operated by First Scotrail are:

• Between Edinburgh and Glasgow
• From Glasgow south to Dumfries
• From Glasgow south to Stranraer (via the following places on the west coast: Wemyss Bay, Largs, Ardrossan, Irvine, Troon, Prestwick, Ayr, Girvan).
• From Glasgow north to Oban
• From Glasgow north to Fort William and on to Mallaig
• From Edinburgh north to Inverness (via Stirling, Perth, Pitlochry, Blair Atholl and Aviemore)
• From Edinburgh north to Inverness (via the east coast stations of Dundee, Aberdeen and Nairn)
• From Inverness north to Thurso
• From Inverness west to Kyle of Lochalsh

Since there are now so many cheap flights from London to Edinburgh and Glasgow, the rail companies have had to do special deals to compete. It takes about 4 hours to travel from London to Edinburgh on a day-time train and 5 hours to Glasgow. Sleeper trains are available from London to Glasgow, Edinburgh, Fort William, Inverness and Aberdeen.
See the official UK railways website with timetables. You can now book train tickets online.

Savings within Scotland can be made with TravelPass & Rover tickets. For example the Highland Rover allows 4 days unlimited travel out of 8 consecutive days on Highland rail lines plus the Inverness-Fort William-Oban Citylink bus service. The Freedom of Scotland Travelpass allowing unlimited travel throughout the country on trains plus Cal Mac ferries and some bus services is available for 4 days travel out of 8 consecutive days (or for 8 days out of 15). For more details and prices see the special tickets page on the First Scotrail web site.

Coach travel

National Express is probably the biggest company - tel: 0990 808080. It takes almost 8 hours to travel from London to Edinburgh (twice daily) or Glasgow (up to 6 buses a day).

The Scottish Citylink web site gives the timetables of all their services within Scotland (click on Journey Planner). If you are a student aged 16-25, or if you are aged over 50, you can get a Smart Card offering you discount fares. Another option is the Explorer Pass which offers for unlimited travel between certain dates.

travelinescotland.com is the official public transport guide with online timetables and a journey planner.

For all local transport connections in the Highlands and Islands (including Orkney), there are 8 individual printed Travel Guides which can be purchased for a small charge. Contact the public transport section at the Highland Council in Inverness (public.transport@highland.gov.uk or Tel: 01463 702695).

Each island has its own bus service run by a local operator. Some places (both on the mainland and on the islands) are also served by Royal Mail post buses which not only take the mail around to villages, but also transport a few passengers for a small fee. Telephone 0131 228 7407.

Driving Times

London to: Glasgow: 406 miles / 650 km / 6hrs Edinburgh: 412 miles / 659 km / 7hrs Aberdeen: 549 miles / 878 km / 9hrs Inverness: 573 miles / 917 km / 10hrs Glasgow to: Aberdeen: 152 miles/ 245 km / 3hrs Edinburgh: 45 miles / 72 km / 1hr Fort William: 106 miles / 171 km / 2hrs Inverness: 177 miles / 285 km / 4hrs Perth: 61 miles / 98 km / 1hr Oban: 96 miles / 154 km / 2hrs

Edinburgh to: Aberdeen: 131 miles / 211 km / 2hrs Fort William: 138 miles / 221 km / 3hrs Inverness: 162 miles / 259 km / 3hrs Oban: 125 miles / 200 km / 3hrs

Inverness to: Ullapool: 61 miles / 100 km / 1hr Thurso: 116 miles / 187 / 3hrs Oban: 118 miles / 190 / 3hrs Aberdeen: 118 miles / 189 km / 3hrs

Car hire
Some of the major rental agencies include:

• Arnold Clark - telephone 0845 6074500. Bespoke Highland Tours operate good value car hire deals in conjunction with Arnold Clark. Hire locations include Glasgow, Edinburgh, Inverness, Aberdeen, Perth, Stirling, Dumfries, Dundee, Prestwick.
• Avis
• Budget
• Hertz
• Thrify Car Rental
• Experience something different and tour Scotland in a classic car, sports car or 4x4 vehicle from Gran Turismo.

Make sure you have enough petrol (gas) in your vehicle - some islands may only have one filling station. It is more expensive than in North America for example. Current prices in the Highlands and Islands range from 88 pence to over 100 pence per litre for unleaded petrol. (Note that 1 US gallon is about 3.785 litres but 1 UK gallon is 4.546 litres). Diesel is more expensive. Prices fluctuate frequently of course. Yahoo keeps up-to-date figures on currency rates (select British Pounds).

Weather

Scotland is well known for its unpredictable weather. It can change very fast in a matter of minutes, especially in mountain and sea areas. When travelling around Scotland it is always best to be prepared for anything, good or bad. In the height of the summer, the hours of daylight are long and it may not get dark until after 11pm, particularly the further north you are.

Average Temperatures for Edinburgh are approximately as follows:

January 6 C / 42 F	May 14 C / 58 F	September 16 C / 61 F
February 6 C / 42 F	June 16 C / 61 F	October 12 C / 54 F
March 8 C / 47 F	July 18 C / 68 F	November 9 C / 49 F
April 11 C / 52 F	August 18 C / 68 F	December 7 C / 45 F

There are various phone lines you can call for weather updates including:
10-day Weathercall forecast for North West Scotland: 09068 500 425.
Click here for a phone list of other regions throughout Scotland (the Weathercall service uses data provided by the Met Office).

Web sites providing useful weather forecast information include:

• The BBC
• The official UK Meteorological Office including an overview of Scotland's climate
• MetCheck
• Weather Online (inc. current & annual figures, etc.)
• The Weather Chanel
• UK forecasts by Yahoo