uhclem

I'm trying to plan a 6-7 night trip to Scotland which kicks off a longer vacation in Europe and elsewhere. My wife and I will be arriving in Edinburgh from the US on July 3. We plan to head to Paris sometime around July 8 or 9 (could possibly do the 10th as well). We can probably get to Paris (relatively cheaply) via Edinburgh, Glasgow or Aberdeen. I'm looking for suggestions about how to wind our way through a pretty large country. Some considerations:

a) we'd like to spend at least 2 nights in Edinburgh (the first night will simply be dealing with travel, jet lag, etc.)
b) I'm willing to rent a car and drive to destinations
c) would like to mix city and country. Highlands sound very attractive, but ferries to outlying islands are probably not in the mix given our time constraints (or am I wrong here?)
d) we are middle aged, relatively fit, and don't mind walking or (non-technical climbing)
e) I'd like to visit some whisky distilleries, although my favorite whiskies are Islay, and that seems a bit off the beaten path with only a week
f)at the end of the trip, we need to be in a city from which we can fly to Paris (EDI, GLA probably ideal; INV or ABZ also possibilities)

Any helpful suggestions from natives or seasoned travelers would be greatly appreciated!

PS--Why doesn't Scotland get its own tag on these forums?

Rastaguytoday

There are a lot of choices. Here is one I believe I'll be taking soon.

Heading South to Durham. Lovely old city. Durham castle was built in 1072. http://www.viator.com/The-North-of-E...tle/d766-a2224

Then to the Open Air Museum in Beamish. I haven't been but it sounds like fun.
http://www.beamish.org.uk/

A couple of days in York. I love this city. The cultural museum is a favorite. Walk the walls. Walk the Rambles. Go to Yorkminster, a huge churh.

You can drop your car off in York and train it to Manchester airport, and then pick up a flight to Paris.

janisj

"<i>PS--Why doesn't Scotland get its own tag on these forums? </i>"

For the same reasons England, Wales, N.Ireland, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands don't

W/ approx a week, your choices are endless. A typical week's itinerary could include 2 days in Edinburgh, 2 days in the Trossachs/Perthshire, a couple of days farther north somewhere near Inverness, and one day in Aberdeenshire/Castle Trail area -flying out of A'deen. This would be rushed but would tick all your boxes.

But you could just as easily do two d. Edinburgh, two d. the Trossachs, two d. Skye, and one d. near Oban or Loch Lomond and fly out of GLA.

Or Edinburgh, train to Inverness, rent car, spend 5 days touring around far NW Scotland and Skye, fly out of I'ness.

Or many other options. I'm probably just confusing matters here- but any one of the above or lots of other itineraries would fill a week-ish.

janisj

Do note that none of rastaguy's suggestions, fine though they are, are actually in Scotland.

Samo64

We just went through Scotland, be it brief, Edinburgh x 2, Dundee x 2, Glencoe x 1, Glasgow x 1, i would leave Dundee out have an extra night in ED and another in the highlands, Hired a car with a GPS and all was good.but whilt in Edinburgh the Castle is a must at the start of the Royal Mile at the castle side is http://www.scotchwhiskyexperience.co.uk/
worth a look with tastings and some good info by the guide.
We stayed in Ed for 2 days also but could have had 3 easy,
Try Dewars Aberfeldy distillery near not too far out of the way, check this web site for others http://www.scotlandwhisky.com/distil...ghlands/Dewars
Glencoe on the west coast area has some wonderful scenery,
Not impressed by Glasgow,
Stirling Castle is also worth a 1/2 day trip
Enjoy

Samo64

Hindsight is a wonderful thing,
with 6-7 days as we had
I would now spend more time in Ed as a base for 4 days say and You can do alot of day trips from Edinburgh to distilleries, Stirling ect ,
and pick another in the Highlands for 3 days to limit packing / unpacking, then flyout from Glasgow or Ed

Tip, Have a Meal at Deacon Brodies Tavern on the Royal Mile (High St) in Edinburgh http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.u...iestavern.html
Also a Ghost Tour of the vaults and Greyfriars cemetary, excellent history lesson http://www.blackhart.uk.com/

Lexma90

We have planned a similar itinerary (but less time for Scotland) for the beginning of June. If you're planning to fly from Scotland to Paris, as I recall, the only direct flights are from Edinburgh (and probably Glasgow); from the other cities, you'll connect through London. Fares are cheap, especially if you buy them as far in advance as possible.

uhclem

Thanks for the quick feedback! @Samo: If we use Edinburgh as a base, would we be able to daytrip without hiring a car? I'd prefer not to have to park a rental whilst staying in the city.

Rastaguytoday

janisj - my apologies, I misread the poster's intentions.

I will say that if Scotland has its say, it may become it's own country, sort of. I've certainly gotten unpleasant looks when I present GB note, and almost always receive Bank of Scotland notes in change.

Samo64

You can, but you will be governed by the tour and at their pace, There are some good ones though

http://www.city-discovery.com/edinbu...FQZNpgodoSnLZw

The city public transport was easy enough but we stayed not too far from the castle so bus in bus.

You could see a fair bit without a car, even if you hired 1 for a day to go somewhere different

Check Tripadvisor that is fairly good for ideas

http://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Search...__2E__au__2F__

SkyeHigh

Night 1 & 2 in Edinburgh, from there.
DAY 3 & 4 Drive to Glencoe for a walk up the Lost Valley
stay 2 nights around Fort William next day drive up Glen Nevis for a walk to Steall Waterfall (it's amazing)

DAY 5 Drive to Mallaig, short ferry to Skye (24GBP for car 3.5 each passenger they go every 80 min). On route see the beaches around Morar. Continue from Armadale to the Skye Bridge onto Eilean Donan and a night in Plockton.

DAY 6 Plockton to Inverness via Torridon with a walk at Beinn Eige nature reserve. night 6 in Inverness.

Day 7 Down to Edinburgh or do the car hire one way and leave from Inverness airport.

More info on walks - very trustworthy info
http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/

And finally Scotland should have its own page much smaller countries and it makes it easier for England & Wales too!

Enjoy your trip