It’s always helpful to have some quick tips and suggestions about your travel destination before leaving. In this Know Before You Go article, some of the best tips, tricks, suggestions, and knowledge about Scotland have been collected. This information will improve the quality of a trip to Scotland (like the 9 Day Scotland Nature, Castles, and Scotch Itinerary) and reduce the pre-trip anxiety that many feel when planning their vacation.
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Connectivity Abroad
Staying connected to the rest of your life can be important. While I encourage you to unplug at least a little while on vacation, completely unplugging isn’t always an option. If you are unfamiliar with the general options for international connectivity, I recommend that you read our post on “How to Stay Connected on Vacation“.
US Cell Phone Providers
The big three US cell phone providers all have solid coverage and availability within Scotland. As shown above (red/orange is Verizon, green is AT&T, and plum is T-Mobile), almost all of Scotland is covered. The notable exceptions are some of the national parks in central Scotland. Travelers should expect to drop coverage while in these areas. Also, the 5G coverage greatly diminishes once travelers leave the main cities of Inverness, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Aberdeen. For those who are driving across Scotland, losses in signal during the journey should be expected. Prepare accordingly by ensuring you have directions and maps of the countryside areas. Getting coverage through your home US cell service provider is by far the easiest option. However, it sometimes isn’t the cheapest so there are other local options available.
Scotland Cell Providers
The two largest providers of cellular service in Scotland are Vodafone (left above) and O2 (right above). There are also a couple of newer companies such as EE and Three. If you have an unlocked phone that takes a SIM card (or eSIM), you can pick up a local SIM card/eSIM to use. This local SIM won’t have the same phone number that you use at home, but it will allow calling local numbers in Scotland for fairly cheap.
Of the Scotland providers, Vodafone tends to have the best coverage. While there isn’t much separation between the companies from a voice and text perspective, Vodafone has more high speed data coverage at the time of writing. However, this additional speed does come at a higher cost as O2 is generally the cheaper option. If the high-speed data isn’t a big deal to you, save a few dollars with O2.
A variety of locations sell SIM cards around Scotland. All the major cities (including Edinburgh) will have Vodafone, EE, and O2 mobile stores. All of these will sell a SIM card to visitors. Make sure to bring your passport for identification when going into a store. The vast majority of these companies will offer a SIM card valid for 4 weeks with about 25 GB of data for £20. There are other less expensive options as well that don’t include data, but I wouldn’t recommend these unless you have another data option lined up.
An easier and more convenient option is to pick up a SIM card while you are at the airport rather than finding a store in town. The prices for SIM cards at the airport tend to be a little more expensive than those bought in the city center. However, this extra cost can be worth it for the time and hassle savings.
However, I would recommend looking at a company called GiffGaff. Despite the funny name, GiffGaff resells O2 service and specializes in service for travelers. They will send a SIM card to you at many international locations before you even leave home. This reduces the hassle of having to find a SIM when you get into the country. Additionally, at the time of writing, they are offering a 26 GB plan for £12. This is a no-brainer option in my mind.
Typical Weather and Climate
Temperatures
Temperatures throughout Scotland remain fairly consistent. Unlike the United States where one region will be getting snow while another region experiences 80°F weather, Scotland is mostly consistent. Summer temperatures (June – September) are typically between 60°F – 66°F for the highs. Lows during the summer are typically in the low 50s. One exception to this is the northwestern islands and coastline. This area, which includes Oban and the Isle of Skye, is often about 10 degrees cooler than much of the rest of Scotland.
Winter (November – March) temperatures are lower, though they seldom dip below freezing. Much of the country sees 35°F – 45°F for winter highs and 34°F – 38°F for the winter lows. Again, the northwestern islands and coastline dip a little below freezing for their winter lows. The country experiences a small shoulder season in April – May and October where the temperatures vary a little more and generally fall somewhere between the summer and winter limits.
Daylight Hours
Most of Scotland is located north of the 55°N latitude line. For context, the vast majority of the United States is located below 49°N latitude (except Alaska). This means that Scotland is located much further north than the US. As such, it experiences longer days in the summer and much shorter days in the winter. In the peak of summer (June and July), most days will see over 17 hours of daylight. From mid-May to mid-July, the days don’t actually have full darkness/night and instead stay in a type of twilight state. In contrast, during the winter months, 7 hours or less of daylight is fairly common. Obviously, the longer days mean more time for tours, and many attractions stay open longer in the summer. This, coupled with the warmer temperatures, makes the summer the peak travel time for Scotland.
Shoulder seasons in April – May and September – October still get a good amount of daylight at around 11 – 13 hours. This should still be plenty to see the sights and do the tours. As an added bonus, crowds should be less during these months due to typical school schedules.
Precipitation
Overall, there isn’t much variation in precipitation throughout the year. For starters, cities like Inverness and Edinburgh receive approximately 11″ and 17″, respectively, of rain annually. For comparison, a city like Chicago in the US gets 17″ of rain so there isn’t much difference there. The amount of rain by month is also fairly consistent throughout the year as well. For example, Inverness sees between 0.74″ and 1.32″ per month of precipitation every month of the year. Even Edinburgh that receives more rain sees between 1.14″ and 2.13″ every month of the year. The month with 2.13″ is October, and if it is removed the maximum is 1.84″.
All this goes to say that it is unlikely that rain will ruin your trip no matter the time of year that you choose visit. However, it also says that you should be prepared for a day or two of rain during any vacation. Rain is manageable on a trip to Scotland with the appropriate preparation. I wouldn’t plan a trip around the chance of rain when traveling here. The chance of precipitation is constant and would only slightly impact your plans. Have a game plan for outdoor activities in case it does rain, but otherwise enjoy the weather any time of year.
Tipping
Tipping is not generally expected throughout Scotland. The majority of wages for service staff are not based on tips so tipping isn’t a regular occurrence. It is something that customers can offer when a service goes above and beyond. However, there are some exceptions to this rule. In large tourist cities (such as Edinburgh and Glasgow), you may find some establishments trying to add tips as a way of getting additional revenue or prompting for tips. Below is the tipping culture and recommended tip for each situation:
- Restaurants – Not required unless you want to provide extra perks to your server. This is becoming more common in Scotland though. Some restaurants include a service charge in the food price or on the bill. Look for this to be notated on the menu or in the final bill you receive. Do not tip if this automatic service charge has already been included in your bill. If you want to tip, 10% is average.
- Bars/Pubs – Tipping bartenders at bars or pubs is not common. Many bartenders won’t accept a monetary tip. However, if they provide particularly good service or conversation, offer to buy them a drink. This type of tip is seldom refused.
- Taxis – It common to tip a taxi driver a small amount at the end of a trip. It is most common to round up your trip charge as a tip as well as for convenience. Not having the taxi driver provide a small amount of change is a nice gesture.
- Tours – Tours and sightseeing is one area where tipping has become more common in Scotland, but it is still not required. This is probably a case where the American tipping culture influenced Scotland, and it has stuck. The amount of an appropriate tip for this type of activity is variable. It should be proportional to the amount that was originally paid for the experience. Somewhere around 10% is generally customary but use your best judgement. Also, adjust this up or down depending on the quality of the tour and level of service provided.
Time Zone
Scotland is located in the Greenwich Mean Time (UTC/+0) time zone. For half the year, this means that Scotland is 5 hours ahead of New York (Eastern Time) and 8 hours ahead of Los Angeles (Pacific Time). Scotland also observes Daylight Savings Time (DST) which is referred to as Summer Time. Summer Time starts in Scotland on the second Sunday in March of each year and ends on the first Sunday in November. While the majority of the daylight savings time periods overlap between the US and Scotland, the US DST timeframe is a little longer on the start and end. When the US is on DST and Scotland is not, the difference is 4 hours for Eastern Time and 7 hours for Pacific Time.
This is enough of a time change to notice the lack of sleep during the short overnight flight from the US causing travelers to be drowsy on the first day. However, the drowsiness generally improves after that as the few hour difference isn’t enough to knock off sleep patterns for a week.
Electrical Plugs
Scotland utilizes the G-type plug. This plug is used in Great Britain but is different from the C-type plug used in most of Europe. Scotland’s electric supply operates at 230 Volts and 50 Hz. The vast majority of electric devices operate on anything between 100 – 240 Volts. Therefore, laptops, tablets, phones, and similar devices should be fine. However, it is wise to check electric devices that use more electricity for compatibility. Items like hair dryers, curling irons, straighteners, heaters, etc… aren’t as forgiving when it comes to the voltages that they will accept. If they aren’t able to handle Scotland’s voltage or frequency, damage to the device may occur. Look at the electrical tag for the range of Volts (V) and frequency (Hz) that the device can handle.
While many devices will be able to handle the voltage and frequency, an adapter for the plug type will still be necessary. Type A (US Plug) to Type G (Great Britain and Ireland Plug) adapters are generally inexpensive. I suggest a universal adapter if you travel to a number of different international destinations, but a Type A to Type G adapter will work well if you aren’t sure you need the added flexibility. Pick up several adapters to ensure that you can charge/use all your devices at the same time. Otherwise, you might be left choosing between charging your phone, tablet, and computer overnight.
