JamesB

Hello. I e-mailed much of the following to Sheila, who seems to be very knowledgeable about Scotland, but thought I would ask for other opinions as well. After reading some of the knowledgeable posts on Scotland, I'm excited to hear your replies.

My wife and I are celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary with a 2-week trip to Scotland from May 30th to June 12th. We are flying into Glasgow and renting a car there. Then I was thinking of heading to Edinburgh for a couple of days, maybe staying someplace really unique the first night (like a castle or abbey or just a really nifty Scottish inn) and then staying in the city for a night. Then we were thinking we would head west, perhaps to the Argyll area. We'd like to see the Highlands, of course, and some of the islands. I was also thinking about visiting Inverness because of the Highlands Festival going on there from the 4th to the 12th.

But really, we don't care about specifics. We're easily pleased and love surprises and noodling around and finding little out-of-the-way places. We love beauty and history and wildlife (we have to see puffins) and celtic music and meeting new people. We like walks and wilderness and cute little villages... but also don't mind some city experiences (e.g. castles and museums and such). We'd also might like to see a highland games, if possible (I don't know much about the Inverness festival but it might help us get our 'ya yas' out for Scottish music and dancing and piping). Can you help us with some ideas?

Also, would you recommend day-tripping from a couple of centralized locations? Or maybe combining a week stay in the Highlands with some day trips elsewhere? Just 'driving and seeing' isn't our idea of a real vacation, although it can be part of it.

And another important question: At the time of year we are going, how important is it to book lodging in advance? We prefer inns and B&Bs and such to hotels. And our ideal vacation would just be tooling around exploring stuff, stopping wherever we feel like it and staying in places as we please. Is it true that there's an easy way to book lodging, say, one day in advance from tourist centers? That might be a compromise that would work for us.

Thanks so much!

[email protected]

janis

You will get tons of information from Sheila - but I have just a couple of comments off the top.

You are arriving in Glasgow - traveling east to sepnd a couple of nights in/near Edinburgh - and then driving all the way back across the country to Argyll.

I think a better use of your time would to head NW out of Glasgow and stay in a country house or Castle hotel in Atgyll the first two nights. Wander north for the next day ot two enroute to Inverness seeing some great scenery. And after visiting Inverness head south (or SE) wending your way back to Edinburgh for the last couple of nights.

Unless you were planning on spending the entire 4th - 12th near Inverness (hope not) this would be a better use of your time w/o back tracking.

If you ARE considering spending a whole week near I'ness - consider renting a cottage. It will be cheaper than B&Bs or hotels and would give you much more space, a washer/dryer and you could use it as a base to see things w/i about a 150 mile circle.

You can see puffins lots of places - but my favorite is probably on the Isle of May off the coast of Fife. You take a boat from Anstruther out to the island and will se MANY sea bird species includin Puffins, plus an old abandoned village, lighthouses, etc. It is a fantastic 1/2 day out.

JamesB

Thanks, Janis, for the great tips on May and Argyll. I probably shouldn't have written so much about what I thought we should do. What would *you* do with 2 weeks in Scotland for your first visit?

ginny

Hi James!

I spent a week in Scotland last April and loved it. I can recommend a unique Castle to stay in for a night. It's Dalhousie Castle in the town of Bonnyrigg, about 7 miles outside of Edinburgh. The website is
http://www.dalhousiecastle.co.uk/

Check it out...I think you'll like it!!!

PamR

We had a wonderful two weeks trip to Scotland a few years ago. We started in Glasgow, too, and drove a sort of loop, heading northwest first, then driving east, past Loch Ness to Inverness, where we stayed several days. Really liked that area. Then made our way up the east coast to Thurso. We stayed somewhere around there 2 days. Then we took the car ferry to the Orkneys. We loved that. Stayed a number of days, visited Highland Park Distillery, which convinced me I like Scotch whisky! Saw neolithic housing, beautiful churches, standing stones, and all sorts of wild and wonderful things. Then came back and made our way back down the east coast, stopping in a few small towns and then Stirling, where again we stayed several days. We loved Stirling, too -- castle where Mary Queen of Scotts was imprisoned. We originally planned on making our way back along the western coast, but the roads were so tiny (one lane for 2-way traffic) that the stress was too much for my husband ;-) Even the east coast was a challenge. We stopped at lots of thatched cottage tearooms, farms you could visit, bird conservancies, and other things -- as you said, noodling around. The people were great and helpful. It was light till 11 p.m. at night (this was July) which made us energetic. We did not book hotels ahead, except for the first night. We relied on the tourist offices, which were very friendly and helpful, and booked us at lovely B&Bs. We also found a couple of inns in the tourist guides that were nice. Just be sure to bring warm clothes (it's cold there!) and buy some "wellies" when you get there if you want to tramp through long grass to see the sites. Have a great time.

LaurenSKahn

I would spend 4-5 days in Edinburgh before heading out to other parts of Scotland. In Edinburgh, you will want to--at a minimum do Edinburgh Castle, Hollyrood House and the Museum of Scotland. You might also want to go over to Leith and see the Yacht Britannia (the present Queen's retired yacht). There are several castles in the surrounding area if you want that.

From Edinburgh, I would go to Stirling and Bannockburn and then head out to wherever you want to go.

I have been to Scotland 3x but sort of get trapped in Edinburgh for the festivals (especially the Fringe Festival) and don't go off to see the outlying islands. One of those trips was over 35 years ago and the last two were home exchanges so I cannot give good references on hotels. I try to avoid them on a home exchange and, for the most part, do day trips.

I have never had a problem finding a B&B room in Scotland when I am on the road, so you do not have to book everything ahead of time and lock yourself in.

Please note that the roads north of Edinburgh are mostly slower than we are used to in the US, so you do need to allow for that.

In Edinburgh, I recommend the Bad Ass Cafe on Rose St. (the banoffee pie is to die for). For a good sandwich/salad place for lunch, I recommend Two Thin Laddies in the Grassmarket.

Your trip will be more meaningful if you read about Bonnie Prince Charlie, Mary Queen of Scots and Robert the Bruce before you go. Wherever you end up, I guarantee one or more of them slept nearby.

Tangata

Some time ago, we did a 9-day, 10-night trip like this:

Day one, flew London to Glasgow, stayed at Culcreuch Castle Hotel at Fintry near Loch Lomond

Day 2 drove to Tarbert, stayed at Stonefield Castle.

Day 3 drove to Glenelg, via Fort Williams. Stayed at the Glenelg Inn.

Day 4 crossed to Skye for the day, returned to Glenelg for the night.

Day 5 visited Eilean Donan Castle, drove to Inverness the long way. Stayed at Bunchrew House.

Day 6 drove the ?loop? to Dunnet Head and John O?Groats. Returned to Bunchrew House for the night.

Day 7 visited Fort George and Castle Cawdor en-route to Kildrummy where we stayed at Kildrummy Castle.

Day 8 drove through the eastern highlands and spent the night at Balgonie House Hotel.

Day 9 Visited Glamis Castle before spending the night at Kinfauns Castle.

Day 10 back to Glasgow and flew to London.

I don?t believe it would be difficult to stretch it out by a day or two, e.g. Skye would have been well worth another day.

I believe that all of the places we stayed have web sites ? we booked everything over the Internet.

If you would like a copy of my diary, email me at [email protected],

sherlock_fan

We stayed at Borthwick Castle two years ago and really enjoyed it. We wanted a castle with some history and Borthwick has it. Mary Queen of Scots stayed there and escaped out of a window dressed as a page boy. There is also damage from cannonballs still visible on the castle walls. Rosslyn (or Roslin) Chapel is close by if you are into the Knights Templar and the Holy Grail thing. We were a little disappointed in the Chapel but it was fun to know we've seen some of the things (apprentice pillar, etc.) now being mentioned in the books on the best seller lists. We loved Edinburgh.

JamesB

Thanks so much for all your help! I've been finishing up school here (I'm a professor) so haven't been able to reply for awhile but I do appreciate all the sample itineraries. I'll be spending the next few days just trying to figure them all out. Again, thank you all. And please feel free to add to the above; I'm just going to print this out and take the whole thing with me.