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Travel in Scotland
hurley
Member ✭✭
Is it easy to travel within Scotland without a car?
0
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I recommend reading my preferred 1-week itinerary for Scotland by public transport, this thread on Scottish castles reachable without a car, this other thread on why I found ScotRail's Spirit of Scotland travelpass not worth the money and a full list with links to details of all parts of Scotland I've been to (each linked post contains public transport logisitics).
Happy to help with any specific questions.
Best of Scotland in 1 week itinerary (fully by public transport)
My Scotland travels (includes Edinburgh, Skye, Harris, Mull, Arran, Orkney, Loch Lomond, Islay, Oban, Speyside)
Train:
The main rail routes in Scotland connect the seven cities together. There are many services between Edinburgh and Glasgow, and from those cities trains run to Stirling, Perth, Dundee, Aberdeen and Inverness. All of these cities have direct services to England - Edinburgh and Glasgow have many to the rest of the UK.
There are also train services to large towns such as Dumfries, Lanark, Galashiels, Livingston, Coatbridge, Cumbernauld, Falkirk, Alloa, Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy, Arbroath and Fort William. The Caledonian Sleeper provides an easy, overnight route from London to both the Highlands and Lowlands.
Trains meet the ferries at Ardrossan, Largs, Wemyss Bay, Gourock, Oban, Arisaig and Mallaig, and the station at Thurso is a short taxi trip away from Scrabster ferry terminal.
There are plenty of scenic rail routes, including:
-the Borders Railway from Edinburgh to Tweedbank
-Glasgow to Oban past Loch Lomond
-Glasgow to Mallaig, over the Glenfinnan Viaduct
-the main route to Inverness through the Cairngorms
-Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh via Plockton
-Inverness to Thurso and Wick - 'The Far North Line'
There are also sometimes steam trains on the spectacular line over the Glenfinnan Viaduct between Fort William and Mallaig on The Jacobite.
Bus:
If you're travelling by bus, then the main operators are Stagecoach, First, and Scottish Citylink. Stagecoach and First provide many of the main regional routes in Scotland (there are also local operators such as McGills (in Inverclyde) with their own routes), while Citylink provide longer-distance coach services, such as to Skye and Campbeltown.
Train companies:
Scotrail (for all services in Scotland): https://www.scotrail.co.uk/
Caledonian Sleeper: https://www.sleeper.scot/
Virgin Trains East Coast (for services to Newcastle, York and London): https://www.virgintrainseastcoast.com/
Virgin Trains (for services to the Lake District, Birmingham and London): https://www.virgintrains.co.uk/
CrossCountry (for services to Newcastle, York, Yorkshire, the Midlands and the South West): https://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/
The Jacobite Steam Train: http://www.westcoastrailways.co.uk/jacobite/jacobite-steam-train-details.cfm
Bus companies:
Stagecoach: https://www.stagecoachbus.com/timetables
First: https://www.firstgroup.com
Scottish Citylink: http://www.citylink.co.uk/
https://www.instagram.com/samstevensyrk
I suppose I can do a wee bit of data completeness.
Train companies:
Transpennine Express (connects Manchester Airport to Edinburgh mostly via the VirginTrains route)
Bus companies:
National Express and Megabus provide long distance coach services across Scotland and the UK including some intercity travel in Scotland.
Ferry companies:
CalMac is the main ferry company to all islands except Orkney and Shetland. Northlink connects these two archipelagos to the mainland. Orkney is additionally connected by Pentland Ferries (fastest car transfer) and John O'Groats passenger ferry.
Best of Scotland in 1 week itinerary (fully by public transport)
My Scotland travels (includes Edinburgh, Skye, Harris, Mull, Arran, Orkney, Loch Lomond, Islay, Oban, Speyside)
Ooh, I missed out TransPennine, thanks
https://www.instagram.com/samstevensyrk