Downton Gabby

Hello again,

Well, I'm still here planning my move which I hope to make this Fall, and I'm strongly considering Scotland, particularly Edinburgh and/or its suburbs, Dundee and Inverness.

Can anyone here please go into some detail about the differences between life in England and life in Scotland?

Are they culturally very different? What about just people in general, way of life, etc.

Are there differences in health care, the quality of hospitals and doctors?

Are conveniences like transportation and shopping the same?

How about benefits for those over 60 ie: train and bus costs and prescriptions?

Is it easier to buy a home in Scotland? Are properties more or less expensive?

Is the driving test just as difficult?

I'd love to hear opinions on the differences.

Thanks in advance to all who can shed some light on all this!

macadian

English pubs in general far more socially/family orirntated.... As for the rest, I suppose a great deal depends on what parts of England you do your comparisons with?

Pulaski

The driving test is the same. The licensing system is centrally administered for the UK (except I believe NI) and all tests are to the same standard, the same rules, and get you same licence.

You will likely find that a lot of the "culture" and societal differences can be as great between to points in England (or in Scotland) as they are between some notional average location in England and another in Scotland. Certainly the difference between a big city and a rural area, in both England and Scotland, even just 20-30 miles away can be HUGE - an anecdotal tale from a former colleague: he and his family lived in a village in Yorkshire, and one day went on a family visit to Leeds, which is one of the UK's largest cities, and is quite ethnically diverse, but up to this point my colleague's son, who must have been about three, had never seen a black person - and to his father's embarrassment asked someone in the supermarket they were shopping in, why he was black?

In other words there isn't an easy answer to such a general question.

verystormy

I am English and grew up there and lived there until 2008 when we loved to Australia. Them last year we returned to the UK and now live in Scotland. So, I will try and answer your questions.


Generally, culturally similar. The people are very friendly and love to have a chat. What cultural differences there are, is more either to do with country side to city, which is the same in England. Though there are some subtle differences. For example, a ceilidh is something I had never heard of, but the vast majority of people here have been to many - they are fantastic fun. Ceilidh dancing — The Official Gateway to Scotland


We find the quality of healthcare excellent. I can get to see my GP on any day, when I needed a referral to hospital, I saw my GP on the morning and was in the hospital that afternoon! Prescriptions are free to everyone in Scotland


Shopping and transport are pretty much the same, the one exception is in the highlands, where public transport isn't common - some villages might only have a bus once a week or none at all.


Property prices vary, the same as England. Edinburgh is very expensive compared to most places in Scotland. But, you don't need to be far out and prices drop quickly. We live 18 miles south of Glasgow and about 50 minutes from Edinburgh and rent for under $500 a month for a very nice cottage in a tiny but wonderful conservation village.


The driving test is identical.


We love the people, the villages are gorgeous and the scenery is amazing. I am lucky that I go to the highlands for work a lot and am always blown away by it. The only down side is the weather can be colder and wetter, though not so much on the east side

yellowroom

Those three cities are very different:

• Edinburgh is the capital, very cultured, plenty of shopping, excellent transport etc, but it is expensive compared to the rest of Scotland
• Dundee is a smaller city, has the usual facilities and good bits and bad bits, like most cities, although I have seen it described as "the armpit of Scotland"! (not good). However, I last visited it 21 years ago, so cannot offer much of relevance now.
• Inverness is very small and remote by comparison - stunning scenery though.

Why not Glasgow and suburbs? I love it, it's the Manchester of Scotland for me, and that's a positive thing - vibrant, good shopping and culture, more affordable, friendly and less snobby than Edinburgh (which is still easily reached by train in less than an hour).

cdfergus

[QUOTE=verystormy;12301693]I

We live 18 miles south of Glasgow and about 50 minutes from Edinburgh and rent for under $500 a month for a very nice cottage in a tiny but wonderful conservation village.

Hi, moving to Scotland in November. Looking hard for a village kike you are in, would you mind sharing the name? It is not easy to research all the available ares

By all mean PM if you would prefer.
Chris

verystormy

[QUOTE=cdfergus;12304374] Have sent you a PM

mikelincs

Edinburgh has a few things going for itself that are in no other city in the UK, the main one being the Edinburgh Festival, and particularly The Fringe, an incredible cultural phenomenon in August each year, the actual festival haas concerts etc with many of the worlds top artists, but it's the fringe that sets it apart, hundreds of performances in the month in pubs, marquees, streets etc with many top artists putting on almost free shows, some audiences may be a s few as 20, but that's due to the venue size rather than the quality of the performance. Just walking the streets of the old town during the day they are out giving short performances advertising their wares. Have only been once but it was a real eye opener. Hogmanay in Scotland (New Year's Eve) is something not to miss either.

LondonSquirrel

University is free in Scotland, with the usual 3 year residency requirement. Undergraduate degree is 4 years same as the USA. Social care (nursing homes) is free in Scotland but not in England.

petitefrancaise

Buying a house in Scotland is different to England and Wales.

They generally have closed bids. Houses are put up for sale as "offers over" and usually when the estate agent has a bit of interest they put a closing date up. All parties interested in buying the house then put in their offers. This is where it gets interesting. Somewhere that's popular then you'd usually put an offer in about 10% over the asking price (the "offers over" bit). To put in the bid you need to have already paid out for a survey because obviously your bid will depend on what the survey finds. If you were to put in a bid and you haven't done your survey and you make your offer conditional on the survey, then you aren't likely to get the house you're after.

The downside of this is that you can end up paying for a few surveys (which aren't cheap) and even though you've done this you have no guarantee of getting the house. However,if you are ready to buy something quickly then you can make the offer and give the owners 24 hours to accept or not, thereby avoiding the whole bidding against someone thing. We did this when we were buying a house.

I lived in Scotland for 8 years. Loved the people - still some of my best friends. Hated the weather, the long winters, lack of daylight, no guarantee of nice weather in the summer and I had enough.

mikelincs

The other good thing about buying a house in Scotland is that once your bid is accepted then the house is yours, there is no gazumping, so if someone comes along with a higher bid the sellers can't accept it and dump yours.

Downton Gabby

Thanks so much for this! It sounds lovely and exactly what I'm looking for. I love the fact that you can find a place that's so reasonably priced. I won't have a car when I first get there, so I'll be looking for a place that has good public transportation. Is that available where you live or in similar villages?

What are the homes or cottages like? Is it easy to find a detached place?

I don't suppose you have any pictures to share of any of the areas you are near or travel to....I would LOVE to see some.

Downton Gabby

Thanks for your descriptions.

Can you name anty nice suburbs of Glasgow I could look into?

Downton Gabby

These sound wonderful!

Downton Gabby

Can you tell a little bit about where you lived?