We will be arriving in Glasgow by train & will be renting a car. Is there a pickup place at the train staion or do we need to go to the airport? What is the best way to get to the airport & is it a long way?

We will be driving to Campbeltown & Aran & taking mutliple ferries. Would a flexi-pass be our best bet? WE will be there in late May

Anyone stayed near Campbeltown or on Aran lately?

The Aran islands are off the west coast of Ireland. The Scottish island is Arran. The ferry company is Caledonian MacBrayne (www.calmac.co.uk) and their web site has fares; for multiple crossings, they have "hopscotch" tickets which give a discount if you're using more than one ferry route.

Our travel agent was just told that we can not take rental cars on the ferries. Can this possible be true?

Well - if your travel agent thinks you are going to Aran that would be true - different countries! Maybe all the Arran/Aran confusion . . .

But seriously - yes you can take a rental car on CalMac to any Scotish Island. Why are you using a travel agent to rent a car anyway??

We prefer to let a travel agent take care of the big trips out of the contry & we do the little things in the US. Should anything go wrong we like having some one on our side.

Thanks for the help.

Well, since your TA is obviously giving you faulty info you might want to re-think that for future trips.

I missed the first part of yur question before.

I don't KNOW if you can pick up a hire car at Glasgow Central, but I would think so- looking at Google it would appear so.

You might want to think about getting the airport bus from teh station and picking your car up there anyway, simply because it's on the right side of the city and you won't have the traffic and signposting to deal with first off.

Haven't stayed in Campbelltown for many years, and never been to Arran.

Do use the hopscotch or Rover tickets with Calmac.

I'm pretty sure there's one that links into reail fares, so you might get it along with your ticket to Glasgow.

British railway stations, unlike airports, don't have banks of car hire desks. They're usually free standing places reasonably nearby.

Since only you know which station you're arriving at and which hire company you're using, even the greatest experts on this site know a lot less than you about all this. But Glasgow's city centre hire depots are all about half a mile (a few minutes' cab ride) from the two main arrival stations.

Glasgow's layout means they're all a few minutes' painless (by British standards) drive from the main east-west motorway that you'll probably be using to get out of the city.

The airport's a further 8 miles west. Say £20 or so by cab. Cheaper by bus, but the walk to the bus station from either of the main railway stations is a pain with serious luggage.

If it is ARRan that you are to visit, the train that connects with the ferry leaves from Glasgow Central station. Perhaps you could not rent your car until after you have been to Arran. There are buses that meet the boat at Brodick pier and can take you round the island. It is not cheap to take a car over on the ferry and you might be better not to have one, especially if you are only going to spend one day there.

Getting to Glasgow airport by bus is not as difficult as Flanner suggests. The Citylink 905 airport bus starts at the Buchanan Street bus station and picks up passengers at both train stations on its way to the airport.