Scotland and Inverurie
May 28th, 2005, 01:47 PM
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Scotland and Inverurie
My wife and I will be arriving in Edinburgh on June 11th. We have just 5 nights in Scotland. We need to go to the birthplace of my wife's grandmother, Inverurie, which is NW of Aberdeen. Other than that we have no plans. Any help with an itinerary would be appreciated.
May 28th, 2005, 04:02 PM
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Inverurie is in a great area for visiting even if you weren't "ancestor hunting"
Assuming you have not been to Scotland before I'd just stick to Edinburgh and the NE. Five days/nights is not enough time to see all of the country so I'd just try to enjoy the bits that make travel sense.
Are you flying into Edinburgh from overseas? Or flying or taking the train up from London? Or?? I'll just assume for now you are flying into E'burgh overnight . . . .
I'd stay the first night in Edinburgh and tour the city that day and the morning of the next day.
Then I'd pick up a rental car and head north. First stop (1/2 of the 2nd day and morning of the 3rd day) would be Fife with visits to St Andrews and maybe one or two of the fishing villages (Crail and Anstruther are good choices).
From there head up the coast towards Aberdeen. Be sure to stop at Dunnottar castle and Stonehaven. Then on to Inverurie. I'd stay there 2 nights. The first day you'd get there in the late afternoon or evening so 2 nights would really only give you one full day to explore and look for family connections.
night 1 - Edinburgh
night 2 - near St Andrews
nights 3-4 in/near inverurie
Then the fifth night could be spent 1) along the Dee (Ballater, Aboyne, maybe Braemar) to see some great scenery, Balmoral castle, etc; OR, 2) farther south like Blairgowrie, Dunkeld, Perth which would be much of the way back to Edinburgh; OR 3) back in/near Edinburgh if you wanted to spend the last night there before flying out.
That last night mostly depends on what time and how you are leaving Scotland. Are you flying out of Edinburgh, taking the train, etc?
So give a bit more detail about arrival/departures and we can give you more practical advice.
Assuming you have not been to Scotland before I'd just stick to Edinburgh and the NE. Five days/nights is not enough time to see all of the country so I'd just try to enjoy the bits that make travel sense.
Are you flying into Edinburgh from overseas? Or flying or taking the train up from London? Or?? I'll just assume for now you are flying into E'burgh overnight . . . .
I'd stay the first night in Edinburgh and tour the city that day and the morning of the next day.
Then I'd pick up a rental car and head north. First stop (1/2 of the 2nd day and morning of the 3rd day) would be Fife with visits to St Andrews and maybe one or two of the fishing villages (Crail and Anstruther are good choices).
From there head up the coast towards Aberdeen. Be sure to stop at Dunnottar castle and Stonehaven. Then on to Inverurie. I'd stay there 2 nights. The first day you'd get there in the late afternoon or evening so 2 nights would really only give you one full day to explore and look for family connections.
night 1 - Edinburgh
night 2 - near St Andrews
nights 3-4 in/near inverurie
Then the fifth night could be spent 1) along the Dee (Ballater, Aboyne, maybe Braemar) to see some great scenery, Balmoral castle, etc; OR, 2) farther south like Blairgowrie, Dunkeld, Perth which would be much of the way back to Edinburgh; OR 3) back in/near Edinburgh if you wanted to spend the last night there before flying out.
That last night mostly depends on what time and how you are leaving Scotland. Are you flying out of Edinburgh, taking the train, etc?
So give a bit more detail about arrival/departures and we can give you more practical advice.
May 29th, 2005, 01:30 PM
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We are flying in from Shannon where we will have spent 6 days in western Ireland. We fly out of Glasgow on the 16th back to Shannon for our flight back home (USA). Thank you for your advice. Is it worth heading over to the west coast before leaving from
Glasgow?
Glasgow?
May 29th, 2005, 04:18 PM
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OK - that helps a little. You won't be jet lagged upon arrival, and you need to get back to GLA.
Of course it is "worth" going to the west coast -- but you need to be up in the NE and only have 5 days total. So not that practical if you also want to see Edinburgh and have any time to explore the places you do go. Scotland is a big place - and much of the driving is pretty slow.
With the new info here are some adjustments to what I suggested above.
Assuming you arrive in Edinburgh in the a.m., spend that day exploring the city. Since you won't be jet lagged you won't really have to take it easy and can see a LOT of Edinburgh that day. (BUT - if you arrive in the p.m. then you really will need the whole of the next day to see Edinburgh so you'd need to stay there 2 nights.)
Day 2 take a couple of hours to see more of Edinburgh then pick up your car and head north. Visit St Andrews but then press on and stay the 2nd night somewhere farther north. Somewhere along the coast - maybe near Stonehaven. (night of june 12)
day 3 visit Dunnottar and Crathes Castles, plus Craigevar or Fraser if you have the time. Then drive up to Inverurie in the late afternoon. Stay 2 nights near Inverurie. (nights of June 13 and 14)
early a.m. of day 5 leave Inverurie and drive to near Stirling. Visit the castle and maybe Doune Castle and Inchmahome Priory. Stay the last night (June 15) somewhere near Callander/Aberfoyle. This area is very convenient for getting to GLA w/o having to drive in the heavy traffic around Glasgow.
Of course it is "worth" going to the west coast -- but you need to be up in the NE and only have 5 days total. So not that practical if you also want to see Edinburgh and have any time to explore the places you do go. Scotland is a big place - and much of the driving is pretty slow.
With the new info here are some adjustments to what I suggested above.
Assuming you arrive in Edinburgh in the a.m., spend that day exploring the city. Since you won't be jet lagged you won't really have to take it easy and can see a LOT of Edinburgh that day. (BUT - if you arrive in the p.m. then you really will need the whole of the next day to see Edinburgh so you'd need to stay there 2 nights.)
Day 2 take a couple of hours to see more of Edinburgh then pick up your car and head north. Visit St Andrews but then press on and stay the 2nd night somewhere farther north. Somewhere along the coast - maybe near Stonehaven. (night of june 12)
day 3 visit Dunnottar and Crathes Castles, plus Craigevar or Fraser if you have the time. Then drive up to Inverurie in the late afternoon. Stay 2 nights near Inverurie. (nights of June 13 and 14)
early a.m. of day 5 leave Inverurie and drive to near Stirling. Visit the castle and maybe Doune Castle and Inchmahome Priory. Stay the last night (June 15) somewhere near Callander/Aberfoyle. This area is very convenient for getting to GLA w/o having to drive in the heavy traffic around Glasgow.
May 31st, 2005, 11:33 AM
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Since I live 5 miles from Inverurie, do let me know if I can help further.
I can strongly recommend the Redgarth Hotel in Oldmeldrum for B&B. It's about 6 miles away. Tell Stuart I sent you
. The main attractions on this patch are castles and prehistoric stuff- stone circles and symbol stones and the like.
Do take time to visit Archaeolink near Oyne, if the latter attracts you. If the former, visit some of the places on the Castle Trail. You're also within easy strking distance of a distillery or two. And some stunning coastline.
What do you intend to see in Inverurie? Do you have an address? A burial site?
I can strongly recommend the Redgarth Hotel in Oldmeldrum for B&B. It's about 6 miles away. Tell Stuart I sent you
. The main attractions on this patch are castles and prehistoric stuff- stone circles and symbol stones and the like.Do take time to visit Archaeolink near Oyne, if the latter attracts you. If the former, visit some of the places on the Castle Trail. You're also within easy strking distance of a distillery or two. And some stunning coastline.
What do you intend to see in Inverurie? Do you have an address? A burial site?
