Getting There By Air
Generally speaking, the cheapest and quickest way to travel to Scotland from outside the UK is by air. There are direct flights to Glasgow International airport almost hourly from London's Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton airports. There are also daily flights from provincial UK airports and from Dublin. The cheapest flights leave from London Luton or Stansted, plus a few provincial airports, with Ryanair, easyJet and Go. If you book on-line, fares with these carriers can be as little as £5 one-way during promotions (although taxes can bump up the price quite considerably), but usually you can expect to fly for under £50 return. These tickets are often subject to rigid restrictions, but the savings can make the extra effort worthwhile. Cheaper tickets usually have to be bought at least a week in advance, apply to only a few midweek flights, and must include a Saturday night stayover. They are also non-refundable, or only partly refundable, and non-transferable. A standard flexible and refundable fare from London to Glasgow or Edinburgh will cost at least £150-200 return. There are direct flights from several European cities to Glasgow International: including Amsterdam, Brussels, Copenhagen, Gothenberg, Madrid and Zurich. Ryanair flies to Glasgow's second airport, Prestwick, from London Stansted, Frankfurt Hahn, Dublin, Brussels and Paris Beauvois.
From North America There are direct flights to Glasgow International from New York Newark (Continental Airlines), Chicago (American Airlines) and Toronto (Air Canada). There are also flights from many other US and Canadian cities via London. Icelandair flies to Glasgow via Reykjavik from Boston, Halifax, Minneapolis, New York, Orlando and Washington. Northwest Airlines flies via Amsterdam to Glasgow from Detroit, Memphis and Minneapolis, with onward flights operated by KLM UK. Because of the much larger number of flights to London, it is generally cheaper to fly there first and get an onward flight. For low-season Apex fares expect to pay around US$400-600 from New York and other East Coast cities, and around US$500-700 from the West Coast. Prices rise to around US$700-900 from New York, and up to US$1,000 from the West Coast in the summer months. Low-season Apex fares from Toronto and Montreal cost around CAN$600-700, and from Vancouver around CAN$800-900, rising to CAN$750-950 and CAN$950-1150 respectively during the summer.
Getting There By Road
Bus/coach
Road links to Scotland are excellent, and a number of companies offer express coach services day and night. This is the cheapest form of travel to Scotland: the two main operators are National Express, T08705-808080, and its sister company Scottish Citylink, T08705-505050. There are direct buses from most British cities to Glasgow. Fares from London with National Express are between £28-36 return. The journey takes around eight hours. There are several services daily, with links to other major English cities, including: Manchester (four hours); Birmingham (51/2 hours); Newcastle (four hours) and York (61/2 hours). All long-distance buses to and from Glasgow arrive and depart from Buchanan bus station, on Killermont Street, T0141-3327133, three blocks north of George Square. There's a left-luggage office at Buchanan bus station, open daily 0630-2230.
Car
The main route if driving to Glasgow from the south is the M6, which becomes the A74(M) in Scotland and is dual carriageway all the way from the border. The journey north from London takes around eight to 10 hours. Car hire/rental is expensive and you may be better off making arrangements in your home country for a fly/drive deal through one of the main multi-national companies. The minimum you can expect to pay is around £150-180 per week for a small car. Small, local hire companies often offer better deals than the larger multi-nationals. Most companies prefer payment with a credit card, otherwise you'll have to leave a large deposit (£100 or more). You'll need your driver's licence and to be aged between 21 and 70. Motorcycle hire is very expensive, ranging from around £200-350 per week.
Touching Down
Electricity
The current in Britain is 240V AC. Plugs have three square pins and adapters are widely available.
Emergencies
For police, fire brigade, ambulance and, in certain areas, mountain rescue or coastguard, dial 999.Time Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is used from late October to late March, after which time the clocks go forward an hour to British Summer Time (BST). GMT is five hours ahead of US Eastern Standard Time and 10 hours behind Australian Eastern Standard Time.
