Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
and the
Clydesdale Bank
issue their own
banknotes in all the same denominations, plus a
£100 note. All Scottish notes are legal tender
throughout the UK, no matter what shopkeepers
south of the border might say. In general, few
people use £50 or £100 notes, and shopkeepers are
likely to treat them with suspicion; fear of forgeries is
widespread. At the time of going to press, £1 was
worth around $1.50, €1.20, Can$1.60, Aus$1.70 and
NZ$1.90. For the most up-to-date exchange rates,
check the useful website
W
xe.com.
Credit/debit cards
are by far the most convenient
way to carry your money, and most hotels, shops and
restaurants in Scotland accept the major brand cards.
In every sizeable town in Scotland, and in some
surprisingly small places too, you'll find a branch of at
least one of the big Scottish high-street
banks
,
usually with an
AT M
attached. However, on some
islands, and in remoter parts, you may find there is
only a
mobile bank
that runs to a timetable (usually
available from the local post o
ce). General
banking
hours
are Monday to Friday from 9 or 9.30am to 4 or
5pm, though some branches are open until slightly
later on Thursdays. Post o
ces charge
no commis-
sion
, have longer opening hours, and are therefore
often a good place to change money and cheques.
Lost or stolen credit/debit cards should be reported
to the police and the following numbers: MasterCard
T
0800 964 767; Visa
T
0800 891 725.
the tourist season (Easter to Oct), though ruins,
parks and gardens are normally accessible year-
round. Note that last entry can be an hour (or more)
before the published closing time.
Phones
Public
payphones
are still occasionally found in the
Highlands and Islands, though with the ubiquity of
mobile phones, they're seldom used.
If you're taking your
mobile phone/cellphone
with you to Scotland, check with your service
provider whether your phone will work abroad
and what the call charges will be. The cost of calls
within the EU has decreased significantly within
recent years, but calls to destinations further afield
are still unregulated and can be prohibitively
expensive. Unless you have a tri-band phone, it's
unlikely that a mobile bought for use in the
US
will work outside the States and vice versa.
Mobiles in
Australia
and
New Zealand
generally
use the same system as the UK so should work
fine. All the main UK networks cover the Highlands
and Islands, though you'll still find many places in
among the hills or out on the islands where there's
no signal at all. If you're in a rural area and having
trouble with
reception
, simply ask a local where
the strongest signals are found nearby.
Beware of premium-rate numbers, which are
common for pre-recorded information services -
and usually have the prefix
T
09.
Opening hours and
public holidays
Traditional
shop
hours
in Scotland are Monday to
Saturday 9am to 5.30 or 6pm. In the bigger towns
and cities, many places now stay open on Sundays
and late at night on Thursdays or Fridays. Large
supermarkets typically stay open till 8pm or 10pm
and a few manage 24-hour opening (excluding
Sunday). However, there are also plenty of towns
and villages where you'll find precious little open
on a Sunday, with many small towns also retaining
an “
early closing day
” - often Wednesday - when
shops close at 1pm. In the Highlands and Islands
you'll find precious few attractions open outside
Time
Greenwich Mean Time
(GMT ) - equivalent to
Co-ordinated Universal Time (UTC) - is used from
the end of October to the end of March; for the rest
of the year the country switches to
British Summer
Time
(BST ), one hour ahead of GMT.
Tipping
There are no fixed rules for
tipping
. If you think
you've received good service, particularly in restau-
rants or cafés, you may want to leave a tip of ten
PUBLIC HOLIDAYS
O
cial
bank holidays
in Scotland operate on: January 1 and 2; Good Friday; the first and last
Monday in May; the last Monday in August; St Andrew's Day (Nov 30), Christmas Day (Dec 25);
and Boxing Day (Dec 26). In addition, all Scottish towns have one-day holidays in spring,
summer and autumn - dates vary from place to place but normally fall on a Monday. While
many local shops and businesses close on these days, few tourist-related businesses observe
the holidays, particularly in the summer months.
