Glasgow to Inverness by train

Final Destination: Inverness

All trains also call at: Perth, Pitlochry, Kingussie and Aviemore

If you will be continuing a journey north from Inverness, the connections on towards Kyle of Lochalsh, Thurso and Wick are much better timed when travelling from Glasgow, compared to journeys from Edinburgh.

On Mondays to Saturdays the first two trains of the day from Glasgow have convenient connections into trains on to both Kyle of Lochalsh and Wick via Thurso, and the train which is usually scheduled to depart at Glasgow 15:08 has an easy connection on to Wick via Thurso.

On Sundays good connections on to Kyle, Thurso and Wick are available by departing Glasgow at 14:38.

Book Early and Save: Yes

Online Bookings Usually Open: from 12 weeks ahead of the travel date (usually)

If you want to travel at the cheapest possible price, look for the 'Advance tickets', though the three key things worth knowing about booking and using 'Advance' tickets are:
(1) You can only travel on the specific departure you select when making a booking.
(2) The ticket(s) cannot either be refunded, if you subsequently change your plans, or be exchanged to another departure, so they won't be valid if you miss the train due to any circumstances not attributable to the train operator.
(3) These tickets have seats specified on them, so in effect they come with seat reservations; though you won't have to sit in the seats you have been assigned for the ticket to be valid.

Travelling on Saturday-Sunday

Tickets are usually available 12 weeks ahead of the travel date, but maintenance work on the route is periodically undertaken at weekends and if it is scheduled on your travel date, it can affect when tickets will be released for sale.

If you're looking up a journey less than 12 weeks ahead and Advance tickets aren't available, it can be a good indication that works will be impacting on your travel date.
It can be worth checking this on the National Rail website - enter ScotRail as the operator.

Booking at the station

If you will be booking at the station less than a couple of hours prior to departure, you will have to purchase non-discounted Off-Peak or Anytime tickets, with Anytime tickets being the most expensive of all.
On this route you will have to pay the Anytime rate on departures between 16:30 and 19:00 when Mondays to Fridays are working days
Because if you do depart Glasgow at those times only the more expensive type of Anytime tickets will be available

Deals and offers

ScotRail offers ticketing deals when Adults travel with children or in groups, so when booking online it's worth checking to confirm whether the total price being charged is inclusive of these deals.

Or you can book these deals at a station ticket office.
If Advance tickets are available the booking clerk will ask if that's your preference - though be aware that Advance deals can't be refunded or exchanged if one or more members of a party subsequently can't make the trip.

If you do opt to book these deals at the station you won't ever charged more than the online price and the booking clerk may be able to point out a money saving option.