Hi Theo
Thankfully for you the cheapest tickets are usually online but they won't go on sale 'till about 12w before the day you want to travel. You can buy them from the Scotrail website (www.scottail.co.uk) but I find the eastcoast website easier to handle and you can buy tickets anywhere in the uk (www.eastcoast.co.uk) Sometimes it is cheaper to buy tickets seperately for each part of your journey. In your case you will have to change trains in Glasgow (and probably Perth)
See you in May!
Ali

Also consider a coach from Glasgow to Mallaig or at least Fort William as coaches are generally cheaper but you do need to work out all the permutations carefully. I find Travel line Scotland ( http://www.travelinescotland.com/ ) very useful.

Hi Theo

You will definitely be cheaper buying 2 tickets from Montrose-Glasgow, then Glasgow-Mallaig. You should book in advance for the best deals and travel after 0915.

UK train pricing is utterly bizarre - you can try various combinations of stations to find cheaper alternatives. Also, some sites charge for CC bookings, some don't. I usually use Scotrail, which doesn't charge a CC fee.

Going by bus from Montrose will be a very long journey - maybe a wee bit cheaper than the train but I wouldn't recommend it.

Previous posters are correct regarding the bizarre pricing structure. It is Always cheaper to buy a ticket from arbroath to perth, then perth to glasgow. I have no idea why .

Thanks everyone so far on message board and by mail. I was hoping for special discounts but I guess I simply have to wait till February.

Theo