Basics - The Rough Guide to Scottish Highlands and Islands - page 44

Beware of premium-rate numbers, which are
common for pre-recorded information services -
and usually have the prefix T 09.

PHONING HOME
To Australia T 0061 + area code without
the zero + number
To Ireland T 00353 + area code without
the zero + number
To New Zealand T 0064 + area code
without the zero + number
To South Africa T 0027 + area code
without the zero + number
To US and Canada T 001 + area code +
number

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

made in North America and Australia. Access to
many public buildings has improved, with legislation
ensuring that all new buildings have appropriate
facilities. Some hotels and a handful of B&Bs have
one or two adapted rooms, usually on the ground
floor and with step-free showers, grab rails and wider
doorways. It's worth keeping in mind, however, that
installing ramps, lifts, wide doorways and disabled
toilets is impossible in many of Scotland's older and
historic buildings.
Most trains in Scotland have wheelchair lifts and
assistance is, in theory, available at all manned
stations - for more, go to W scotrail.co.uk and click
on “Facilities”. Wheelchair-users and blind or partially
sighted people are automatically given thirty to
forty percent reductions on train fares, and people
with other disabilities are eligible for the Disabled
Persons Railcard (£20/year; W disabledpersons
-railcard.co.uk), which gives a third off most tickets.
There are no bus discounts for disabled tourists.
Car rental firm Avis will fit their cars with Lynx
Hand Controls for free as long as you give them a
few days' notice.
For more information and advice, contact the
disability charity Capability Scotland ( T 0131 313
5510, W capability-scotland.org.uk).

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
percent of the total bill (unless service has already
been included). It's not normal, however, to leave tips
in pubs, although bar staff are sometimes offered
drinks, which they may accept in the form of money.
The only other occasions when you'll be expected to
tip are in hairdressers, taxis and smart hotels, where
porters, bellboys and table waiters rely on being
tipped to bump up their often dismal wages.

Tourist information

The o cial tourist board is known as VisitScotland
( W visitscotland.com) and they run tourist o ces
(often called Visitor Information Centres, or even
“VICs”) in virtually every Scottish town. Opening
hours are often fiendishly complex and often
change at short notice.
As well as being stacked full of souvenirs and
other gifts, most TICs have a decent selection of
leaflets, displays, maps and books relating to the
local area. The staff are usually helpful and will do
their best to help with enquiries about accommo-
dation, local transport, attractions and restaurants,
although it's worth being aware that they're
sometimes reluctant to divulge information about
local attractions or accommodation options that
are not paid-up members of the Tourist Board, and
a number of perfectly decent guesthouses and the
like choose not to pay the fees.

Working in Scotland

All Swiss nationals and EEA citizens can work
in Scotland without a permit, though Bulgarian,
Croatian and Romanian nationals may need to
apply for permission. Other nationals need a work
permit in order to work legally in the UK, with
eligibility worked out on a points-based system.
There are exceptions to the above rules, and these
are constantly changing, so for the latest regula-
tions visit W ukvisas.gov.

Travellers with disabilities
Scottish attitudes towards travellers with disabilities
still lag behind advances towards independence