Travel and Accommodation

This page contains links to information that may be useful if you are planning to attend Akademy 2007. If you know of any other information or websites that would be useful for those attendees travelling to Scotland or Glasgow please let us know.

Accomodation

If you book before the end of April we can reserve you accomodation at a youth hostel or university accomodation. If you are staying outwith the dates of the conference you will need to book your own accomodation for those days.

Youth Hostel: Glasgow Euro Hostel.

Google Maps from youth hostel to Akademy at Livingstone Tower.

The Scottish Youth Hostel Association also has a hostel in Glasgow. Other hostels can be found on Google Maps.

The nearest hotel to the Akademy location is Premier Travel Inn's Glasgow George Square. Visit Scotland is the Scottish tourist board and lists all the hotels in the country. Google Maps can list hotels nearby.

Help with Costs

If you can not afford the cost of travel or accomodation some help may be available through the KDE e.V. reimbursement policy. Contact the KDE e.V. board for information.

Visa Information

Scotland is part of the UK. The UK Visas website has information on if you need a visa and how to apply for one.

As part of the EU any citizen of an EEA country will not need a visa to enter the county. However Scotland is not within Schengen (the European common borders policy) but within a British Isles common borders policy, so you will need an EU identity card or preferably a passport unless you are coming from elsewhere in the UK or Ireland.

Power

Electricity in Scotland is 240V. The socket type is type G, adaptors for European plugs will be on sale at about a pound each.

Currency

The local currency is Pounds Sterling. Scottish and English bank notes are accepted equally. Euro are only accepted in very few shops, but most phone boxes take Euro coins. Cash machines are common place to withdraw money from Visa and Mastercard credit cards, you will need a PIN number. Most credit card purchases also need PIN numbers, but if your card does not have a PIN you can usually still use a signature.

Travelling to Glasgow

Aeroplane

Glasgow has two airports.

Prestwick Airport is mainly serviced by Ryanair for cheap flights within Europe. The airport has its own train station which is a 45 minute ride to Glasgow Central station, show your air travel paperwork to get a half price ticket.

Glasgow International Airport is the main airport for domestic and European flights and a few transatlantic routes. Both British Airways and BMI operate frequent shuttle flights throughout the day to and from London Heathrow. Easy Jet fly from London Luton, Stansted and Gatwick. There is a frequent shuttle bus from outside the terminal building to the city centre dropping off near Queen Street station, £5 return, the journey takes about 30 minutes.

Other airports include Edinburgh Airport (take the shuttle bus to Edinburgh station then train to Glasgow) and any London airport.

Train

Glasgow has two main train stations, trains from Edinburgh arrive at Glasgow Queen Street and trains from England arrive at Glasgow Central. The conference is a 5-10 minute walk from Queen Street and 10-15 minute walk from Central Station.

Google Maps Glasgow Central Station to Akademy at Livingston Tower.

Glasgow Queen Street Station to Akademy at Livingston Tower.

Trains from Edinburgh take about 50 minutes. Trains from London take 4.5 to 5.5 hours. There is also a sleeper service each night from London.

You can buy train tickets in advance from Scotrail, or you can buy them on the day from any train station. Buying tickets in advance is advised for travel from England.

Bus

Long-distance bus services arrive at Buchanan Bus Station close to Queen Street station. The main operator is Scottish Citylink, but Stagecoach also run a budget inter-city bus service called Megabus.

More Information

For more information on Glasgow and travelling to it see Wikitravel's Glasgow article.