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Spirit of Scotland (Scotrail) for an October Trip?

Hello all! Apologies, as I've searched both on this forum and elsewhere and have not quite found an answer.

I'm going to be visiting Scotland this October, and will be spending a couple of days in Edinburgh, a couple of days in Inverness, one day in Glasgow, and then returning to Edinburgh before flying home. (If only we had more time!)

Rather than renting a car at all, my wife and I are preferring to take the train from city to city and then relying on local transportation at each place. As it lists "four days unlimited out of eight" on the website, has that been the best option for others (both rail and local transport) or is the "eight out of fifteen" a better option, especially if we plan on also going places outside of these cities (i.e. distilleries, other local sights)? I'm fairly green to how a pass like this would work, so I'm not sure if you'd really have to plan what days you use the pass for unlimited, and then what days you pay out of pocket for other options.

Posted by
7970 posts

Firstly get yourself a £30 Two Together Railcard. That takes the cost of the 4 in 8 down by £51 and the 8 in 15 by £65, for each person, so by £102 or £130 for the two of you.

At £149/£189 (before railcard reductions) so £42/£21 a day equivalent the 4 days works best for the long trips. Even then it works best for flexibility. If you start booking specific trains with it then Advance Fares are your better choice unless you are also going to be using the Citylink options a lot.

If using Citylink a lot advance train fares and the Citylink Explorer ticket may be the best choice.

In short unless you are being flexible I don't think the 4 in 8 is really worth it. There are better ways to get the same or greater value.

The 8 in 15 is better value- but look at your itinerary- look at the cost of separate Edinburgh Trams or Glasgow subway passes, or the Citylink/West Coast Motors sectors if you plan to use them. It may come out as a wash, or just plain overall more convenient- or may not.