Travelling within Scotland

Scotland is a relatively small country and is served by first class air, ferry, rail, road and cycle networks that make travelling around both easy and enjoyable.

Let us illustrate with a hypothetical journey from Gretna Green on our western border with England to John o'Groats, the most northerly point on the UK mainland.

Gretna Green is in the south west of Scotland less than a mile from the border with England. It is a small village to which young English couples used to elope to take advantage of Scotland's different wedding laws which allowed younger marriages than in England.

John o'Groats is a headland in our furthest north east corner. Beyond John o'Groats are the Orkney Islands and then the Arctic.

By Road

Gretna Green to John o'Groats is 360 miles by road. They are linked all the way by A-class trunk roads and the journey time is estimated at 9 hours (of course, you'll want to take longer and admire the scenery).

If you don't have your own car, hire cars are easily available at airports, railway stations and most town centres. American visitors will be pleased to know that automatic models are increasingly available.

It has to be admitted that petrol is not exactly inexpensive in the UK, but there are nationwide networks of petrol service stations throughout the country and out of town supermarkets and retail parks often retail petrol at significantly lower cost than service stations beside main roads.

By Train

You could take a train from Gretna Green station on the Newcastle/Carlisle to Glasgow line, change at Glasgow on to the main line to Inverness and end your rail journey on the scenic north line to Thurso or Wick, small towns of less than 10,000 people both of which are about 15 miles from John o'Groats. From there, regular local buses can take you the last few miles.

By Air

If you're in a hurry, head from Gretna Green to Edinburgh or Glasgow Airport and take a 45 minute internal flight to the airport at Wick, the most northerly on the Scottish mainland. From there it is a short taxi ride to John o'Groats.

By Cycle

If you have time to spare, join the National Cycle Network at Gretna Green and follow it all the way to John o'Groats. The two places are directly linked by the network. You'll find cycle maintenance businesses in most towns along the way, as well as a choice of "Cyclist Welcome" accommodation that provide facilities to store and repair cycles (and sore bottoms).

Travelling with Scotland is as simple as that with a wide range of transport options.

If you're travelling to Great Scotland, the Fair City of Perth in the heart of Great Scotland is 42 miles from Edinburgh and 62 miles from Glasgow. Dundee, the City of Discovery is just under 20 miles further on while St Andrews is just over 50 miles from Edinburgh

Both Dundee and Perth are served by dozens of daily train services from both Edinburgh and Glasgow which go on to link Great Scotland with the cities of Aberdeen and Inverness.

There are about another 10 railway stations within Great Scotland with regular daily services to all parts of Scotland and the whole area is also well served with express coach services that link Edinburgh and Glasgow with the Highlands.

Great Scotland is criss-crossed by an extensive network of main roads, scenic b-class roads and quiet country lanes. Local bus services link all the main towns and villages and you can even join the local postman on his delivery round to our remotest corners on the unique Postbus services.

You'll find a choice of National Tourist Routes within Great Scotland. These are scenic alternatives to main roads and are well-signposted and marked on most maps.

There are also wellmarked networks of National Cycle Routes for the more active, a number of which run through the heart of Great Scotland.

Signposting is excellent throughout the area and there are lots of rest areas and scenic viewpoints where you can get out from behind the wheel or off the saddle and enjoy some of the most spectacular scenery in the world.