Scotland Via The Train
 

Hi,
We are planning a trip to Scotland in July and will be only traveling via train, bus etc. I am trying to determine the most cost effective way to purchase tickets. Has anyone had experience using a Scot Rail Senior Rail card? Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Pat

If you are going to do a lot of rail travel -- then the senior railcard will likely be cost effective.

You haven't said what areas you plan on visiting - and a few places are easy by train, though not all that many. Just throwing this out for you to consider - Rabbies is a long standing, very well thought of tour company. They do 1 day up to multi day small group (16 or fewer passengers) tours all over Scotland and if you want to get into rural areas, it is often better to book 1 or more of their tours rather than trying to make the local bus systems work for touring.

https://www.rabbies.com/en

I used a British Rail senior rail card last year for England and Scotland. Since I took the Caledonian sleeper from London to Edinburgh it paid for itself with one train. Whether it is cost-effective for you depends entirely on your itinerary. You need to check each train and add up the savings.

There's no such thing as a "ScotRail Senior Railcard"

There's a national Senior Railcard, available from https://www.senior-railcard.co.uk/, offering the over-60s 33.3% off most railfares throughout the UK for £30, and a ScotRail Club 50, offering the over 50s 20% off some fares on trains operated by ScotRail, for £15

If you're 60 or over and going to be spending, gross, £90 or more on trains throughout your stay in the UK, you'd be mad not to buy a railcard. You don't need to have physical possession of one to prebook the concessionary fare, or to collect prebooked tickets from a machine. You can book the fare online, and buy and collect the Railcard while you're here. You must have the card to buy or collect prebooked tickets at a manned ticket office or to get on the train with a concessionary ticket

Sketch out what you plan to do and then the Scottish experts (not me) can advise better. For lots on trains check www.seat61.com; BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com. If wanting full freedom to hop any train anytime the Scotland Railpass could be on interest if you are taking several trains - https://www.britrail.net/passes/brit...hoCs-UQAvD_BwE

I thought you had to be a UK citizen to get the senior railcard??

No, you just need proof of age.

If you use the link janisj posted you will see that it says "For everyone aged 60 or over".

Okay. I was reading the passport as needing to be UK as it says "or valid UK driver's license". Thanks. You learn something new on Fodor's every day. :tu:

Here's what I did by train one trip:

Night train from London to Inverness

Very scenic train to Kyle of Lochlash - always mentioned as one of most scenic in U.K.

Crossed bridge by bus and went down to catch the ferry to Maillaig -I was on a quick rail trip but you can takes buses around Skye then return to mainland via ferry to Maillaig and take what is often called the most scenic train in Europe and one used in Harry Potter films - like the famous viaduct appearing in several scenes - take it to Fort William or other town and base there perhaps and use buses to take day trips or longer trips into the Highlands by tour bus.

After Fort William comes the unique Great Rannoch Moor, one of the few large wild scenery places in Europe. You can go thru it thru its heart by train - trains on West Highland line heading to Glasgow from Ft William. There is a train station in the middle of the moor with a hotel next to it - great base for those wanting to trek around the desolate moor which is very popular. Special steam trains with old carriages also run part of the route from Maillag.

https://www.visitscotland.com/info/t...annoch-p246531

https://www.google.com/search?q=rann...w=1097&bih=554

Then from Ft William or the Moor or wherever pick up the train and head to Glasgow - nice old town center and neat parks - then take train to Edinburgh - base there and do day trips by trains to places like Stirling and its lovely castle; St Andrews for golf and a sweet seaside town or the Borders Abbey district by bus to Melrose - base there to tour famous abbeys, mainly in ruins but nice.This could be a day trip from Edinburgh or more.

To start you could take a scenic train to Inverness - an unexceptional town but near Loch Nessie and of course the local monster Nessie. And onto Skye, etc.

So there's an easy trip mainly buy trains and a few buses as your OP wished for. It can be easily done without any bus tour.

>> . . . but you can takes buses around Skye <<

>>So there's an easy trip mainly buy trains and a few buses as your OP wished for. It can be easily done without any bus tour.<<

No -- touring Skye is not easy by bus. All you saw was a teeny section of the island from the Bridge to Armadale. A small group bus tour would be much easier and one would see a HECK of a lot more than the 15 miles of the A851 to the Armadale ferry slip. You saw nothing of Skye. Not visiting Skye at all . . . unless one is really just ticking boxes.

The same goes for any rural area of Scotland -- trains go through place - but don't stop in enough of them for useful touring. And the few rural train stations don't have a bus sitting there waiting to take you anywhere else.

You saw nothing of Skye. Not visiting Skye at all . . . unless one is really just ticking boxes.>

Was when I was writing articles on European trains - I had no desire to go around Skye on that quick trip just to check out those 2 famous Scottish trains.

And I was answering the OP's desire for a trip all by train or bus. OP may want to book a tour for Skye since it is impossible you say to get around by bus on your own but otherwise there's one possible itinerary centered around trains and buses.

Buses have to know schedules but idea that Skye can't be done by bus is not true - but like thursdayds says not so easy but if you study schedules OK but depends on where you are going.

OP did not even mention Skye so we can drop that.

>>OP did not even mention Skye so we can drop that.<<

You are right . . . it was you who brought up Skye . . . So we'll gladly drop it.

Poster has not come back - maybe they have a rail/bus route all planned out and just needed info on tickets and Senior Passes and got their answers.

Would be curious to name where they are doing.