Discount Fare Options
There are various discount cards on offer for those with children, those under 26 or over 50 and full-time students: contact Scottish Citylink for more on these. If you plan to do a lot of travelling by coach, it may be worth buying an Explorer Pass, which offers unlimited travel on Scottish Citylink.

If you're travelling a lot in England and Wales too, you might be better off with a National Express Brit Xplorer Pass, which gives you unlimited travel throughout Britain on National Express coaches.

Local Services
Local bus services are run by a bewildering array of companies, many of which change routes and timetables frequently. As a general rule, the further away from urban areas you get, the less frequent and more expensive bus services become. On the most remote routes the only service will be the school bus, running at roughly 8.30 am and 3.30 pm, but only during term times.

Postbus Services
Some rural areas, particularly in the Highlands and Islands, are only served by the postbus network, which operates numerous minibuses carrying mail and three to ten fare-paying passengers. They set off early in the morning, usually around 8.00 am from the main post office, and collect mail (or deliver it) from/to the hinterland. It's a sociable, though often excruciatingly slow, way to travel, but may well be the only means of reaching hidden-away B&Bs and the like. Details of routes and timetables can be found on the Royal Mail website or from the Royal Mail Customer Services (ph: 0131-550 8232), while details of relevant local services are available at local tourist information centres.