Scotland - drive around or form bases ?

Old Aug 27th, 2017, 03:38 PM
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Scotland - drive around or form bases ?

Hi all !
We are planning our Scotland driving itinerary for June July 2018
There will be the four of us.. possibly five
Adult family

We are looking at flying into Glasgow or Edinburgh depending on flights which we will book in September

We have2 weeks and I don't know whether to find bases and do day trips or keep moving in either clockwise or anticlockwise direction
My first instinct is to go from Edinburgh and head north east as far as John ogroats and then head west along the coast
We do want to see the Cairngorms Loch Ness isle of Skye and the Caledonian canal area and then head down to Campbelltown and into England for a couple of days in the lakes district then across to York and then back to Glasgow or Edinburgh
My husband is thinking it will be a combination of both driving round and stopping at a base for a couple of days
I'm hoping for more bases because it will be easier to plan accommodation
It looks like there aren't too many towns up around John o groats so where do we base ourselves in that area?
Any suggestions are very much appreciated!
Ps we are not interested in whisky distilleries
Mainly into nature wildlife easy walks and history
Thank you!
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Old Aug 27th, 2017, 04:05 PM
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We drove around. I wrote a trip report that covers our trip from Glasgow into the highlands, Scott territory, and finally Edinburgh. If interested, click on my name to find it.
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Old Aug 27th, 2017, 04:10 PM
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You will find that Scotland is bigger, and travel slower, than you expect. I think you are trying to cover way too much territory.
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Old Aug 27th, 2017, 04:27 PM
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Sorry -- But two weeks is not NEARLY enough time for Edinburgh, he Cairngorms, Loch Ness, John O'Groats, Skye, Campbelltown, The Lakes, Yorkshire and back. That would easily take 4 weeks and still be pretty rushed.

To give you an idea -- Campbeltown to Windermere is a 6 to 7 hour drive without a single stop.

John O'Groats to Portree would take 6+hours not stopping at any of the many beautiful places in between. IRL it is a 3-day drive including sightseeing.

Sorry if I'm mistaken -- but it almost seems like you made out a list of 'famous' places and assume they are the best places to go in Scotland. John O'Groats is -- well just a fairly uninspiring village that is waaaaay far north that is mainly a jumping off point for Orkney.

The Cairngorms are a scenic mountain area -- but not really nicer than 40 other places.

Campbeltown is near a great golf course -- but is waaaaay too far and out of the way to fit into such a short trip

Edinburgh - at least 2 or 3 days. Skye - 3 nights minimum

Just the Lakes and a small/teensy bit of Yorkshire would fill a week easy. . . . etc etc etc.
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Old Aug 27th, 2017, 04:37 PM
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I agree. Too much on your plate traveling to John O' Groats across the north then trying to take in the Cairngorms, Loch Ness, Isle of Skye, Campbeltown as well as the Lake District....not at all a reasonable itinerary. Why John O' Groats?The largest town in the area is Thurso but unless you're interested in prehistoric sites, a couple of ruined castles or plan to take the ferry over to Orkney, there's not much there. You need to be aware that travel in Scotland can be very slow. I advise you to cut back on your itinerary. It's not at all practical to think you can cover all of Scotland and add the Lake District within a two week period.
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Old Aug 27th, 2017, 04:39 PM
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Posting at the same time but essentially the same comments.
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Old Aug 27th, 2017, 04:52 PM
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>>It looks like there aren't too many towns up around John o groats so where do we base ourselves in that area?
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Old Aug 27th, 2017, 05:20 PM
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lanejohann:
Believe what they are telling you. The first time we visited Scotland, we spent 2 busy days in Edinburgh, then spent 8 more days road-tripping around Scotland - first east to St.Andrews, then more central and up to Elgin on the north, then Inverness to Ullapool on the west, down to Isle of Skye, Fort William, Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, ending in Glasgow, with only one day spent there. We had 11 days total in Scotland and we did not see nearly all that we wanted to, and often felt like we were skimping on our visits as we needed to keep moving to get to the next destination.

The driving IS slow with many single-track roads where you have to pull over to let an oncoming vehicle past.
Even if you are on a faster type of road, they are hilly and curving, and you just can't help but stop "just one more time" for yet another great picture - the scenery is so awesome! We eventually made a rule that if the view wasn't a 10/10, we weren't going to stop - but guess what? We couldn't help ourselves and would stop yet again...
There will be many off the beaten path things that you will want to do.

And with 5 of you, everything will take much longer to accomplish than it would with two people. Do less and enjoy more - it is an amazing country. The National Parks are incredibly beautiful as is the rest of the country, and the west side especially, is so lush and green.

We returned this past June for a quick visit after walking Hadrian's Wall in the UK, and spent 2 days at Fort William (exhilarating climb of Ben Nevis) and then 2 days in Oban (got to do a boat excursion to Isle of Staffa to sit in the grass with the puffins - incredible!). This time we were more contented to do two of the things we didn't get to do the last time and we were thrilled that the weather held out for both of these activities. It took us 11 years to go back, and we will go back again...

So don't over plan. If you are there in June, do try to do a boat trip out to see the puffins and other birds and wildlife - it is their mating season.

In Glasgow, we really enjoyed the Tenement House visit (it is a National Trust property).
We found any of the National Trust visits we did, quite worthwhile.
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Old Aug 27th, 2017, 05:29 PM
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The most conveniente base would be either Edinburgh or Glasgow, unless you go up to the islands where you can find good hotel/B&B for decent prices, for example Oban or similar places.
I highly recommend the Lake district and York too.
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Old Aug 28th, 2017, 01:47 PM
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Thank you all so much!
I'm taking it all in ...

Back to the drawing board

I'll pop in later

Internet isn't working too well so it's so frustrating when I'm not able to post in a timely fashion!
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Old Sep 23rd, 2017, 06:05 PM
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Ok have some time to sit and research some more...
This is what I have locked in so far- 33 days of travel:

Bought flight tickets (Singapore airlines $1760 aud cheapest ever so far!)

Friday 22ndsyd-singapore stay two nights

Sunday24th around midnight fly to Amsterdam arrive 7am...split ten days between Amsterdam and a base in Belgium...(train it to Antwerp or another base from Amsterdam)

Thursday 5th july ..fly or train it to Edinburgh from belgium...

Meet husband in Edinburgh same day or even stirling (depending on how long we need to wait for his flight from syd to arrive- he hasn't booked yet)

Starting Friday 6th july spend two weeks exploring scotland...

Friday
20th july fly or train it to London to stay for five days(minus husband who will be sailing in Greece for a week) before flying back via Singapore to Sydney

So
The first question is:
where to base ourselves (possibly five of us on this Scottish leg at least for a week or so then possibly down to three)

I'm thinking STIRLING

At the moment things are up in the air (waiting to hear how much time my son has off between studies...will find out december)
If we stay in and do daytrips from stirling then my son has access to Edinburgh so he can fly home or Glasgow if that's more convenient

Is Stirling a good base to do daytrips to say the North Berkwick seabird centre, St Andrews and the villages south of there?
Could we get to Loch Lomond or even to Fort William or Ayr and return comfortably each day?

The real inconvenience this trip is finding accommodation for the five of us ...booking early so we get nice hotels or B&Bs (I prefer hotels actually but will compromise)
We are all animal lovers and would love to see a deer park (hence the cairngorms but theres another one in bow of fife)
would love to see the puffins on isle of staffa too
no whisky trails...no nightclubbing...no fancy restaurants

agree to see some castles but don't want to be castled out either...
into scenery and gentle hikes
love lakes, mountains, forests

So how does a six day stay in stirling sound?...easy access to Edinburgh, pretty town with its own castle and lovely scenery...would getting in and out by car be simpler than Edinburgh?
or would that be too much time allocated to a smaller town?

would Edinburgh be better ... as in more things to do at night(but getting in and out of a capital city by car for day trips doesn't sound like fun- we did it in munich, mind you)


We do want to spend a couple of full days on the isle of skye and also having some time in the highlands
just thought id work out the first week

do so appreciate any input!
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Old Sep 23rd, 2017, 07:00 PM
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>>The first question is:
where to base ourselves (possibly five of us on this Scottish leg at least for a week or so then possibly down to three)

I'm thinking STIRLING>Is Stirling a good base to do daytrips to say the North Berkwick seabird centre, St Andrews and the villages south of there?
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Old Sep 23rd, 2017, 07:32 PM
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thanks for your prompt reply janis...
good to know ahead of time that Stirling is hilly and not too car friendly
sooo...
eek!...more movement! daunting prospect to get that accommodation booked but I'm the (wo)man for it lol

just been looking at routes to take up north
maybe Balloch to explore loch Lomond
then somewhere other than fort William to overnight before getting up to culloden..a must-see for us

then head to isle of skye..stay say sligachan in the centre...drive the north to Uig then next day go south to sleat peninsula and maybe do the cruise to Elgol

overnight in oban
ayr
Kirkcudbright (Selkirk arms for the night?)
then off to Dumfries and moffat..visitng devils beef tub and grey mares tail

maybe melrose eklso and mellerstain before driving to edinburgh

I don't know if the latter bit of this itinerary is too full of grand mansions and abbeys...don't want to spend time lining up for entry
wed prefer to see more of the highlands or in that case unless this last bit has gorgeous scenery too


I read that Drumnadrochit makes a good base too...don't know how that fits into the picture yet

two weeks isn't a lot...I know...and it's always kid- in -the- candy- shop for me when I first start researching!
thanks again!

as for long days on the road
when we based ourselves in munich...we drove to Rothenberg and back
and to Innsbruck another day without any complaint from OH the driver
hes an unusual traveller...often insists on getting a car and paying exorbitant parking fees in a crowded city
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Old Sep 23rd, 2017, 07:48 PM
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I'm having trouble following your plan but a few comments:

>>when we based ourselves in munich...we drove to Rothenberg and back
and to Innsbruck another day without any complaint from OH the driver
hes an unusual traveller..>I read that Drumnadrochit makes a good base too
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Old Sep 24th, 2017, 12:48 AM
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Okay thanks again Janisj

ill scratch balloch and drumnadrochit...

thank you Michael...ive noted your reports
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Old Sep 24th, 2017, 05:39 AM
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Don't forget Doune Castle. Be sure to buy coconuts!

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Old Sep 24th, 2017, 11:09 AM
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Driving in the highlands the last two weeks - 20-25 mph tops.

Leaving most places by 10 am arriving 100-125 miles later in about 7 hours. It's THAT slow with all the ooh and aah picture stops and single track twisting roads with rubbish sight lines.

We're in the south now, and hope we can get up to 40 - 45 mph.

Listen to whatever janisj advises, you won't regret it.

And no matter what anyone tells you, bring waterproof pants and shoes! I've worn my waterproofs a number of times already, including today. My shoes are not completely waterproof and my feet have been wet more than once. I think I'm growing moss on my feet
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Old Sep 30th, 2017, 08:47 PM
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Doune castle ...will thT be castle number 47?
There's a limit...lol

Coconuts?

Thnx sugar maple
Wish we had three weeks for scotland but just didn't work out
It's hard to prioritise


Now I've been looking at callander and dunkeld....not far from each other
Trying to choose which is better as a base
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Old Sep 30th, 2017, 08:51 PM
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And thanks for the heads up for the waterproof pants
I have a pair...haven't worn them much at all and I have a pair of Alaskan gumbooty things
Wouldn't have thought to pack either so thanks!
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Old Oct 1st, 2017, 06:11 AM
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>> Coconuts>Doune castle ...will thT be castle number 47?
There's a limit…lol
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