About Worldcon

How to Join

Staff

Getting to Glasgow from Abroad

By David Stewart

With only a few months before Interaction it’s time to start thinking about how to get to Glasgow. We’ll be providing detailed information on how to get to and around Glasgow as we get closer to the con but for now we present some outline information for getting to Glasgow from abroad.

You'll also find some useful links to related sites at the bottom of this page.

Intercontinental travel

The following advice is aimed mainly at North American travellers but, apart from specific route information, applies just as well to members coming from Australia, Asia and Africa.

Direct flights to Glasgow

If you are flying from North America, our best advice is to fly directly to Glasgow. Glasgow is served by two airports: Glasgow Airport, which is owned and operated by the British Airports Authority (BAA) and which is approximately eight miles from the city centre, and Glasgow Prestwick, which is privately owned and is about 32 miles away. At present, there are no scheduled flights between Glasgow Prestwick and North America, although a number of charter airlines operate transatlantic services. There are, however, several direct services from the US to Glasgow Airport, with departures from Chicago (American Airlines), Newark/New York (Continental) and Philadelphia (US Airways). For those in Canada, Zoom operates flights to Glasgow Airport from Calgary, Ottawa, Toronto (also served by Air Canada) and Vancouver.

Glasgow Airport

Connecting flights

Let me guess. When you saw the title ‘connecting flights’ you immediately thought of London, right? That’s a natural thought. Heathrow is the world’s busiest international airport and has regular domestic services to Glasgow. You can get very good bargains if you travel via London, and there are direct flights to London Heathrow from more North American cities than any other British airport – we counted 26 including Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, Mexico City, Seattle and Tampa – and there are scheduled flights to and from practically every continent.

However, unless you plan to spend some time in the south east of England as part of your vacation, if you have a choice, we would recommend avoiding Heathrow. Because it is so busy and so spread out, it’s a pain to change flights, especially from transatlantic/intercontinental to domestic. Gatwick, to the south of London has services to about 10 US cities, including six not served by Heathrow. It’s a bit more compact than Heathrow but it’s still rather busy and can be a pain to get around.

Instead, ask your travel agent to look at flights via other UK regional airports such as Manchester or Birmingham (and we don’t mean Birmingham, Alabama). These airports are neither as busy nor as big as Heathrow and may be more pleasant. Manchester can be reached from ten North American cities, including Atlanta, Chicago, and New York while Continental operates a service from Newark to Birmingham.

And in fact, when looking at connecting flights, don’t automatically assume you have to change at a British airport. Dublin, for instance, has become very popular as a hub for transatlantic passengers travelling to and from British regional airports. You could also travel via Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Paris or Brussels and in fact some of these cities are worth a brief visit between flights, if you have the time.

Which brings us nicely to our next section:

European travel

European travellers are spoilt for choice, and really have no excuse for not attending Interaction.

Air travel

Glasgow Airport has scheduled services to many European and UK cities and Prestwick is one of Ryanair’s European hubs with services from Dublin, Londonderry/Derry, Brussels and London Stansted to mention only a few. Easyjet, another low fares airline, also flies to Glasgow from several European and UK airports.

Other airlines include BMI, which operates services from Knock in the West of Ireland and Copenhagen in Denmark, FlyBe with services from Perpignan in France, and Aer Arann, which flies from Galway.

Although Prestwick is further away from Glasgow, there is a direct train link from the airport to Glasgow Central station. Air travellers are entitled to a 50 percent discount on the fare between Glasgow Central and Prestwick.

Glasgow Airport does not yet have a rail link to the city centre. However, an express coach service whisks travellers to the city in a matter of minutes.

By Car

With the advent of budget airlines, driving long distances to Glasgow is not as financially attractive as it once was. However, if you are travelling as a group or en famille it may make sense. You have the use of transportation for the duration of the convention and you can venture further afield before and after Interaction.

Bear in mind, however, that while there is ample car parking at the SECC, parking at your hotel might be expensive or even impossible. Check the description of each hotel on the online booking website that will open for business on the 2nd of September.

From continental Europe there are regular ferry services to the UK from France, Belgium and Holland. The only direct service from Europe to Scotland is the Zeebrugge-Rosyth ferry operated by Superfast Ferries. Rosyth is close to Edinburgh and is about 72km/45mi from Glasgow.

Other nearby ports include Newcastle (172km/107mi) with services from Gothenburg, Hull (402km/ 250mi) with services from Zeebrugge and Rotterdam. The cheapest fares probably will be via Dover as there is a lot of competition on the Dover routes. Bear in mind however, that Dover is 771km/479mi from Glasgow, which is quite a drive. And there is of course the Channel Tunnel between Calais and Folkestone, which is only a few miles from Dover.

NB: Traffic drives on the left in Britain and Ireland. If you are coming from the continent it can be quite disconcerting driving with a left-hand-drive vehicle, so bear that in mind before you make a decision.

If you are bringing a car from Ireland, there are several services. Stena Line, for instance, runs a fast ferry from Belfast to Stranraer (84mi from Glasgow), while P&O runs services from Larne to Carinryan (82mi) and Troon (37mi). There is also a Belfast-Troon service run by Seacat.

By Rail

The European railway network is just so extensive that it is safe to say that getting to the UK is relatively easy from anywhere in Europe. Many national rail networks offer services to the Channel and North Sea ports co-ordinated with the ferry timetables. And if you can get to Brussels or Paris there are of course direct Eurostar services to London Waterloo via the Channel Tunnel.

Don’t be put off by what you think the British rail network is like. True, there has been underinvestment in recent years but this is being rectified. True, there are major engineering works going on to correct the lack of investment but the train companies have now factored these into their timetables. Believe it or not, the Inter-city services are getting better.

Future updates to this part of the website will include further details of driving to Interaction from within the UK as well as more information about taking the train.

Useful Links

• Glasgow Airport Official Website

© UK 2005 Ltd, 2002-2004. All rights to content reserved to UK 2005 Ltd, unless otherwise indicated. This page maintained by webmaster@interaction.worldcon.org.uk.

Page last updated 7^th December 2004