Spirit of Scotland Travel Pass - Bus/Coach Services

[Andy Pacer]

I will be (hopefully) doing a Spirit of Scotland rover in June. I'm looking to bridge the gap between Fort William and Kyle of Lochalsh (or if necessary Inverness), does anyone know which Stagecoach or Scottish Citylink services (if any) the ticket is valid on?

Spirit of Scotland Travel Pass

Explore the whole of Scotland - four days’ travel over eight consecutive days, or eight days’ travel over 15 days.

www.scotrail.co.uk

Spirit of Scotland Travelpass | National Rail

Special offer: Spirit of Scotland Travelpass. The portal into UK rail travel, including information on ticket purchase and promotions, train times and delays, and more.

www.nationalrail.co.uk

 

[RJ]

The information is there on the Scotrail page - have a look under the FAQs then "Where can I travel by coach". The routes it can be used on are shown, though not the route numbers.

Don't do what I did and forget the ticket is valid on the bus - I paid for the Fort William to Oban bus completely forgetting it was already covered by the rover!

 

[Andy Pacer]

The information is there on the Scotrail page - have a look under the FAQs then "Where can I travel by coach". The routes it can be used on are shown, though not the route numbers.

Don't do what I did and forget the ticket is valid on the bus - I paid for the Fort William to Oban bus completely forgetting it was already covered by the rover!

That's great, thanks. Will need to plan which Scottish Citylink journey to catch and make a reservation.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Believe the Citylink bus from Fort William to Kyle of Lochalsh (and onwards to Portree/Uig on Skye) is usually the 914/915 service. Daily departures currently at 1000, 1400 and 1840. Journey time to Kyle is approximately 2 hours.

The various bus/coach routes included on a Spirit of Scotland pass seem to be...

• Travel on the following routes with Scottish Citylink* and West Coast Motors:
  • Oban/Fort William - Inverness
  • Oban - Campbeltown
  • Fort William - Kyle of Lochalsh - Uig
  • Inverness - Ullapool
    *Book your Scottish Citylink journey in advance on 0871 266 3333 (24 hours). There's a £1.50 reservation fee.
    Calls cost 12p/minute from BT landlines plus network extras. Charges from other providers or mobiles may vary.
• Travel with Stagecoach East Scotland and Stagecoach in the Highlands on the following routes:
  • Dundee/Leuchars - St Andrews
  • Services on the Isle of Skye
  • Wick - John O'Groats
  • Thurso - John O'Groats
  • Thurso - Scrabster
• Travel with West Coast Motors/Borders Buses on the following routes:
  • Melrose - Galashiels - Peebles - Edinburgh
  • Carlisle - Langholm - Hawick - Galashiels - Edinburgh.

 

[gnolife]

*Book your Scottish Citylink journey in advance on 0871 266 3333 (24 hours). There's a £1.50 reservation fee.
Calls cost 12p/minute from BT landlines plus network extras. Charges from other providers or mobiles may vary.

0141 332 9644 is a better number to call - it connects you to the same place as that 0871 number, but without the additional charges.

 

[Andy Pacer]

0141 332 9644 is a better number to call - it connects you to the same place as that 0871 number, but without the additional charges.

Great, that's really useful to know. Thank you!

 

[Haywain]

As a matter of interest, with a Spirit of Scotland pass, is paid ferry travel restricted to the 4 (or 8) days of use, or can the discount be used on a 'day off' within the 8/15 days?

 

[trei2k]

Remember to have a screenshot of the ScotRail website showing the bus validity (I am not sure if leaflets exist for this product). You might have to make the driver aware of the validity...

As a matter of interest, with a Spirit of Scotland pass, is paid ferry travel restricted to the 4 (or 8) days of use, or can the discount be used on a 'day off' within the 8/15 days?

A good question! I would be interested to know this as well. I assume you are referring to the 20% discount on Northlink/Stena Line?:

• 20% off ferry travel to Orkney and Shetland – on Northlink Ferries including Scrabster – Stromness, Aberdeen – Lerwick and Aberdeen – Kirkwall – Lerwick
• 20% off ferry travel to Northern Ireland* – on Stena Line journeys to Belfast

 

[Haywain]

A good question! I would be interested to know this as well. I assume you are referring to the 20% discount on Northlink/Stena Line?:

Yes, that's what I had in mind.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

As a matter of interest, with a Spirit of Scotland pass, is paid ferry travel restricted to the 4 (or 8) days of use, or can the discount be used on a 'day off' within the 8/15 days?

Do you mean (free of further charge) ferry travel as part of the pass? Wouldn't have thought so, as that's still travel.

Possibly different matter as regards ferry travel where you are using the pass to get the 20% discount, such as travel to Orkney. Might need to ask ScotRail on that one. Not much of a benefit if you have to use up a day's validity just to get the discount.

 

[Haywain]

Do you mean (free of further charge) ferry travel as part of the pass?

Not that, which is why I said "paid ferry travel". I appreciate it should be for use on the 'off days' but confirmation would be good.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Not that, which is why I said "paid ferry travel". I appreciate it should be for use on the 'off days' but confirmation would be good.

Indeed. And like I said upthread, not much of a benefit if you have to use up a day's validity just to get the 20% ferry discount or, say, the 10% discount off the Strathspey railway. Things you might just want to do on an "off day" if already in the relevant local area.

 

[peterblue]

The extra stretch from Mallaig to Fort William is scenic and it is worth it if you can fit that into your itinerary somehow. I did this last year in May, and I ended up getting the ferry across to Armadale from Mallaig and paying for a taxi for Kyle (due to poor bus service provision) but it was worth it and it was a lovely day on some scenic railway lines. Alternatively you might be able to double back from mallaig via both Scotrail and the Jacobite depending on if the latter is running