sydney_k

We will be traveling to GB for 9 nights in April. Not our first time. Our teens really want to see London so we plan on going to London for 4 nights and Edinburgh for 4 nights and final night near airport. We wish to travel to Highlands/Glen Coe/Lochness for at least a day trip or overnight trip. What is the best way to do this? Tour company? drive? train?
We can divide our 4 days up and spend time any where.

I was thinking 2 nights on Old town Edinburgh and then go for 2 nights to highlands. I can catch an afternoon train back to Heathrow area. Our flight is 11am back to USA

Thanks, Syd

latedaytraveler

Hi Syd,

For day tours from Edinburgh, Rabbies Tours have been highly recommended on this board.

www.rabbies.com/tour_scotland.asp

With only four nights in the city, I would prefer day excursions. Good luck!

janisj

Either all the time in Edinburgh and a day trip w/ Rabbies or Timberbush . . .

. . . OR two days in Edinburgh and a two-day tour w/ the same companies.

Like these http://www.rabbies.com/tours_scotlan...our.asp?lng=en

http://www.timberbush-tours.co.uk/ou...burgh/two-day/

Gardyloo

While April isn't the best time of year obviously, you can do an overnight trip to the Highlands fairly easily. I'd rent a car and stay overnight somewhere around Glencoe; it's around a 3-hour drive from Edinburgh.

If Loch Ness is a must-see (it's not especially scenic) then you could make a fairly long day of it and drive from Edinburgh to Inverness, then back through the Great Glen (past Loch Ness, Loch Lochy etc.) down toward Fort William. Then return to Edinburgh the next day via Glencoe, maybe even Loch Lomond.

On the assumption you're taking the train from London to Edinburgh, you might look instead at flying straight to Inverness, getting a car there, then driving to Edinburgh from there, via the Great Glen and Glencoe etc. The numbers might not be as bad as you think, and it would save quite a lot of time and driving.

PalenQ

can catch an afternoon train back to Heathrow area>

there is also the Caledonian
sleeper overnight trains ex Sat night I think to London Euston from Edinburgh, Inverness, etc - give your kids the experience of an overnight train!

http://www.scotrail.co.uk/caledoniansleeper/index.html

https://www.google.com/search?q=cale...=1600&bih=1075

For lots on British trains check out www.seat61.com (who has nice info on the Caldenian Sleepers as well; www.budgeteuropetrvel.com and www.ricksteves.com. Book well in advance and get a 4-person compartment or two adjoining doubles for a nice discount perhaps and save on a night in a hotel.

janisj

Taking the train back to London makes no sense BTW. There are no trains to the "LHR area" from Scotland. You'd end up at Kings Cross and then have to schlepp across all of London to get to LHR. Or of you take the Sleeper -- you arrive at Euston -- but not early enough to make an 11AM flight since you need to be at LHR around 8AM

Fly from EDI to LHR - easy peasy.

sydney_k

Thanks for your advice,

If we take the sleeper Train from King's X to Inverness and then rent a car and drive down to Edinburgh via Fort William , Glen Coe and on to Edinburgh. We have 2 nights stay in the high lands.

We are interested in Scenery.

Should we go all the way to Inverness or use our 2 nights in Fort William and Mallaig.

Any help Appreciated
Syd

janisj

>>Should we go all the way to Inverness or use our 2 nights in Fort William and Mallaig. <<

Inverness is the center of a wonderful region -- but the city itself is nothing much.

Ft William is less than nothing much - absolutely don't stay there.

And Mallaig is primarily a ferry terminal. It is teensy. There is really no reason to stay there.

So no, I wouldn't stay in any of those three place.

sydney_k

Janisj

thanks ..where do you suggest we head to if we have 2 nights before heading to edinburgh?

Thanks, Syd

Gardyloo

If you're taking the sleeper to Inverness and have two nights in the Highlands, then personally I'd head to the village of Plockton, not far from the Skye Bridge. Plockton is incredibly picturesque (used for the <i>Hamish Macbeth</i> TV series) and in April you'll probably have no problem with accommodation. http://gardyloo.us/plockton2s.jpg

Assuming your two nights doesn't include the sleeper night, then I'd stay both nights in Plockton and use the one full day to drive around Skye - maybe even out as far as Uig, where you're definitely reaching part of the "Celtic Fringe," or Dunvegan Castle, seat of Clan MacLeod.

On the last day, travel to Edinburgh via Glencoe, with - if time allows - a brief detour up Glen Etive, just at the south (upper) end of Glencoe on the edge of the Rannoch Moor. A short drive up the single-track road in Glen Etive will give you a real sense of the emptiness and wildness of the land.

Buchaille Etive Mor (Great Shepherd of the Etive,) looking toward Glencoe - http://gardyloo.us/20130613_71Hs.jpg

Map - http://goo.gl/maps/FvIh7

sydney_k

Great Tips.....Thanks So very much!!

Should we take the sleeper train all the way to Inverness..or get off earlier. Granted we still need to rent a car from the train station...

I love the idea of the Plockton/Skye area.

Is the drive from Plockton to Edinburgh ( via Glencoe) an easy drive?

Thanks, Syd

janisj

I'd take the sleeper to Inverness and rent the car there. Waverly station is in the center of Edinburgh and driving IN Edinburgh is a bear.

>>Is the drive from Plockton to Edinburgh ( via Glencoe) an easy drive?<<

Easy peasy -- but long. About 6 hours 'car time' w/o any stops -- and you'll want to stop a lot. At least at Glencoe, Killin, and maybe Doune or Stirling Castles. W/ stops it is a 10 to 12 hour drive.

PalenQ

If taking the Caledonian night train IME pay extra for a first-class compartment - I've had them and they are significantly nicer than 2nd class and get a private compartment and in no case sleep in regular seats if that option is offered - I took a night train from Glasgow to London once in what was advertised as 'reclining seats' but those seats reclined about one inch and were so close together it was hard to get any sleep at all - a veritable cattle car IME.

sydney_k

Thanks...so much for all the great advice

so schedule by nights ( 9 total)

london-1
london-2
london-3
london to Inverness over night ( 1st class sleepers)-4
rent a car from Train Station
drive to Portree- 5th night
drive via mallaig to Glencoe area/Killin/Callander(?) -overnight-6th
Edinburgh- 7
Edinburgh-8
Train to London -9
next am Airport

Thoughts?
Where should I spend the 6th night

Thanks, Syd

janisj

>>rent a car from Train Station
drive to Portree- 5th night
drive via mallaig to Glencoe area/Killin/Callander(?) -overnight-6th<<

Whoa! That is a LOT of driving for just one night on Skye. Inverness to Portree is 3+ hours and you'd only have that one day to see/do anything there. If you stop at Urquhart Castle, Eileen Donan, etc. count on about 5 hours to Portree and then just the rest of the day to see anything on Skye.

The next day you have 5-ish hours driving (just car time - w/o stops) to Callander. With stops at Glenfinnan, Glencoe, Killin, etc it is an 8 to 9 hour drive.

I think you need to do some soul searching whether this is what you want to do. Hours and hours in the car and almost no time actually 'being anywhere'.

If it was me, I'd stay two nights on Skye and the drive from Skye to EDI as one shot - it is a 6 hour drive plus stops - so essentially all day but at least you'd have time to see more on Skye.

(OR - I'd forget about Skye and concentrate on the Highlands and the Trossachs)

guycmcd

we have a Gleneagles Ryder Cup trip scheduled for Sep this year. in my prep I have been gratified to find dozens of helpful video clips on Youtube covering exactly the day or days trips in which you are interested. we are, too...Glencoe, Ft. William, Inverness, Loch Ness and Urquhart castle, where my forbears once lived...
http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/...?PropID=PL_297

PalenQ

If it was me, I'd stay two nights on Skye and the drive from Skye to EDI as one shot - it is a 6 hour drive plus stops - so essentially all day but at least you'd have time to see more on Skye.>

Having been to Skye if it were me I'd also say two nights on Skye so you have at least a full day to look around the main city and some countryside attractions.

But I also think that Skye is perhaps more romanticized than you may find it - I found it a nice bucolic backwater but not as gorgeous as much of the Scottish Highlands.

Gardyloo

I think one problem with your plan is that you might find yourselves in horizontal rain in Skye in April. Granted, there's no escape from foul weather anywhere in the UK at that time, but the west and northwest of Scotland is really asking for it.

To be honest, I'd actually reconsider the Highlands given your time constraints, or else reduce the time allocated to the region. It's all about choices, of course - what could you do with any extra days if you <i>weren't</i> driving around the Highlands?

There are several alternative possibilities. For example, you could keep your idea of traveling on the overnight sleeper to Inverness, but instead of heading to Skye, just take that day to drive down the Great Glen past Loch Ness to Fort William, then out the A830 a few miles to the 1745 memorial at Glenfinnan, then back to Fort William and down through Glencoe to Killin at the head of Loch Tay for the night.

The next day, travel along Loch Tay to the A9, then around Perth and out to Dundee, then cross the River Tay to St Andrews. Lunch in St Andrews then travel to Edinburgh via the "East Neuk" of Fife - several lovely little fishing villages on the Fife coast - Crail, Anstruther, St Monans...

This would allow you to see a couple of the most scenic "highlights" in the western Highlands, but it would eventually get you over to the east coast, where the weather will <i>probably</i> be drier than the west. The East Neuk villages are worth a trip in themselves, and this would allow you to get to Edinburgh less road-weary and having seen more of the country. If you wanted to lose the car and spend an extra day in Edinburgh, fine, but you could also keep the car (stay in historic South Queensferry near Edinburgh airport where the car won't be such a nuisance) and the next day keep exploring.

On the attached map I show a second loop - from Edinburgh down through the Borders to England and across to the Holy Isle of Lindisfarne, a fascinating and incredibly historic place accessed by a causeway that's covered by water at high tide. There's an ancient monastery (one of the first Christian sites in the UK) and a wee castle, but in a very dramatic setting. Just down the way (on the mainland) is Bamburgh, with its imposing castle looming over the village. http://gardyloo.us/bamburghcastle2.jpg

Then back to Edinburgh via the A1 and/or A198, through some equally lovely villages on the Lothian side of the Firth of Forth - St Abbs, Dunbar, North Berwick. Again, you're on the "dry" side of the island in all this, very different from the Highlands but no less beautiful in its own way, and very historic.

Map - http://goo.gl/maps/V4l79

janisj

>>There are several alternative possibilities. For example, you could keep your idea of traveling on the overnight sleeper to Inverness, but instead of heading to Skye, just take that day to drive down the Great Glen past Loch Ness to Fort William, then out the A830 a few miles to the 1745 memorial at Glenfinnan, then back to Fort William and down through Glencoe to Killin at the head of Loch Tay for the night. <<

That route is sort of what I meant in my post above >>(OR - I'd forget about Skye and concentrate on the Highlands and the Trossachs)<< . . . But Gardyloo provided the details

PalenQ

https://www.google.com/search?q=rann...=1600&bih=1075

If anywhere near Fort William be sure to hit the desolate Rannoch Moor - only a few side roads go into the moor - the perfect moor - no trees, just desolation like you've never seen before.