Aberdeen Travel Forum

I'm going to travel around the Castle Trail in August from St. Andrews, to Aberdeen, to Elgin or Huntly, to Inverness. What is the best way to get around? Do the buses take people on the castle trail route? Are there trains to and from these cities?

Hi

There is only 1 rail line in Aberdeen that comes from the south and departs to the north. It passes through various towns including Elgin and Huntly, so that could be your principle method of getting around, but once you get to any of those locations, you will need to rely on local bus services.

Why not check out www.visitscotland.com - they may have some better advice.

Have a great time!

The Scotland journeyplanner here:

http://www.travelinescotland.com/journeyplanner/start.do;jsessionid=7208716CCDC361D0CA9CE0E86A488EA5.sc1

will give you details of bus services in Scotland.

You can travel by train to Aberdeen, Inverness and Elgin. www.nationalrail.co.uk for timetables/fares.

www.nationalexpress.com will give you long-distance bus times/fares (e.g. London to Inverness). Takes longer than the train, but is cheaper.

The Tourist Information Offices in Aberdeen, Inverness etc will be able to tell you which castles you can access by public transport. However, there will be some which are inaccessible without a car.

I don't think there is a specific bus which takes the castle trail route other than privately organised tours.

Firstly, St Andrews, Elgin & Inverness are not in Aberdeenshire. They are in Fife, Moray & Highland respectively.

St Andrews has no railway station of it's own. The nearest station is Leuchars (on the Edinburgh to Aberdeen line). There is a connecting bus service from directly in front of Leuchars Station to St Andrews bus station, but the connections (from memory) aren't too great. It is also possible to call a taxi to take you from Leuchars to St Andrews.

As noted above, Huntly & Elgin are on the Aberdeen to Inverness railway line.