Travel Information

Getting to Glasgow and getting around the city

Glasgow is Scotland’s most accessible destination with 3 International Airports and direct flights to 130 scheduled destinations. 

Examples of direct daily European flights include

Amsterdam		Barcelona		Berlin
Bonn		Brussels		Copenhagen
Frankfurt		Geneva		Krakow
Madrid		Milan		Munich
Rome		Paris		Zurich

Estimated flying time

Glasgow – London		1hr
Glasgow – Paris		1hr 30mins
Glasgow – Amsterdam		1hr 15mins
Glasgow – Frankfurt		1hr 50mins
Glasgow – Dubai		7hrs
Glasgow – New York		6hrs

With most European destinations within 3 hours of Glasgow, this offers a short journey time and low cost travel.

Direct Flights from North America and the Far East

Delegates from North America can travel direct to Glasgow from the following destinations including New York, Philadelphia, Halifax, Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver and Orlando.

Delegates from the Far East can take advantage of a one stop flight using the daily Emirates flight direct from Dubai to Glasgow.

Airports

Glasgow International Airport

Glasgow International Airport is located 15 minutes from the city centre and is Scotland’s international gateway. Frequent direct services are available to the major hubs, such as Dubai, Copenhagen and Amsterdam, as well as an average of 43 flights from London every day. 

Delegates arriving at Glasgow International Airport can take a shuttle bus in to the city. The service departs every 10 minutes and stops at the major city centre hotels. The cost is £3.50. Taxis are always available.

Glasgow Prestwick International Airport

Glasgow Prestwick International Airport is located 32 miles south west of Glasgow. This airport operates many global routes as well as RyanAir low cost flights to 22 scheduled destinations.

The airport is served by a direct train link to Glasgow city centre, with a journey time of 40 minutes. The tickets are half price to anywhere in Scotland on presentation on your airline   ticket. The ticket to Glasgow Central Station costs just £2.50.

Edinburgh International Airport

Edinburgh International Airport is located just 45 minutes drive from Glasgow and offers delegates an alternative opportunity to fly direct into central Scotland. Public transportation is available by bus or by bus and train link.

Distances within Glasgow

Distance	Time	Public Transport
Glasgow Airport to City Centre – 12 km	15 minutes	Bus or (Train by 2010)
Glasgow Airport to SECC	15 minutes	Bus or (Train by 2010)
Central Railway Station to SECC	10 minutes	Train or Bus
City Centre to SECC	10 minutes	Train or Bus

Rail

Glasgow has two major train stations, Glasgow Central servicing the South and Glasgow Queen Street servicing Edinburgh and the North.

There is a fast intercity rail service which operates from many of the major towns in England to Glasgow Central.  There is a sleeper service from London to Glasgow.   Journey time from London is about 5 hours.

• National Express – provides 8 trains per day to Glasgow from London.
• Virgin Trains - provides 7 trains per day from London to Glasgow.

FirstScotrail is Scotland’s Rail Operator for the West Highland Line, the North Highland Line and Caledonian Sleepers (overnight trains from Scotland to London). Trains to Edinburgh run every 15 minutes taking 45 minutes journey time.

Road

Scotland has an extensive motorway road network. The city of Glasgow is linked to Edinburgh with the M8, England on the M74, Stirling with the M80 and the West Coast of Scotland with the M77.

Getting Around

Glasgow is a compact city easy to navigate on foot, built on a grid system. All conference venues are accessible by public transport. The Subway consists of two circular lines enabling cross city journey times to be kept to 15 minutes.

The Royal Concert Hall, the venue for the congress, is located in the very heart of the city and is within walking distance of most of the city-centre hotels

Delegate Travel Pass

The Glasgow Delegate Travel Pass offers real value for money. Glasgow is the only UK city where such a ticket is available and the cost to date (February 2010) for a 5 day pass is £7.50. It allows delegates unlimited travel on the city’s extensive underground, over ground rail network and all city centre bus routes for the duration of the Congress. It also includes the journey to and from Glasgow International and Prestwick International Airports.  

Further information

Further information and advice on travelling within Glasgow can be found from the Strathclyde Partnership for Travel website www.spt.co.uk where you can view online timetables, use the journey planner and journey check systems and book tickets.