How To Travel Around Scotland

The biggest question I had before I started my travels around Scotland was, “Do I need a car to travel around Scotland or can I just use public transport?”

To answer the question very quickly, you don’t need a car to travel around Scotland as public transport is very good and it can take you to some very remote places. But saying this I brought a car for other reasons and I’m so glad I did!

In this article, I will be talking about all the positives and negatives of Scottish public transport, The benefits of owning a car to see Scotland and giving you advice on where to see and how to get there.

(This article is still perfect for you guys that can’t or don’t want to drive there are lots of tips for you guys too!)

I decided to write this article at a time when my car is broken down and I’m weighing up costs vs advantages.

Positives and negatives of public transport when travelling Around Scotland

Public Transport in Scotland is fantastic, but I can say there are many issues with it too! Especially when compared to public transport in other parts of Europe and other places in the world.

Negatives of Public transport when travelling Scotland

Let’s start with the negatives of public transport, as there are a few main issues I found when trying to explore Scotland.

Price

If you have looked into public transport in Scotland, you will notice very quickly that the price can be extremely expensive to travel short distances.

Here is an example to show you the difference in price, If you were to travel 140 miles in Australia (going from Newcastle to Wollongong ) on the train (on a Saturday) it would cost around £4.40 (GBP) whereas it can easily cost 6 times that on trains in Scotland. Edinburgh to Aberdeen £29.20 (Saturday)

This might make Australia sound cheap but a lot of the world has much cheaper public transport due to the country trying to promote the use of these transports over driving.

There are ways to get cheaper transport in Scotland

The first way is to know the cheapest transport for the job. Here is that run down.

• For short journeys take the bus. (1 mile to 10 miles)
• Medium journeys take the train (10 miles to 25 miles)
• Long Journeys take a coach (25 miles plus)
• Out of Scotland, Fly. Aeroplanes can be weirdly cheap.

The second way is to look for discounts.

• Buses have daily and weekly passes
• Trains have travel cards that can get you a third off if you fall into the right age bracket
• Big city to city coaches can be very cheap (Companies like Megabus). Might be worth travelling back to the nearest Big city (Glasgow, Edinburgh) and then using the coach service.
• Aeroplanes can be cheap and if you look at comparison sites, my favourite is Kayak, Skyscanner, Google and looking direct with Ryanair or Easyjet
• There are promotions, Like trains from Glasgow to London

Time of Travel

As much as the price was a bit of a killer to travel around Scotland, Cars are not cheap too. The time of travel is the main reason I moved to a car.

When you head into the cities, it can be common to find night buses. But when you head out into the sticks you can find public transport services run not very often. A couple of coaches a day. Making day trips much harder to do. meaning you have to stay overnight. Even if you’re not travelling very far.

Unreliable

Buses and trains in Scotland can be very bad at actually turning up. When I went to Oban, The train never showed and I was stuck waiting for the next one for 2 hours in a pub. It was a hard day.

Positives of public transport when travelling Scotland

Hopefully, I haven’t put you off travelling by public transport in Scotland because there are a lot of good points too.

You can travel around Scotland

Scotland can be a very big and open place. Some places seem very remote but yet some trains and busses go to a lot of towns.

Crianlarich is a small town in the middle of the west-highland way but yet it has great train links and a coach link to this small town.

It can be relaxing

Don’t get me wrong, if you head out on the last train from a city. 9/10 chance it will be full of drunk people. due to it being the “drunk train”

But during the day, it can be a quiet and relaxing time to travel, I did a lot of reading on Public transport and found time to listen to my music and relax.

You can drink

ok, this goes for all public transport, you can have a drink and not worry about how you’re getting home. Wouldn’t drink on public transport though.

The benefits and negatives of owning a car to see Scotland

It might seem that getting a car is the only way to travel around Scotland with public transport being not as good as in the rest of Europe. But there are good and bad points, Even owning a car, driving might not be your best bet

Negatives of travelling by car in Scotland

Cruising down the Scottish roads isn’t all rainbows and Loch Ness monsters some of the time it’s bagpipes and rain, a lot of rain.

Cars price

Let’s start with the biggest cost to your new road trips and that is owning a car, you looking at £1000 for a car that is old and probably will last you a year. £2000 should get you a car you can probably sell after a year, but cars are expensive.

If you are looking at getting a campervan or something like this, renting might be your best bet as you looking at £10,000 plus

Renting a car you are looking for £20 to £100. Campervans you’re looking at £50 to £200+

Fuel

Don’t get me started on the fuel prices, they are mad! I would tell you how much it costs per mile but even after writing this sentence, the price of fuel has probably doubled.

But as a rule of thumb 10-20p a mile for a cheap runner would be about right. Double it for a big car and maybe double it again for a campervan.

Car UpKeep

If you decide that you want to own a car, the responsibilities don’t stop there. There are a lot of extra costs other than fuel!

MOT- Ministry of Transport is a test that checks your car your roadworthiness and the safety of the car and it’s a test that is needed once a year, without this you can’t legally drive your car in Scotland.
This can be as cheap as £30 but many of us know this is never the case. It’s more like £200 as more than likely your need a pair of tires, a random part and something that you never heard of before.

Service– This is something that is recommended but not legally needed but might be worth it if you don’t want to randomly break down. As much as an MOT is done each year, this doesn’t check or help the running of the car like a service that checks Oil, filters and other liquids that a car needs to keep running. But if you know a thing or two about cars you may be able to do a lot of this yourself.

Breakdown Cover– Again this is something that is not needed but again it might be worth getting. Scotland can be quite remote, Don’t get stuck in the middle of anywhere. I’m glad I had it. This can be brought from places like The AA, RAC & Greenflag even found with some insurance companies.

Insurance- This can be the make or break for your budget if you are lucky to get a deal you might be able to find insurance that covers you for £30 a month that covers accidents but the younger you are, the more accidents you had, and the extras you want, means the more this can be. You can look at above £100 a month.

Road Tax- Every car needed to be taxed, Check that out on the Government website https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-tax

Parking

Parking in Scotland is much better than in England but this doesn’t mean it’s always free or even cheap.

City parking can be expensive but don’t worry there are ways to make it cheaper. Look at parks and rides parking or even look for parking just outside the city and walk into the city.

Remote places have loads of free roadside parking, but saying this parking in National parks or trusts may charge you parking for the upkeep of the area.

Traffic

Scotland traffic isn’t the best at times and there is a couple of places that are bad at certain times. Cities can be bad during rush hours 7-9 am – 5-7 pm the other place that is bad for traffic is Loch Lomond during daylight hours in the summer.

Positives of travelling by car in Scotland

If I haven’t put you off from owning a car already let me explain what the positives are of owning a car in Scotland. There are many!

Travel where and when

As much as there is public transport to take you around Scotland there is nothing better than the freedom of travelling when and where you want.

I use my car for this, to see parts of Scotland that buses don’t travel to, mainly the hills for walking. Also, use my car to get to the airports for early and late flights.

Quicker and direct

You can travel all across the country using the coaches and trains but, it does take a fair amount of time. If you want to get there quickly driving is your friend. You have to wait for the coach service then add stops your adding unnecessary hours to your journey.

For example, if I wanted to go From Glasgow to the Isle of Skye I could go now by car, Taking me 5 hours and 21 minutes but if I wanted to go via public transport I would have to wait until tomorrow at 6 am and it would take me nearly 7 hours.

Stop and enjoy the scenery

This is the best thing about travelling around Scotland and having a car, stopping and enjoying the moment. There have been so many trips where the best thing isn’t the destination but the journey. As much as the destination is the place you hope to be fantastic, the best thing to see is on the way to it.

I have had countless journeys around Scotland and the journey was the better half of the trip. The trip to Loch Ness was amazing due to the stopping at all the little gift shops. The trip to Balmoral Castle which was shut wasn’t wasted as we saw the snowy roads. The random trip around the area of Helensburgh was just beautiful with the stopping on the coast.

Enjoy Road trips

There is nothing better than a Road trip, Scotland has some of the best. When you travel on a road trip it’s sleep, eat and enjoy the drive. Scotland has many great trips. Like the more known NC500 (North Coast 500 or NEC 250 (North East Coast 250) and even some I have made up myself. Like NE Coast Road trip, The Scotland Harry Potter Scene Tour & East Borders of Scotland

If you want to know more about these road trips then check out my YouTube Channel there are tons of videos of road trips and destinations that you need to see when you travel around Scotland, whether you do it by car or even public transport.

Have a great time exploring Scotland! Check out this Article for the destinations

Scotland Hidden gems