Visitor Information

Before you go, you can get information from offices of the British Tourist Authority -- now rebranded in this Internet age as VisitBritain (www.visitbritain.com or www.visitscotland.com).

In the United States: 551 Fifth Ave., Suite 701, New York, NY 10176-0799 (tel. 800/462-2748, or 212/986-2200 in New York; fax 212/986-1188); 625 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 1001, Chicago, IL, 60611-1977 (tel. 800/462-2748); 10880 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 570, Los Angeles, CA, 90024 (tel. 310/470-2782). In Canada: 5915 Airport Rd., Suite 120, Mississagua, ON L4V 1T1 (tel. 888/VISIT-UK in Canada; fax 905/405-1835 in Toronto). In Australia: Level 2, 15 Blue St., North Sydney NSW 2060 (tel. 02/9021-4400; fax 02/9377-4499). In New Zealand: c/o British Consulate General Office, Level 17, IAG House, 151 Queen St., Auckland 1 (tel. 09/303-1446; fax 09/309-1899).

If you're in London, you can visit the Scottish Tourist Board -- rebranded VisitScotland, 19 Cockspur St., London SW1 Y5BL (tel. 0207/930-8661); it's near Trafalgar Square, open May to September on Monday through Friday from 9:30am to 6:30pm and Saturday from 10am to 5pm. October to April the hours are Monday through Friday 10am to 6pm and Saturday noon to 4pm.

Once in Edinburgh or Glasgow, you will find the Tourist Information Centres more useful. In the capital, the main office is the Edinburgh Information Centre, atop the Princes Mall near Waverley Station (tel. 0131/473-3800 or 0845/225-5121; fax 0131/473-3881; www.edinburgh.org). It can give you sightseeing information and also arrange lodgings. The center sells bus tours, theater tickets, and souvenirs of Edinburgh. It also has racks and racks of free brochures. It's open year-round, though hours vary from month to month. The summer hours are slightly longer and winter times shorter, but typically you'll find the office open Monday through Saturday from 9am to 7pm and Sunday from 10am to 7pm. There is an information desk at Edinburgh International Airport, open typically Monday through Sunday 7am to 6:30pm.

In Glasgow, the Greater Glasgow and Clyde Valley Tourist Board, 11 George Sq. (tel. 0141/204-4400; www.seeglasgow.com) is in the heart of the city. In addition to piles of brochures, there is a small book shop, bureau de change, and hotel reservation service. During peak season, it is open Monday to Saturday from 9am to 7pm and Sunday from 10am to 6pm. Hours are more limited during winter months.

Calling Scotland -- To call Scotland from the United States, dial the international prefix, 011; then Scotland's country code, 44; then the city code (for example, 131 for Edinburgh and 141 for Glasgow -- minus the initial zero, which is used only if you're dialing from within the United Kingdom); then dial the actual phone number.

What's on the Web

There are naturally a host of websites that vary in usefulness. The Great Britain tourist board's www.travelbritain.org has the overall U.K. picture.

But for information on Scotland, it is probably easier and better to go directly to www.visitscotland.com or www.toscotland.com, both of which have detailed information, offer brochures online, provide trip-planning hints, and even provide prompt answers for e-mail queries. A slightly more corporate view is at www.scotexchange.net. The other useful and official tourism websites for Edinburgh and Glasgow are, as already noted, www.edinburgh.org and www.seeglasgow.com.

The two organizations that operate most of Scotland's historical sites have websites as well: www.historic-scotland.gov.uk for Historic Scotland and www.nts.org.uk for the National Trust of Scotland.

For an independent view, though it is not clear how often they are updated, try www.scotland-info.co.uk, www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk, or www.rampantscotland.com.