‘I travelled across Scotland with my family by train and saved over £100’

This amazing deal allowed us to travel across Scotland throughout the week after only one payment.

12:00, 18 Mar 2026

When it comes to booking time off work for a much needed holiday, there are a variety of ways people choose to spend their time. While some try to jet off abroad as much as they can, others enjoy travelling around their home country to areas they haven’t visited yet.

With Scotland being such a vast and beautiful country, there are a multitude of places to explore. From busy cities and historic castles, to nature walks and safari parks, there are a variety of ways Scots and other visitors can spend their time off.

However, one problem many people face is actually getting to these places. With prices rising in many aspects of life, it can be tough for solo travellers to afford to tour the country, let alone a large family. However, when my clan and I were on holiday last October, we found an amazing deal that truly saved us a fortune.

Known as the ScotRail Family Pass, this single ticket allows a family of up to two adults and four children unlimited travel around Scotland for seven consecutive days. Seeming too good to be true, my family decided to put it to the test.

Only available for a limited amount of time during the October holidays, we were able to buy the ticket from the ticket office in a one-off payment of £60. At the time we were staying in Edinburgh so each of our trips began from Waverley Station.

Now while this price tag may have seemed quite hefty to begin with, it essentially paid for itself on our first trip. Deciding to travel to Dundee for the day, this would have cost us around £90 for two adults and a child for an open return ticket.

Shocked by how much this ticket had already saved us, we then decided to travel to Stirling and Glasgow on the following days. Without the family pass, open return tickets for both these cities from Edinburgh would have cost £31.50 and £42 respectively. Taking away the price of the pass, we managed to save £103.50 on just three trips.

Taking away the hassle of having to plan driving routes or figure out where to park, we were able to keep jumping on and off the train as we pleased without having to repeatedly spend on new tickets.

Also coming from the Highlands, this ticket could have easily covered a trip from Edinburgh to Inverness without having to add an extra cost. For a regular single ticket for this journey, it would have cost us £143 to travel together.

Of course this ticket only worked if there was at least one child and adult present on the ScotRail train, otherwise it would be null and void. Additionally, you need to make sure you can get someone to check the ticket as you go through the barriers at stations as you do not get individual tickets for each person.

However, I could not have been more pleased with this fantastic deal which easily turned what could have been an expensive holiday into a fun, stress free trip.

And the added bonus is that ScotRail has brought the Family Pass back for the Easter break. Available to buy between now and April 13, this £60 will allow families seven consecutive days of travel across Scotland during the school break.

Travellers can start using the ticket any day between April 3 and 13, which emcompasses the entirety of the school holiday. To break down how the ticket works, if you start using it on April 3, then your last day of travel will be April 9.

However, if busy families have more free time in the second week of the holidays, they can start travelling on April 13 and finish on April 19.

ScotRail’s website does note that this ticket is only valid on ScotRail services for Standard Class travel after 9:15am from Monday to Friday, however it can be used at any time during the weekend.

In order to get the ScotRail Family Pass, it can either be bought online, from a ScotRail ticket office at a staffed station, or from a member of staff on a train if no ticket office is available.