Scotland is a land of dramatic castles, misty glens and wide-open Highland roads made for epic road trips. From craggy coastlines to mirror-still lochs, it’s a place where history, wild beauty and a touch of magic follow you at every turn.
Public transport in Scotland is actually quite good, with a wide range of trains, buses, ferries and internal flights to choose from:
Hiring a car or a campervan is a popular way to explore, and enables you to reach more remote hard-to-reach areas. Just remember that we drive on the left, and roads in some areas may be narrower than what you’re used to. Check out Road Safety Scotland for advice.
Scotland is beautiful to visit at all times of year, just don’t expect any guarantees when it comes to weather. It’s normal to experience multiple seasons all in one day! Just pack for everything. Scotland is best enjoyed if you’re prepared for anything.
My favourite times of year are April – June (spring flowers and sunshine) and late September – October (dramatic autumn leaves and moody glens).
The main thing to look out for is daylight hours. There’s a huge contrast between summer (early sunrises and long summer evenings) and winter (short days, with the sun setting as early as 3:30pm in December). If you’re planning to explore by campervan, definitely bear this in mind.
If you’re hiking, note that routes that are a moderate, enjoyable walk in summer often become challenging technical routes in winter, requiring crampons and an ice axe.
I always book my accommodation through trusted providers like booking.com and Hostelworld, but always read the reviews carefully. Another popular option for Scotland is hiring a campervan or a car with a rooftop tent. You can also just bring an ordinary tent and pitch up in campsites. Wild camping is also allowed in Scotland, but make sure to always follow the Scottish Outdoor Access Code.
Scotland is part of the United Kingdom, so you may need a UK visa, depending on your country of citizenship.
I always recommend checking the official government advice from your own country of citizenship. For example, I’m from the UK so I use the UK Government’s Foreign travel advice website, and navigate to the “Entry requirements” section of the country I wish to visit. That will show me the most up-to-date advice and the correct links to use to apply for a visa officially, without being scammed.
Be aware that if you just google “UK visa”, you’ll find lots of 3rd party websites offering to do the application for you, which at best will charge you quite a lot of money and at worst may scam you completely.
If you would rather someone else take care of the application for you to save you time and hassle, I can recommend iVisa. iVisa offer an end-to-end visa application service where they take care of the entire application for you. You just need to sign up via their website and fill out the information they need from you for the application. Note that they charge a fee for this service, so it will be more expensive than applying directly yourself.
Here are some of the resources I’ve found particularly useful for travelling in Scotland. Download the apps before you go to ensure a smooth and stress-free experience! Check out my Useful Travel Resources page for my complete go-to list of websites and apps.
Currency:
Great British Pound (GBP)
Capital City:
Edinburgh
Languages:
Scots (various dialects such as Doric, Orkney, etc.),
Scottish Gaelic, Shaetlan, English
