Our 2 week tour starts from Glasgow and ends in Edinburgh. While looking at flights from the US, I'm wondering if there are any relatively convenient alternate fly-in locations. I know Glasgow and Edinburgh are only an hour+ apart, so there's that, but if I've got a day and a half to get to Glasgow...where else might I land? I'm looking for flight cost impact, and/or a fun side trip.
Posted by
Royaume-Uni nul points, pas plus
2501 posts
Manchester is the major airport in the north of England. So you could have a day in Manchester or Liverpool.
Fly to Newcastle (via LHR, AMS, CDG, DUB) and you explore castles in Northumberland.
Posted by
Delaware
1376 posts
Hi, Mike,
The only other major airports in Scotland are Aberdeen and Inverness. Flying in to Aberdeen, you would have the option of visiting many of the castles within a short drive of the city, plus the opportunity to have ice cream at the Inversnecky Cafe at the beach front.
Flying in to Inverness would provide you with the opportunity of visiting Culloden Battlefield, if you're so inclined, plus some of the small fishing towns and villages along the Moray coast.
Have you priced the cost of an open jaw flight vs a direct round trip from IND to GLA or EDI? If you go with the open jaw, you'd need to factor in the cost of a one way drop off, if you're hiring a car. If you will be using public transportation for that first day and a half, it's relatively inexpensive to get from Inverness or Aberdeen to Glasgow by bus, and considerably more by train, unless you obtain tickets well in advance. If you are flying in to GLA and leaving from EDI, check to make sure that your airline does not consider that an open jaw ticket.
I hope that you have a wonderful time in Scotland, and that you find somewhere special for that initial 36 hours.
Best wishes for your travels!
(Other) Mike (Auchterless)
Posted by
Freedonia
14939 posts
If you are looking for non-stop fights from the USA--not necessarily Indy--you have London and Manchester.
Manchester has some interesting sites but the airport is a mess. However, it's an easy train ride to Glasgow.
From London, you could get a connecting flight or get a train.
Personally, I would fly into either Glasgow or Edinburgh and spend the extra time exploring either of those cities and getting over any jet lag. The two train companies serving the Manchester-Glasgow and London-Glasgow routes have been having personnel issues with Covid and trains get canceled. If you fly into Edinburgh, you have a choice of a train or a bus to get to Glasgow.
Posted by
RIchmond, BC,Canada
849 posts
I’m assuming you are taking the Rick Steve’s tour that starts in Glasgow so my advice is to fly into Glasgow and spend your extra time there. The tour takes you on a walking tour and you have the afternoon to see a a museum, but Glasgow has more than one great museum. The other thing you could do with an extra day is grab a day tour to Roslyn Chapel or Hadrian’s wall or several other places the tour doesn’t cover, At the end of the tour you could add another day or two to Edinburgh as the tour really doesn’t spend enough time there, either. Flying into any other city means you will be spending time getting to Glasgow instead of visiting more sights.