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Welcome to visit Scotland, United Kingdom. We offer free
travel and tour information for visitors.
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland, and
the third largest in the United Kingdom with a population of about 980,000
in the city itself, or over 1.8 million if the surrounding towns of the
Clydeside conurbation are taken into account. Located at the west end of
Scotland's Central Belt on the banks of the River Clyde, Glasgow's
historical importance as Scotland's main industrial centre has challenged
by decades of change and various regeneration efforts.
In recent years, however, Glasgow has been awarded the European titles of
City of Culture (1990), City of Architecture and Design (1999) and Capital
of Sport (2003). In 2008, Glasgow became the 2nd Scottish city to join the
UNESCO Creative Cities initiative when it was named as a UNESCO City of
Music (joining Bologna and Seville). In preparing its bid, Glasgow counted
an average of 130 music events a week ranging from pop and rock to Celtic
music and opera. The city has transformed itself from being the once
mighty powerhouse of industrial Britain to a centre for commerce, tourism,
and culture. Glasgow will be the host city for the Commonwealth Games in
2014.
Get In
By plane
Glasgow is served by two main airports close to the city:
* Glasgow International Airport(GLA), located 14km west of the centre of
Glasgow near the towns of Paisley and Renfrew, is the city's principal
airport. There are regular scheduled UK and European destinations, holiday
charters, and the airport is the hub for the Scottish island network
operated by Loganair. Continental Airlines operate a daily service from
New York (Newark), while Emirates operate a daily flight to Dubai. Both
British Airways and British Midland BMI operate frequent shuttle flights
to Glasgow Airport throughout the day to and from London Heathrow. If you
are flying into the UK via Heathrow, you will usually connect into Glasgow
via one of these airlines. EasyJet flies from Luton, Stansted and Gatwick.
There's a frequent shuttle bus Arriva 500 from outside the terminal
building to the city centre, dropping off near both main railway stations
(£3.95 single, £6.30 return; the journey takes about 20 minutes). Slightly
less frequent, but cheaper are the First 747 and 757. Between them these
buses run every 15 minutes most of the day, but leave at different bus
stops. A particular benefit of these services is that First run most of
the bus services in the City and many in the surroundings, and you can get
an all-day ticket (£3.50) that will take you anywhere in Glasgow. In
addition to this, a "railbus" service operates via Paisley Gilmour Street
railway station to the airport; simply get on a Paisley bound train at
Glasgow Central Station, alight at Paisley Gilmour Street Station (20 min
journey), and a connecting bus will take you the 30 minute journey to the
terminal. One ticket (available at the railway station for about £2.50
single, £5 return) will be valid for both legs of the journey.
* Glasgow Prestwick International Airport (PIK), about 50 k m south west
of Glasgow on the Ayrshire coast, is the city's secondary airport and is
the Scottish base for Ryanair (see Discount airlines in Europe) and
several other low cost carriers, as well as some holiday charter
operators. The airport has its own railway station, with two trains per
hour to Glasgow Central (show your flight paperwork to get a half price
ticket; the journey takes around 45 minutes). All trains to Ayr and
Stranraer call at the airport. The X77 bus also runs from Buchanan Bus
Station to the airport throughout the day, and crucially covers the times
(early morning and late evening) when the trains are not running.
By Train
Glasgow has two main line railway stations.
Trains from the south of Scotland, the city's southern suburbs and all
long distance trains from England arrive at Central Station (officially
known as Glasgow Central), while trains from Edinburgh and anywhere north
of Glasgow arrive at Queen Street Station. There are four "shuttle" trains
per hour between Edinburgh and Queen Street during the day; the journey
takes 50 minutes, and a cheap day return costs around £9.50. There is also
a roughly hourly service from Edinburgh to Central which runs via South
Lanarkshire, however it is considerably slower. Both Central and Queen
Street stations have left luggage lockers. The stations are an easy ten
minute walk apart and the route is well signposted, or there's a frequent
shuttle bus between them, which is free if you are holding a through
railway ticket otherwise a fare of 50p is charged if you don't.
Most trains within Scotland and the sleeper services from London are run
by First ScotRail . Daytime direct services from London are run by Virgin
Trains and National Express East Coast . Virgin operate thirteen
direct services on the West Coast route from London Euston; the average
journey time is 4 hours 32 minutes, with one crack express which can
complete the 400 mile journey in just 4 hours 10 minutes. National Express
operate 6 direct services a day on the East Coast route from London King's
Cross via Edinburgh, but at a much slower time of 5 hours 45 minutes. Rail
fares from London to Glasgow vary enormously - the best prices are
obtained by booking an advance purchase ticket online at the train
operator's website, and can run as low as £14 one way, rising to £107 for
an off-peak return. Full fare tickets bought on the day of travel are very
expensive, and can run to over £200 return if travelling at the peak
periods.
First Transpennine Express operate a direct service to Glasgow from
Manchester Airport. CrossCountry run trains from the South West of
England to Glasgow which runs via Birmingham New Street which connects
with many more services into key towns throughout the U.K.
The overnight train sleeper service from London - the Caledonian Sleeper -
runs every night from Euston station except Saturdays, and the journey
takes approximately 8 hours. Bear in mind that if you are travelling alone
you may have to share the sleeping compartment with a stranger of the same
sex. Tickets can be booked in the usual manner at any main line railway
station in Britain, and the cost of a return journey to Glasgow from
London varies from around £100 for two one-way "Advance" tickets rising to
the full open return fare of £165. You can also travel for around £23
one-way in a seated carriage or £95 return (full fare). Certain BritRail
passes can be used to buy tickets on the Sleeper trains - check before
leaving your home country.
However, heavily discounted all inclusive (berth + travel) one-way tickets
on the Caledonian Sleeper known as "Bargain Berths" are available for £19,
£29, £39 or £49 depending on how early you book, but confusingly these
cannot be bought from a railway station in the normal way - they can only
be purchased from the First ScotRail website and you will be emailed an
e-ticket (similar to an airline) which you must print out and show to the
conductor at the platform before getting on the train.
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