Scotland

By ship

A regular and extensive ferry service operates between most large islands, and across the Clyde estuary.

Caledonian MacBrayne

(http://www.calmac.co.uk/) usually known colloquially as CalMac is the largest ferry operator and provides services on the west coast and Clyde. Discounts are available in the form of "Island Rover" tickets which allow unlimited travel on the entire network for 8 or 15 days and "Island Hopscotch" tickets which often give discounts on various itineraries.

NorthLink Ferries

(http://www.northlinkferri...) is the state-sponsored ferry operator running services to Orkney and Shetland, from Scrabster near Thurso and Aberdeen.

Pentland Ferries

(http://www.pentlandferrie...) and John O'Groats Ferries (http://www.jogferry.co.uk/) provide alternative routes to Orkney from the Scottish mainland.

Orkney Ferries

(http://www.orkneyferries....) and Shetland Islands Council (http://www.shetland.gov.u...) operate ferry services within Orkney and Shetland respectively.

Hitching

Hitch-hiking is surprisingly easy in Scotland, but better to do outside the big cities. In the Highlands you might need to wait for a long time until a car comes by. General caution must be taken.

By bus

The bus is one of the cheapest way of getting around in Scotland, however it is also the slowest and least comfortable. Bus journeys in and out of Glasgow or Edinburgh at peak times can become very unpredictable due to the congested motorway network in the Central Belt - therefore think twice before using buses as an option to make tight connections with other transport modes. You can get to most large towns and cities on the Citylink bus, but it is more expensive than Megabus. Megabus is a very cheap way to travel, as ticket prices start at £1 if booked weeks in advance, and rising to over £10 for peak-rate or last-minute fares. A 50p booking charge is applied to every ticket.

Megabus departs from Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Perth, going between these Scottish cities as well as to English destinations. Note that with Megabus you can book only online from 45 days to 30 minutes before departure.

Citylink runs a quarter-hourly bus service between Edinburgh and Glasgow which costs £4--you pay the driver. This service runs out of the main bus stations Buchanan Street in Glasgow and Saint Andrew Square in Edinburgh, and the journey takes about an hour and ten minutes--some twenty minutes slower than the train but half the price of a peak-rate train ticket.

Citylink

(http://www.citylink.co.uk/) - journey information and ticket sales

Megabus

(http://uk.megabus.com) - journey information and ticket sales

Megabus services wholly within Scotland are run on a joint basis with Citylink and buses on these routes can be in the livery of either operator. Tickets for these services can be bought on both companies websites, often at different prices for identical services, or on the coach, subject to seat availability.

In the remote areas of the Highlands and on the Western Isles, the Royal Mail operates a Postbus (http://www.postbus.royalm...) service for linking local communities. The service pattern can be very sparse, so care is needed when relying on this for getting around since no other public transport options may be available.

In Argyll and Bute, buses are operated by West Coast Motors on behalf of Citylink. These leave from Galsgow, and travel to Campbeltown and Oban. The journey time to Campbeltown is approximately 4 hours, and Oban is approximately 3 hours. Note that road closures due to accidents and weather conditions can result in the buses having to take significant diversions which can add a large amount of time to journeys. The A83 from Tarbet to Inverary is often closed during winter due to landslides.