The Internet Guide to Scotland provides information on sightseeing, transport, outdoor activities, accommodation, Scottish castles and genealogy, and has travel tales and tips.

The British Tourist Authority has various overseas offices:- 

Country	Address	Phone	Fax
USA	551 Fifth Avenue, Suite 701, New York, NY 10176	212-986-2200
Australia	210 Clarence Street, Sydney, NSW 2000	2-267 4555
Canada	111 Avenue Road, Suite 450, Toronto, Ontario MRS 3J8	925 6326	961 2175
France	Maison de la Grande-Bretagne, rue des Mathurins, 75009 Paris	44 51 56 20	44 51 56 21
Germany	Taunusstrasse 52-60, 60329 Frankfurt	69-238 0711	69-238 0717
Japan	Tokyo Club Building, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100	3-3581 3603

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

Telephoning the UK
Please note that if you are telephoning from outside the UK, you must first dial 44, then omit the first 0 of the UK numbers given in these pages, before dialing the remaining digits.

Currency and rate of exchange
The currency of the UK is the pound sterling. Although Scotland has different banknotes to the rest of the UK, these are still acceptable throughout Scotland. Yahoo keeps up-to-date figures on the rate of exchange.

Driving Times

London to: Glasgow: 406 miles / 650 km / 6hrs Edinburgh: 412 miles / 659 km / 7hrs Glasgow to: Edinburgh: 45 miles / 72 km / 1hr St Andrews 90 miles / 150km 2hrs Edinburgh to: St Andrews 55 miles / 80km 1.5 hrs

Air travel
The major airports in Scotland are:

• Edinburgh Airport
• Glasgow Airport
• Prestwick Airport (30 miles south of Glasgow by the Ayrshire coast)
• Aberdeen Airport (at Dyce)
• Inverness Airport (at Dalcross, 8 miles from Inverness, 7 miles from Nairn)

  Other, smaller, airports in Scotland include: Stornoway (Isle of Lewis), Ballivanich (Isle of Benbecula), Isle of Barra, Isle of Islay, Kirkwall (Orkney), Sumburgh and Lerwick (Shetland), Campbeltown, Wick. Most flights within Scotland are operated by British Airways Express (Tel: 0345 222 111 / Fax: 0141 887 6020).

  British Airways has an online searchable timetable. Tickets from London Heathrow or Gatwick to Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow (around 59 pounds), also to Inverness (more expensive). GO FLY (part of BA) operates flights from Stansted to Edinburgh for 70 pounds. Call 0845 605 4321.

  EasyJet operates one daily cheap flight from Luton Airport (about 30 miles north of London) direct to Edinburgh which costs around 29 pounds (plus airport tax) for a single journey. Telephone +44 1582 44 55 55 or 0990 29 29 29. They also have several flights daily to Glasgow and Aberdeen - all from Luton.

  KLM UK is another company which is offering cheapish flights. Adverts quote 78 pounds return (including airport tax) from London City Airport to Edinburgh, or from Stansted to Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow. Phone 0990 074 074.

  RYANAIR operates flights from Stanstead (near London) to Prestwick (south of Glasgow) for 60 pounds. Call 0541 569 569.

  British Midland (tel: 0345 554 554) has flights from London Heathrow to Glasgow and Edinburgh from 69 pounds return. They also operate from Manchester airport in north-west England.

  There are official web sites for the following English airports based around London:

• Gatwick
• Heathrow
• Stanstead

  Ferry travel
  If you planning to head West during your visit, most ferries in western Scotland are operated by Caledonian MacBrayne ( Enquiries - Tel: 01475 650 100 / Vehicle reservations - Tel: 08705 650 000 / Fax: 01475 637 607). They sail to 23 islands off the west coast and have special tickets for multiple journeys (Island Hopscotch and Island Rover tickets).

  Irish visitors may wish to visit P&O who operate a ferry between Larne in Ireland and Cairnryan in Scotland. For further information on travel between Ireland and the UK click here.

  Rail travel
  The official UK railways web site has all the timetables online. It takes about 4 hours to travel from London to Edinburgh on a day-time train and 5 hours to Glasgow. Overnight sleepers are available. Book 48 hours in advance to get an APEX ticket on a return fare and you will probably get it cheaper (some restrictions apply at busy times). Other savings within Scotland can be made with the Scotrail Rover, Travelpass tickets, Highland Rover and Festival Cities Rover. The Freedom of Scotland Travelpass allows unlimited travel throughout the country on trains plus some buses and ferries. Telephone 0345 48 49 50 for more details.

  Other information on Britrail passes are also available on this commercial site in North America.

  Coach travel
  Coach fares in the UK are very reasonable. 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). You can get tickets for 26 pounds return. There are all sorts of discount cards and rover tickets which can be real bargains too. Phone them for details.

  Scottish Citylink has online timetables for all their services within Scotland. You can buy a Smart Traveller's Discount Card for cheaper fares or get Rover tickets which cover specific regions of the country and allow unlimited travel.

  Timetables of local bus services are available from the relevant local tourist information centres. 

   

  Car hire
  Some of the major rental agencies include:

• Arnold Clark: For Glasgow, West and Southern Scotland telephone 0800 838 245. For Edinburgh, East and Northern Scotland telephone 0845 6074500. Bespoke Highland Tours operate good value car hire deals and self-drive tours in conjunction with Arnold Clark. Hire locations include Glasgow, Edinburgh, Inverness, Aberdeen, Perth, Stirling, Dumfries, Dundee, Prestwick.
• Avis with branches at Edinburgh and Glasgow.
• Budget - telephone 0800 181 181.
• Hertz UK branch HQ at Picardy Place, Edinburgh - tel: 0990 99 66 99 / fax: 0131 557 9674
• Thrify Car Rental in the UK.

  Cycle hire
  A selection of places throughout the country is given by the Internet Guide to Scotland.

  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! During the summer months, the hours of daylight are long and it may not get dark until 11pm. In general the Weather on the East Coast is much drier than that on the West.  The current weather in Edinburgh 45 miles South of St Andrews is shown below :-

  

  Average Temperatures are approximately as follows:

  January 6 C / 42 F February 6 C / 42 F March 8 C / 47 F April 11 C / 52 F

  May 14 C / 58 F June 16 C / 61 F July 18 C / 68 F August 18 C / 68 F

  September 16 C / 61 F October 12 C / 54 F November 9 C / 49 F December 7 C / 45 F