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Scotland, Ireland, Teenagers and road tripping, 2018

Scotland, Ireland, Teenagers and road tripping, 2018

Old Jul 19th, 2017, 08:32 PM
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Scotland, Ireland, Teenagers and road tripping, 2018

Hi
Myself, husband and two boys ( aged 13 and 16) are planning a big adventure next year during the boys' school holidays in June/July next year. Our adventure begins with a 7 night River Cruise that ends in Budapest. From there, we will fly to Dublin and hire a car to explore Ireland. I can't even give you a rough idea of what our plans are in Ireland as yet, as I have been focussing on Scotland. All I know is we have around 9 nights to play around with, ending with a ferry from Belfast to Scotland. Obviously we will leave the car in Ireland ( am aware of the one drop fee, since Nthn Ireland is an entirely separate country to where we will initially pick the car up in Dublin) and pick up a new car in Scotland.

At the moment, I am needing advice on my rough itinerary for Scotland ( and Ireland eventually, when I have done more research). I am trying to create an itinerary that's more quality rather than quantity. I don't want to be trying to see everything, with just over night in each place. So a slower pace itinerary.
We don't really like cities too much and tend to gravitate towards smaller villages and towns. We love nature, mountains, coasts....wild isolated places as well. We aren't overly keen on real touristy spots ( obviously some are touristy for good reason but we do try to avoid the cliche tourist spots I guess - hence my decision not to visit Loch Ness- let me know if this is a bad decision).

So please, if you can look over this itinerary and give me advice/feedback. I want to know is it doable? (Coming from Australia, we don't mind driving for a few hours to get to our next destination.) Have the places I've chosen good places to base ourselves, am I missing out on anything that we really should see, can you suggest alternate places?

So,this is a rough titinerary:

Day 1- catch ferry from Ireland to Ardrossan harbour and then ferry to Arran - pick up hire car on Arran. I am attracted to Arran as it appears to be a less obvious choice to tourists, but is supposed to be a miniature Scotland. Is this a good choice? Overnight Arran

Day 2 - explore Arran. Overnight Arran

Day 3 - ferry back to mainland, collect new hire car and drive to Oban. I am a little uncertain if this is where we want to base ourselves for the next 3 nights or not. There seems to be heaps of good day trips from Oban. I think what I am worried about is I have read it can be overrun with tourists in July. So very open to alternatives here. Overnight Oban

Day 4 - Oban and surrounds. Overnight Oban

Day 5 - Oban and surrounds. overnight Oban

Day 6 - Drive to Pitlochry or Killiecrankie, or somewhere in that area, via Glencoe and Glen Lyon. Overnight in Pitlochry/Killiecrankie or somewhere nearby. (Unsure whether this is the right way to go. Should we have headed further north to Inverness?)

Day 7 - explore Pitlochry and surrounds. Overnight Pitlochry/Killiecrankie or somewhere nearby.

Day 8 - drive to Crail. overnight Crail

Day 9 - drive to Edinburgh. Overnight Edinburgh

Day 10 - explore Edinburgh. Overnight Edinburgh

Day 11- fly out of Edinburgh back to Oz

I would really apprecitate all the feedback, advice you can give me. If you want to offer me a completely different itinerary, I am very open to suggestions.

Cheers
Michelle
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Old Jul 20th, 2017, 06:28 AM
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Must you take a ferry from Belfast? What's the logic of this considering the ferry will nix a whole day? If you just drive back to Dublin, you can catch a flight directly to Glasgow, which should be cheap. Stay there for a night and then set off west.

You have listed two days in which you'd get a hire car - Arran (1) and Oban (3). How many bloody cars do you need?

Two nights in Pitlochry is ... two more than necessary. It's a way station en route somewhere else unless you're really into the area around it.

Ultimately, what are you trying to see and do other than walk amongst the heather? If you're among the 90% of Aussies that live within an hour of the coast, you can have coastal wanders there with no problem so there have to be sites in Scotland that are interesting because they're without Aussie equivalent. There's no other different itinerary to offer if you have no specific desires regarding where you go. This is an understandable Aussie issue - you come from so far away you claim to want to see everything, which is bollocks both because you cannot and with this itinerary you wouldn't come close to it.

WTH is a cliche tourist spot? If you mean a tourist trap, those are easy to avoid (anything with Madame Tussaud on it for starters). If you don't want the cheesy things, it's easy to skip Loch Ness or Blarney Castle and miss little. But is Edinburgh Castle cliche? Is the Guinness distillery (c'mon now, you know hubs wants to go there in Dublin)? Just because tourists flock to place X (like Uluru, the GOR, Harbo[u]r Bridge) doesn't mean it's touristy.
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Old Jul 20th, 2017, 11:45 AM
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Thanks for your comments but Woah - steady on Russ! This is my first time posting on a public forum so be gentle with me. We want to catch a ferry as we will be in the north already, due to following up some long lost ancestors, keep the cost down and save going to Edinburgh twice as we must end our trip there, plus a ferry is fun, easier than an airport.

The reason being to hire a car on Arran is a lot of hire companies won't allow you to take a rental car on a ferry or charge an enormous amount if you do. It's not a biggy to hire a car on Arran. Of course hubby wants to go to a distillery. There's one on Arran and of course we will go to the distillery in Edinburgh.

I chose the places I suggested as there was lots of day trips to see castles, historic sites, distilleries etc. Yes, I know we don't have specific things to see, but that will come once we know the areas we are staying. This also is our style of travelling - we don't like to tick things off a list but rather wander. Different strokes for different folks. We've wandered through Italy and France this way and loved it. As for tourist spots - you nailed it with saying skip Blarney Castle, Loch Ness - I wanted to hear this- but I wouldn't skip Edinburgh Castle. I know places are tourists spots for good reason, like I said, just wanted to avoid those tourist traps that are over the top and commercial , that's all.

Honestly, we do love coastal walks, we live Ali g way from the coast , and I think the scenery in Scotland would be very different to Australia.
I said in my post I dont want to see everything because I know I can't and we don't want to anyway. That's why my itinerary is slower - we like to base ourselves in one place for a few days. So i really wanted to know if my itinerary was ok?? So you say don't bother with Pitlochry? I chose that as I thought it would give us a taste of the highlands without having to go all the way north plus it looked like there was lots of interesting things to see in the area, such as castles, lochs etc. can you suggest another base? Or another direction to head which might make my itinerary more varied?
Cheers
Michelle
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Old Jul 20th, 2017, 01:19 PM
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A few comments on your proposed itinerary. I didn't realize there was a ferry from Ireland to Ardrossan. Are you certain about that. I haven't checked Ireland to Scotland ferry routes for several years so may not be aware of it.

I agree that the Isle of Arran is certainly worth a couple of days. Good choice but why drive back to the mainland if heading toward Oban unless you mean taking the short very ride from Lochranza to Claonaig. Then continue up the A83 to Lochgilphead then take the A route to Kilmartin Glen. Stop here to visit some of Scotland's best prehistoric sites. There's a good museum and a nice cafe. Just north of Kilmartin Glen is the ruins of Carnassanie Castle. Another stop might be Crinan where you go take a boat ride out to the Corryvrecken whirlpool, a place of myths and legends and one of the most dangerous tide pools in Scotland, indeed, the world. For less adventurous souls there's the Crinan canal.

I'm a big fan of Oban having stayed there numerous times mostly when traveling solo and without a car. CalMac ferries have a port here with several opportunities for day trips. Have a look at their website www.calmac.co.uk Dunollie Castle ( ruins) is just north of Oban within walking distance as I've done it several times. Not much left of the castle, but I like it. Where there used to be a farmhouse just before you took the path up to the castle, they now have a museum on Dunollie Castle and the MacDougallls, Lords of Lorn. A bit north of Dunollie is Dunstaffnage Castle ( also a McDougall fortress ) where Flora McDonald was briefly inmprisoned but apparently in fairly decent quarters. No dungeon for a Scottish heroine. Perhaps most interesting is the ruined chapel. When I visited it was a cloudy day with no one else around. The atmosphere was both magical and mystical. One could easily believe in fairies, spells and all sorts of strange happenings.

Must close for now, perhaps more later. Just want to add that personally I would not stay in Pitlochry.
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Old Jul 20th, 2017, 02:24 PM
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Hey, it's ferry ride not very ride.
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Old Jul 20th, 2017, 02:31 PM
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I just skimmed and have to go back and try to digest your plan but my initial thought is WAY too convoluted w/ multiple car hires. You can easily (and cheaply) fly to GLA and collect a car there and keep the same car for wherever you want to tour. Picking it up at GLA and dropping is at EDI would be easy peasy.

Now I'll go back an look at the details -- if, as BigRuss mentions, you have 2 nights in Pitlochry -- it is certainly OK but there are soooooo many other options.
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Old Jul 20th, 2017, 02:35 PM
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Agree with flying into Glasgow. If Arran is high on your to do list, it's a easy trip from Glasgow.
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Old Jul 20th, 2017, 02:36 PM
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More skimming -- saw historytraveler'c suggestion to head north from Arran -- which would be wonderful. However there is no place you can rent a car on Arran that would allow a one-way rental so you'd have to rent on the mainland -- so again GLA makes more sense.
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Old Jul 20th, 2017, 02:49 PM
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I agree. Got so wrapped up in the Arran to Oban itinerary that I failed to consider the basic logistics of getting from Ireland to Scotland and Arran. So, best to fly into Glasgow, rent car at airport then drive to Ardrossan and take ferry to Arran then continue on to Oban.
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Old Jul 20th, 2017, 02:52 PM
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BTW, Oban will be no more overrun with tourists than any other place in Scotland during the summer months.
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Old Jul 20th, 2017, 04:00 PM
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>>BTW, Oban will be no more overrun with tourists than any other place in Scotland during the summer months.> obviously some are touristy for good reason but we do try to avoid the cliche tourist spots I guess - hence my decision not to visit Loch Ness- let me know if this is a bad decision
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Old Jul 20th, 2017, 05:56 PM
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Thank you Janis J. And History traveler for your input. Janis J. that was my fear that my itinerary is too convoluted, but History traveler, I am pleased to hear that Arran is a good choice.

I guess my thinking was catching a ferry will save us a couple of hundred dollars, as there is four of us flying. I also thought it would save us time as by the time you muck around with security, having to arrive early at the airport etc. you burn a few hours. Thought ferry travel would be something different too, as we will be hanging around airports a fair bit in our travels. Maybe I am way off base here? Everyone seems to be recommending flying to Glasgow. Big Russ, my apologies - I misread your suggestion to fly into Glasgow, I read it as Edinburgh. I had just woken up when I read your reply.

History traveler, you seem to be right about being unable to catch a ferry to Ardrossan. I did see a post that said you could, but I can't seem to find a ferry route that does this from Belfast.

I know it sounds crazy and a hassle to hire a car just for Arran, but from what I have researched, some rental car companies won't let you take a car on a ferry and others charge a whopping fee to take one on a ferry. I thought about not worrying about a car at all on Arran, but I think it would be easier if we had one. Does anyone know if this is still the case with high fees in taking rental cars on ferries?

History traveler, does this mean you can take a ferry to Oban from Arran? I didn't realise that. This may make more sense, although the drive you suggested sounds lovely.

History traveler and Janis, you've convinced me that Oban is a good base for three nights. Sounds like I have to rethink the rest of the trip. I wanted to incorporate Glencoe and Glen Lyon in our drive when we left Oban, and it seemed Pitlochry was a logical place to stop, but perhaps not now after everyone's advice. Glen Lyon intrigues me, but maybe there are better alternatives. This is where I become a bit unstuck. I would like to get up into the Highlands ( I mistakenly thought Pitlochry would give me a little taste of that) , so should we push a bit further north to somewhere, before heading south back to Edinburgh? I am trying to keep the itinerary at a slower pace, but maybe we do a big drive to the north, after our mini break in Oban. I was trying to include the Fife Coastal Drive, hence the overnighter in Crail and I also wanted to ensure the drive to Edinburgh wasn't too long, so we have more time in Edinburgh. But maybe including Crail isn't necessary and we go elsewhere, stopping somewhere for an overnighter, after coming back from the north, that's only a few hours drive from Edinburgh. Would this be better?

Point taken about Loch Ness. I understand it is beautiful, but my boys are too old to find Nessie and I thought rather than going out of our way in heading to Loch Ness, maybe we could look at other Lochs, such as Loch Lomond, while we are in Oban.

I know it's going to be busy in summer, I wish we weren't tied down to school holiday time, so we could visit at a less busier time, but that's the way it is. I have found in our travels, with the boys, that cities and crowds overwhelm them, hubby included. All three are country lads. We live on a farm, outside a large country town, and we are use to space and peaceful spots. They are like fish out of water in big cities. Venice nearly killed them and I thought my husband was going to break a few selfie sticks over tourists' heads in Paris. So that's why I keep gravitating towards smaller, quieter places and why I keep banging on about hordes of tourists. I get the irony though, we are tourists ourselves, adding to the crowds, so it's a tricky balance.

Looking forward to hearing further advice from all. Much appreciated.

Cheers
Michelle
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Old Jul 20th, 2017, 06:32 PM
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>> but from what I have researched, some rental car companies won't let you take a car on a ferry and others charge a whopping fee to take one on a ferry.> but from what I have researched, some rental car companies won't let you take a car on a ferry and others charge a whopping fee to take one on a ferry.
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Old Jul 20th, 2017, 07:16 PM
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I was waiting for a reply before making further suggestions. First of all, there is no ferry from Arran to Oban. You just might be able to connect via ferries through a number of ports but very time consuming and not realistic. I have no reason to think that you can't rent a car at Glasgow airport and take it on the ferry to Arran. Pretty sure you're thinking of transporting a car via ferry from Ireland to Scotland which is doable but costly. Check out flights from Belfast as there are usually offerings from some of the budget airlines and you might even be surprised at prices from BA. I don't think you'll find flying anymore time consuming than a ferry crossing. Likely to be similar.

A couple of other options near Oban is a visit to Kilchurn Cadtle and a boat ride on Loch Etive. Boat rides depart from Dunstaffnage Marina www.etiveboattrips.co.uk I think there are also departures from Taynuilt. If near Taynuilt I recommend a stop at The Robin's Nest for lunch.

From Oban, I'd take the A 85 to Killin and stop at Dochart Falls. From there you have two choices traveling along Loch Tay which happens to be one of my favorite lochs. If you have the time and the budget, take rhe south, single track road and spend a night at The Ardeonaig Hotel a very special place www.ardeonaig.co.uk

Otherwise take the easier north route toward Aberfeldy but detour to Kenmore to visit The Scottish Crannog Centre. Few first timers to Scotland have any idea as to what a crannog is. I know I didn't, but they comprise an important and unique part of Scottish history. It's a stop I think your kids would really like too. www.crannog.co.uk

This doesn't get you to Glencoe which you'd have to go further north from Oban to the A82 to catch. You could go north to A82 from Oban through Glencoe then south ( still A82 ) to Crianlarich then take the A85 to Killin and Dochart Falls. Not sure how much longer that route takes as I've not done it.

I'd bypass Pitlochery and Killiecrankie and head to Dunkeld which I think is one of the loveliest villages in Scotland with its whitewashed buildings situated along the River Tay. Dunkeld Cathedral is partly in ruins but certainly not a ruin. The setting is beautiful.

From Dunkeld it should be a fairly easy drive to a Crail, but you might also consider St. Andrews then stopping at Crail, Anstruther and/ or Elie on your way to Edinburgh.

Should really have janisj check on logistics and timing. Not sure how much longer it'd take to get from Oban to Loch Tay via Glencoe. It is an easy trip from Oban on the A85 and assuming one can get from Dunkeld to St.Andrews and on to Crail easily enough. Too many trips to remember excatly where we left from and where we ended up.

In response to your concern for quieter places to stay, I'd still put Oban in the mix, Other possibilities would be Killin or somewhere along Loch Tay for the north side the Fortingall Hotel is nice. Likewise, Dunkeld is also a very pleasant spot.
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Old Jul 20th, 2017, 07:22 PM
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Janis J. - Great - that solves the problem of not having to hire an extra car onArran. I have messaged a few car rental companies about this but still waiting for a reply. We will just pickup a car from wherever we start and drive straight to Arran. I was thinking of doing a day trip from Oban to Mull. I hadn't actually considered staying on Mull. Will have a think about this. I was just trying to limit the number of one nighters we do in a place. We do like to do a few nights in each place as much as possible. Thanks again.
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Old Jul 20th, 2017, 07:28 PM
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Just read janisj's post and, of course, a stay on Mull would be great too.
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Old Jul 20th, 2017, 07:41 PM
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>> I have messaged a few car rental companies about this but still waiting for a reply.
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Old Jul 20th, 2017, 08:28 PM
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Thanks history traveler. I have had a read about Dunkeld, after your advice, and it sounds like it would really suit us. So possibly two nights there instead of Pitlochry. Still thinking three nights in Oban, as there seems to be plenty to do in the area, maybe a ferry trip to Mull. We will be leaving the rental car in Belfast and pick up another one in Scotland. There is a one way drop fee but it's not too expensive. I think it gets complicated if we took the rental car on an International ferry, and we may decide to fly between Belfast and Scotland yet.

The driving distance doesn't seem to be far at all from Oban to Dunkeld. Not sure what time would be added on with the detours you have suggested. You are giving me such a wealth of fascinating information. Have you ventured into Glen Lyon?

Much to think about.... do you think I am heading in the right direction in bypassing the North altogether? Ie. heading across from Oban to Dunkeld? I would love to get up to the North but may have to save it for another time ( if I can convince my hubby that we need to do another trip to Scotland one day). Maybe I can convince my sons to do a gap year in the UK and then I'll have to visit again.
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Old Jul 20th, 2017, 09:38 PM
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In answer to your question about 3 nights in Oban, I think that would work well. You can easily do a day trip to Mull and Iona from Oban. I forgot to mention the Isle of Kerrera which lies alongside Oban and can easily be explored by foot. There are several walks, a castle ruin, wildlife and small hotel with tea room. You just signal the ferry if it's on the other side and it's about a 5 minute trip or give rhem a call and let them know you're coming.The ferry is pretty much at the end of Gallanach Road.Few tourists get there so pretty quiet. You can easily do a day trip to Mull and Iona either by car and ferry or walk on ferry and catch the Bowman Coach at Craignure. Tickets can be bought at ferry terminal. The driver gives a very good account of Mull's history and will point out many things that might be missed if one drives. At Fionnphort you take the short ferry to Iona. They allow you plenty of time to visit the abbey and the ruins of the St. Augustine Nunnery. I think some trips include a visit to Duart Castle, but you'll need to check on that.

If you spend time on Arran you will see much the same scenery as in the Highlands. Much of this itinerary is in the Highlands, so I wouldn't worry about needing to get further north. There's a reason Arran is so often referred to as Scotland in Miniature.The geography is varied. The north feels much like the Highlands, desolate, unspoiled and IMO beautiful, but accessible to walkers and seems to attract fewer visitors. Along the eastern coast are whitewashed fisherman's cottages. The town of Corrie is a bit larger with B& B's, hotels and pubs.The islands intact and rather impressive castle is at Brodick, it's ruined castle at Lochranza where the Isle of Arran Distillers is located. Also the Arran Heritage Museum in Brodick and near Machrie are the stone circles.

Yes, Glen Lyon is lovely but definitely singletrack. It's just north of the A827 that runs along the north side of Loch Tay.
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Old Jul 20th, 2017, 09:40 PM
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If it was me I'd drive from Oban up Loch Linnhe to and through Glencoe, then down through Crianlarich, to Killin/Falls of Dochart and end up in Dunkeld. IMO it would be a shame to miss Glencoe and the detour would only add 45 min to an hour to the drive time.
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