Hello-
In the beginning stages of planning a trip to Scotland in early October. Wondering if it's a good idea to fly into Edinburgh (cheaper flights), spend a few days, take a train to Glasgow, and then after a few days there rent a car to tour some more of the country?
Does that sound like it would save $$ of extra days of car rental or is there something I'm not considering and should just rent in Edinburgh? It just seems that we'd have no need of a car in those two cities.
Thank You!
Jodi
You don’t want to have car whilst in Edinburgh or Glasgow, as parking is a hassle and expensive. You plan of taking the train between cities is a good one and the journey is a scenic hour on the train. Hire a car in Glasgow.
I agree, you won't need a car until you are ready to leave town. Be careful, most car rental agencies aren't open on Sundays. Edinburgh is a PAIN to drive in. Done it and won't do it again.
Hi, Jodi,
Agreed with the previous responses. Save yourselves a lot of inner city driving by renting at Glasgow Airport. It's a lot easier to get out of the city area from the airport, as the on-ramp to the M8 is right there.
The train journey is really delightful. If you have the opportunity, take the train that runs through Falkirk High. It's about 15 minutes longer than the southern route, but the scenery is better.
A car is a definite handicap in both Edinburgh and Glasgow. You'd have to find accommodation that had free parking, but even at that, you'd be leaving the car where it is, and taking public transportation or taxis everywhere. So you'd be paying for car hire that you wouldn't even be using.
You should be able to rent at GLA and return the car to EDI with no one-way dropoff charge. Assuming, that is, that you're flying out of EDI.
The #500 express bus from central Glasgow to the airport runs about every 15 to 20 minutes, and costs eight pounds. The car rental agencies are now in a separate area at the far end of the terminal.
Slainte!
Mike (Auchterless)
Thank you all! I'm glad that I'm on the right track so far!
Last April we found renting at a car hire by the train station was hundreds of dollars less than at the Glasgow airport (I believe it was about $600 difference for what we needed). We flew into GLA, took the 500 bus to City Center and picked up our car there. Did the reverse on return. Something to at least consider as you compare options!
