Rampant Scotland Directory! The Rampant Scotland Directory is full of information on its various pages but here are specific sources for facts and figures and information about many aspects of Scotland - from the weather to population and advice for travellers.
Other areas and aspects in the Rampant Scotland site of interest to the virtual tourist include:
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Covers a wide range of individual locations in Scotland with a brief four-day forecast. In addition to cities like Glasgow and Edinburgh there are forecasts for most places of any size in Scotland, including:
The BBC Weather Forecasts also cover a good selection of Scottish locations. If you are looking for weather data such as average rainfall, temperature and sunshine the UK Meteorological Office has gathered these together for the UK, including 13 locations in Scotland. The site also provides daily weather forecasts too. If you want to work out your own forecasts (or see what the historical picture has been) the Dundee Satellite Receiving Station has a database and current and historical satellite views of Europe and the North Atlantic. Elsewhere, there are extensive historical weather data about the Fair Isles in Shetland covering 1974 to 1995 - and current forecasts for that area too! Westminster's Scottish arm, headed by the Scottish Secretary, a member of the UK Cabinet. Their pages provide a Scottish Economic Bulletin and a list of the Publications available from the Scotland Office. Facts and information (some a bit out of date) on a range of aspects of Scotland include: Of more general interest the General Register Office of Scotland not only provides more up to date statistics about births, marriages, divorce and deaths and Census Records but also the most frequently used Forenames in Scotland from 1900 to 2000. Scottish Social Statistics has a well presented set of statistics on all aspects of life in Scotland - Population, Households, population by age groups, school qualifications, unemployment, weekly earnings, Social Security benefit, housebreaking, Land area, popular forenames for newborns etc. This website is part of a campaign organised by the Scottish Executive to tackle and eliminate racism. It describes the history of the many migrations to Scotland (including a migration timeline), the experiences of those who now live here and future demographic change. There are also sections on Minority Ethnic Communities in Scotland, Refugees and Asylum Seekers and the Race Equality Scheme. A very extensive site about the UK but most of the information is also relevant to Scotland. So if you want to know how long your dog will be in quarantine (six months) here's where you can find out. While the pages were written from the perspective of a USA reader, most of the information is relevant to people from other countries (and for the people who stay in Britain too!). There are sections or links to appropriate other sites on such subjects as:
In addition to these general sections, there are a large number of Fact Sheets on a wide range of specific subjects, including: |
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This is the official site for US travel to Britain, produced by the British Tourist Authority, providing everything you need to know about visiting the UK (including Scotland, of course). How to get there, where to stay, what to eat, see and do...you name it, they’ve got it. They can provide brochures (including a free "Scotland Vacation Planner"), maps, travel consultants and a toll-free information line or e-mail enquiry service.
The Scottish Abstract of Statistics has been published in printed form for many years and has been a useful source of data on the "human" aspects of Scotland. The entire publication is now available on-line and is divided into the following sections:
The British Council is the UK's international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. Their Scotland Web site has pages on the distinctive Scottish education system, visual arts, creative industries, music, theatre, dance, film and literature and assistance provided for arts professionals. There are links to Science Scotland on research in Scotland and Scottish Network International linking talent from around the world with companies in Scotland. Education UK Scotland also offers scholarships in specific areas.
The Scottish Business Information Service ( SCOTBIS )is part of the National Library of Scotland providing a national business information service to the Scottish community and beyond. It holds an extensive range of resources, with a particular emphasis on company and market information. Users can access the business resources in person in the General Reading Room of the Library's George IV Bridge building or by e-mail.
The Royal Bank's Economic Reports provides a UK Monthly Economic Update, UK Quarterly Economic Update and Interest & Exchange Rate Forecast. There is also an Oil & Gas Index, Scottish Technology Industry Monitor, a Scottish Retail Sales Monitor and an Oil & Gas Service Industry Survey.
The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland carries out a central co-ordinating role amongst the regional police forces across Scotland. The police are divided into eight areas, along the similar lines to that of the local government boundaries which prevailed from 1974-1997 (but with Lothian and Borders combined). The individual police force Websites are: The police forces are supported by a central Scottish Criminal Records Office and central police training is carried out at the Scottish Police Training College at Tulliallan.
Contains a wealth of useful information for all court users, including members of the public. It includes a searchable database of opinions from the Scottish Supreme Courts, access to the full text of all judgments from the Court of Session and selected judgements from the High Court. There is also information about the role and operation of the courts in Scotland.
Long and extensive. Sections include Physical Characteristics of Scotland describing rivers, mountains and lochs.
Based on the 1991 census. British Telecom have made the UK telephone directory accessible online. And unlike their local directory enquiry service, access is free (up to a limited number of enquiries). To be able to use the system efficiently you need to have a surname and an initial and a geographic location, otherwise too many names, addresses and telephone numbers are provided. The site also holds a searchable copy of the electoral roll which lists just about everybody over 18 in the UK.
These are the codes from which you can identify which town or area a UK telephone number comes from. This site provides help in finding the postal codes (equivalent of ZIP codes in the USA) which are used to identify postal addresses in the UK.
Scottish Enterprise via scotland.org have set up a directory of Scottish e-mail addresses. You are invited to register your address and details - and search the entries already there. Registration and searching are, of course, free. ScotEmail is another directory for e-mail addresses. Numbers registered are currently small - but at least the system works!
Answers to lots of questions which the Tourist Board receive on a regular basis. Travel tips, shop hours, money and banking, public holidays, air/sea/land travel, where to obtain Scottish products such as tartans, woolens and textiles. And also where to find out even more information - such as the names/addresses/telephone of local tourist offices around Scotland. Scottish Culture FAQ and Celtic Culture FAQ's are comprehensive files on many aspects of Scottish and Celtic culture and history with answers to lots of questions on such subjects as Scots and Gaelic language, music, literature, poetry, festivals, traditions and culture.
Part of the Information Britain site, you are invited to submit your questions to the experts who will try to respond by e-mail, whether you require Glasgow theatre ticket prices/availablity or boat trip information. They do not charge for this service. For people moving house, particularly from abroad to Scotland, here's the information you need on where to live, where to start looking for a job, where to register for visas and social insurance and even where to get your first bottle of milk! If they don't have the specific information you need, you can email the site. They only cover Edinburgh at the moment but much of the information is of a general nature (such as salary comparison tools, car hire, employment, bank accounts, electricity, TV, mobile phones, currency converter etc), so it is of use all over Scotland.
Not by Dr Johnston's travelling companion but by - a dog! The illustrated pages provide lots of helpful advice on planning your trip, flying in, accommodation, shops, banks, currency and opening times. Not the sort of information you would expect a canine to want to know but useful nevertheless. The Scottish Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux, and its member bureaux form Scotland’s largest independent advice network provide a free, independent, confidential and impartial service.
Details cover the requirements if you are normally resident outside of Scotland - particularly useful if you are headed for Gretna Green - and writing your own wedding vows for a civil marriage. "Get Married In Scotland!" is a site selling wedding services with bits of wedding advice. Scottish Weddings covers the planning and execution of a Scottish themed wedding including handfasting, penny wedding, vows and suggested music. Wedding-service - UK is a huge collection of companies providing everything for your wedding except the bride and groom! This is the largest wedding and bride information directory in the UK and there are specific sections on a number of Scottish towns such as Glasgow and Edinburgh and Wedding Venues across the country. Not just about Glasgow but also an FAQ on tourist information questions with quick-and-simple answers. Some of the subjects covered are:
Youreable is the one-stop Internet site for disabled people, their carers, family and friends. They aim to provide information, products and services that will enable disabled people to live independent lives. Where products and services aren't available, they work with charities, retailers and manufacturers to create and tailor their offering and they are committed to building a community where all users can freely exchange information and ideas. Smooth Ride Guides produces holiday guides for people travelling in a wheelchair. They provide comprehensive details on accessible accommodation and attractions throughout the UK. Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation is a national organisation of and for disabled people. Its key areas of activity are supporting over 500 local and national disability organisations, campaigning for improvements in disabled people’s lives and providing information to support independence and equality for disabled people. Their Web site opens up communication within their network of 500 local and national member organisations. There is regularly updated news, information on important disability issues and links to other useful sites. Motability is a national UK charity, which helps disabled people and their families to become more mobile. It was set up to provide vehicles and powered wheelchairs to disabled people. The site has links to sites which have a motoring or disability theme as well as sites which offer assistance in every day motoring needs. Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) is the umbrella body for voluntary organisations in Scotland, with offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness. It has a good selection of links to organisations which provide help and assistance for everyone, disabled or not. Disabled Driver's Association is a self help organization run for disabled people by disabled people, and concerns itself with the needs of disabled people primarily by encouraging greater independence through enhanced mobility. Wheelchair Travel provide a service aimed at the disabled solo traveller, or small group, who want to plan their itinerary and "do their own thing". Access Travel organise holidays abroad for disabled people. Renting Adapted Cars in specific countries includes advice on UK car hire for disabled drivers. East Kilbride Council on Disability or "EKCOD" is actively involved in many projects in and around the East Kilbride area - Shopmobility and ArtAbility being just two of them. Their aim is to represnt the disabled in the community ensuring access to all public buildings and are often in consultation with local authorities to ensure disabled rights are being upheld.
A number of the global car hire companies have offices in Scotland. These and some local companies with Web sites are listed below. Note that "Mobile Homes" along the American model are not often found in the UK - caravans, towed by a saloon car are more usual. However, Montana Motorhome Hire in Longforgan, Angus is one exception.
Starting off with "You say tomato I say tomahto" this is a useful essay which highlights the different words used in Britain and America for the same objects. Anyone want a biscuit (sorry, cookie). Word Differences between the US and UK are listed here - with a few pronunciation differences thrown in for good measure. While technically "God Save the Queen" is the national anthem of Scotland, a number of songs in recent years have vied for this title with "Flower of Scotland" often being used on sporting occasions. Other contenders include Scotland the Brave, Scots Wha Ha'e, Auld Lang Syne and Amazing Grace. In 1998, the Herald newspaper in Glasgow launched a competition for a new anthem for Scotland. A judging panel chaired by impresario Sir Cameron Mackintosh selected Land of Light with words and music by William Jackson. You can hear extracts of a RealAudio sound version and buy a CD performance of the song at this Mills Records site. The words can also be found here page.
The title says it all! Slàinte mhath! At last! While this site does not (yet?) provide street maps for locations outside of London, it does provide a very comprehensive index of places and postcodes. Thereafter it will display a detailed road map of the area, with your requested location right in the centre. While the scale of the maps is not large, it is as good as most road atlases. An added benefit is that the requested location and map produces a unique URL which you can send to someone who will then get the same map. Maps of the Great Britain down to street level. Just enter a postcode or a British city, town or village and a detailed map will be displayed. Then zoom in on any part of that map, just by clicking on the area you wish to see in more detail until you get down to street level. Wow! The Royal Automobile Club site includes a section where you can get the expert system to plan a route between two towns and produce a map and detailed route plan. Search for cities (population 100,000 and up), rivers, counties, islands and bodies of water. Once found, there is general information and related links for history, tourist information etc. The Gazetteer for Scotland is a geographical database, featuring details of towns, villages, bens and glens from the Scottish Borders to the Northern Isles. The site provides maps for the different regions of Scotland, and brief descriptions (often with an illustration) of the geography and history for many of the places included. Currently, the Gazetteer covers about 50 percent of the country, focusing on the larger regions, with more places being added regularly. If you want to find the location of a place name in Scotland then the Ordnance Survey Gazetteer has a search engine which will produce a map of the area. Ordnance Survey also provide a number of free outline maps (of UK, including Scotland) and you are allowed to use up to ten of their maps on your own Web site so long as you give an acknowledgement. Once you know which part of Scotland you are looking for, many of the towns and main roads can be found at the Web site of the New Local Authority Councils The new council areas are shown on a large (200kb) active map. However, each new council has its own individual map. As these are quite detailed they are probably the best available, so far, on the Web. Scottish Highlands Explorer provides a point and click Map of the Highlands which leads to more detailed maps of a number of specific areas of the Highlands such as Highlands Explorer also makes available maps of the towns of Inverness and Cromarty and hosts Nairn on the Web There is a small gazetteer of place names, from around the Moray Firth. Some of the places described include street plans, for example, Elgin, Buckie, Forres and Lossiemouth Large scale maps dated from between 1846 and 1899. You can locate a map by entering a place name, address or coordinate (OS Grid Reference) then click the Search button. Alternatively you can go to the County Gazetteer to select a place name. Suppliers of a wide range of Scottish maps, atlases, charts, guides, and books on history and general interest for anyone wanting to discover more about Scotland. Maps and guides are catalogued by area and include city and town street plans and historic maps. |
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Here are the Web sites of the airlines serving Scotland. While the busiest routes are from Scotland to London, there is a growing number of direct international flights being provided by a range of airlines.
Driving directions, maps, flight times, accommodation, taxi services, weather, car parking in a slick presentation. The Scottish airports covered include: This site lets you check all flights from Scotland and compare prices to any destination in the world as well as internal Scotland and UK flights. There is also Scottish airport information on the site.
This is a group of ten airports throughout the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, providing vital social, business and welfare links to the people who live there. You can find out about flights, taxis, car hire, contact information and more for Barra, Benbecula, Campbeltown, Inverness, Islay, Kirkwall, Stornoway, Sumburgh, Tiree and Wick Airports. All you need to know about travelling in or out of Edinburgh and Aberdeen by air. List of facilities, contacts, telephone numbers, airband frequencies, destinations available from Edinburgh and Aberdeen, how to get to the airport, car parking and much more! British Airports Authority (BAA) have a slick set of pages covering Glasgow Airport and Edinburgh Airport as well as Aberdeen. There is information on how to get there, maps of the terminals, car parking information, airline contact numbers and public transport facilities, plus a section where you can check on flight arrival times. Prestwick Airport or, to give itits full title, Glasgow Prestwick International Airport is independently operated. Their site provides airport information for passengers and freight. Make advance reservations for airport parking and airport hotels at Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Prestwick and all major UK airports.
Secure parking conveniently located close to the airport at up to 30% less than charges on site. Courtesy coaches operate every 10 minutes, 24 hours a day. Scotrail provides most of the internal rail services in Scotland. The Web site has pages of travel information (including timetables and route maps), news, events, attractions nad useful links. Virgin Trains who operate the west-coast service from London to Scotland have their timetables on-line and can take reservations via the Web. Great North East Railway (GNER) operate trains from England to Scotland up the east side of the country, for example from London (King's Cross) to Edinburgh. English Welsh and Scottish Railways are the rail-freight operator covering Britain. There is a search facility for train times, using RailTrack's travel information facilities. The TrainLine are associated with Virgin Trains but can provide travel information, timetables and travel bookings for all the railway companies. Britain On Track provides on-line booking and sells special travel passes for your UK journeys. The site also provides route maps of various routes and point-to-point rail schedules. By way of contrast, there is an evocative description of a journey on the West Highland Line in Scottish Tourist Tales. You can obtain reduced cost rail travel with a Freedom of Scotland travel pass. British Ferry Schedules and Services are provided by A2bTravel.com with links to a number of ferry companies including P&O Larne-Cairnryan service and Stena Line UK who operate the Hoverspeed service from Troon to the centre of Belfast. If you fancy a trip on a ferry around the Western Isles then the timetables available on Caledonian MacBrayne are just the ticket! Northlink Orkney and Shetland Ferries have overnight sailings from Aberdeen and several times a day from Scrabster near Thurso in Caithness to Stromness on Orkney. If you want to travel from John O' Groats to Orkney then the timetables in the John O' Groat Ferries pages will be useful to you. Even further afield, Smyril Line visit the Faroë Islands, Iceland and the Shetlands. Superfast operate a number of ferries in European waters, including the direct Rosyth (Fife) to Zeebrugge (Belgium) service for passengers and freight. Timetables for Scottish City Link Buses are also available. Details on the government-backed scheme which provides free bus travel in Scotland for those over 65 or who are disabled is available via the See More web site. This site provides the opportunity for visitors and residents alike to plan an integrated public transport journey within Scotland or from Scotland to main points in the UK using public transport - either rail, bus, coach, ferry, air and Glasgow Underground or any combination. On the journey planner page you can select which mode or modes you wish to travel by. When it is needed, full information on connections are given to make transfers as smooth as possible and fares information is also shown (where available). If you've seen enough of the tourist spots then select somewhere to have a "wee refreshment" from this good size list from around Scotland. Dr Dave's Favourite Scottish Pubs is similar. If you've tried all of these then Glasgow Pubs gives you more ideas and includes graphics of some of them, such as the famous Horsehoe with its 114 feet island bar. Traffic Scotland provides a co-ordinated traffic management service for Scotland’s strategic road network. The site provides traffic information, future roadworks, and is to introduce Webcam views of a number of trunk roads. Click on the Scottish Saltire flag and record your lost pet or other item or search for the owner of an animal/item you have found. Hogmanay is a highlight of the Scottish calendar and this site has electronic Hogmanay greetings cards, the Broons (a cartoon family from the "Sunday Post"), prizes, resolutions and a chat party. Other Hogmanay (and Christmas) sites are:
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Where else would you like to go in Scotland?
