For information regarding left luggage try the following:

www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations-destinations

This site will provide you with considerable information as to facilities at all stations and will even show map plans of each station. I'm guessing that all but the smallest staions have baggage storage or left luggage as it's usually referred to in the UK.

You mention Urquhart Castle as part of your itinerary plan but nothing else, so I'm not at all sure why you insist that you'll have to spend your time at 3-4 different hotels. Let us know what places you're thinking about visiting. A different hotel for 3-4 nights may not be necessary.

I should qualify my answer a bit more. The larger stations in Scotland have left luggage facilities. There are a number of stations that will not. All depends on where you plan to stop/visit. Use the website I gave you.

Thank you, HT.
Some of the places we are interested in are Holyrood Castle, Edinburgh Castle, Royal Mile, Edinburgh, Inverness/Lock Ness/Urquhart Castle, Stirling Castle, Inverarry Castle, Glasgow, Isle of Skye, Orkney (which seems unlikely), the Highlands, St. Andrews, Culloden Battlefield and Cawdor Castle.
We know we can't do and see everything in two weeks, and I've always preferred staying in one or two places the entire time and more thoroughly seeing those places, but this trip is a bit different and so we'll narrow it down further so that we aren't just riding by places. Not interested in doing that at all. I love to take photos and so there will be some dawdling everywhere.
We are just starting our research, so perhaps you are right, we wouldn't have to move around so much. I'd sure prefer that.

The rail link didn't work, will try again later.

If it fails again just go to www.nationalrail.co.uk and from there the link to stations etc.
Will get back with a few ideas but image that some of the Scottish experts will give you excellent suggestions.

Thanks, that works!

I've only ever done the opposite in Britain... rented a car and travelled on each day , enjoying the scenery and anything else we wanted to see. I'm thinking from what you've said, you might want to think about 3 or 4 different places , which would give you a couple of nights in each destination anyway. Perhaps a a few nights in Edinburgh, a couple in Glasgow , a stop in the highlands and a stop on the Isle of Skye. True, Orkney doesn't seem to fit into the plan. Certainly you don't need a car in the cities, but the Isle of Skye would really require a car, or perhaps you could get a driver while you are there.

I see I made a major typo in the title of this thread, but the trip is May 2013, coming up fast.
The following is our working itinerary. Suggestions are welcome. Thanks in advance.

* There is an error of two day 4's on this list. Just ignore that.


Day 1 08 May Depart the US

Day 2 09 May Arrive London
Transfer to the hotel from the airport
I think 3 nights because the first day is sort of a wash
The Chesterfield Hotel
35 Charles Street
London GB W1J 5EB
011 44 207 491 2622
Afternoon at leisure

Day 3 10 May Sightseeing London
I would start at the Tower of London
Then take the boat up to Westminster





Great sights enroute and it is the only you will see them.
Afternoon
Westminster
London Eye
Horseguards

Day 4 11 May Buckingham Palace
Changing of the Guard
National Portrait Gallery
St. Martin in the Fields
Kensington Palace (a must)
Play in the evening

Day 4 12 May Take train to Edinburgh
It is about 4 hours
Check into hotel
The Howard Hotel
34 Great King Street
Edinburgh GB EH3 6QH
011 44 0131 557 3500
3 nights

Day 5 13 May Do the Royal Mile
From Edinburgh Castle to Holyrood House




Day 6 14 May Take a day trip to Stirling, Falkirk


Day 7 15 May Transfer by train up to Inverness
Now in Inverness I would stay at a local hotel
The Glen Moriston Townhouse is nice.

Day 8 16 May Take your bus trip out Loch Ness
This is a good tour and you will see Fort Augustus
With Jacobite Tours
Boat and bus
Urquhart Castle




Day 9 17 May Take the scenic Steam Railway to Isle of Skye





A driver will meet you at the train and take you across the Bridge
Skye.
I’m rethinking on where to stay.
I like the following
White Heather Hotel in Kyleakin
The Broadford Hotel on Broadford
The Sconser Lodge in Sconser
Cuillin Hills Hotel in Portee
I like the first 2 the best.

Day 10 18 May Isle of Skye
Tour of the Island
I have looked at several 1 day tours

Day 11 19 May Transfer down to Oban
See Eilean Donan Castle
Spean Bridge
Ben Nevis
Loch Lomond
Oban for 2 nights


Day 12 20 May Take the day trip boat/bus/boat to Iona
It is a fabulous excursion.
Iona is unreal.
Tiny Island where Christianity first came to Scotland




Day 14 21 May Train to Glasgow
See sights
Overnight at airport hotel
Holiday Inn Express is the best bet

Day 15 22 May Return to the US

We are working with a travel agent and these are her comments. Nothing booked except airfare and London and Edinburgh hotels so far.

Premier Inn at Glasgow airport is a bit nicer than the Holiday Inn, if you have a bad night's sleep you can refuse to pay.

Thanks, bilboburgler! I'll check into that.

Day 9 is a bit confused. The Jacobite Steam train leaves from Fort William and goes to Mallaig, where you catch a ferry for Skye. Starting from Inverness, it's better to train to Kyle of Lochalsh and the bridge to Skye. (Eilean Donan, a very picturesque castle, is just east of Kyle. Spean Bridge is a small town between Inverness and Fort Wiliam.) You could return from Skye by the ferry and the train. From Fort William you could train to Oban.

Public transportation in this area, especially on Skye, is sparse. You will need to check your train/ferry/bus times carefully. Especially if doing this in a tight time frame.

Back in Edinburgh, you could do a day trip to St. Andrews -- by train and bus or by a tour bus.

Mimar, will check into that. We are hiring a car and driver on Skye and the next day, but I will look this up and see how that might be changed for the better. Thanks.

The 'first' day 4 isn't very good IMO (sort of generic 'TA speak' I'd guess). Kensington Palace really isn't a must for most. Especially when sites like Westminster Abbey or St Paul's or the British Museum or the British Library or the Cabinet War Rooms or the V&A or the National Gallery or 20 other terrific sites are omitted. And the changing of the Guard is a huge time waster. I'd skip the Guard change and Kensington Palace.

On Skye -- your TA may like Kyleakin and Broadford best, because of drive times on Skye they are not that convenient. Both are at the far SE end of the isle and most sites are to the north and west. As an example, driving from say Kyleakin to Dunvegan Castle takes more than 90 minutes and could easily take 2 hours.

I know you'll have a driver who knows the roads- but I'd rather stay in an area closer to the places we're touring. The most convenient place would be Sligachan but Portree or Sconser would be fine too.

I agree the Premier Inn is better than the HI.

And I also don't 'get' going via Spean Bridge. I'd take the ferry to Mallaig and train to FT William and on to Oban. Mallaig to Ft William is considered one of the best train journeys in the world.

janisj, thank you for all the comments. My cousin and I also thought some of the London things were not necessarily what we'd choose to do, and in fact the list we gave her of things we wanted to do was pretty different. We are NOT tied to the things she has suggested and that's why I'm asking here, where people who live or have been many times can offer alternatives. The TA is supposed to be an Ireland and Scotland specialist but some of the things she's suggested have seemed rather odd to us, too.
I'm going to forward this to my cousin and see what comments she may have. These are just the comments I was looking for.

Also, we are trying to travel as light as possible for 15 days. Hope to be able to do one load of laundry along the way. Will wait til closer to May to see what the weather trends are but know to have layers and rain gear.

"Will wait til closer to May to see what the weather trends are . . . "

Unfortunately waiting for trends won't help a bit What is happening today will have no bearing on what happens this Tuesday, and the same concept applies to May.

" . . . but know to have layers and rain gear."

That's it.

I'm sure you're right, janis. I recall a trip to Vienna, think it was 2005, that I was going on with 6 women from Southern California. I live in NE Indiana. They were all set for the usual Vienna weather, had followed along with the forecasts, and about 4 days before we left a major temperature drop and a good bit of snow were forecast for that area. Much scrambling was done as finding warmer clothes in early March in So Cal was almost impossible and no time to order. All but one managed to find enough warm clothes and that one was just miserable. We tried to get her to BUY something warmer but she insisted it would be wasted money. After an afternoon of her being in tears and taking a taxi to the hotel, the next morning that was her first priority, buying a very warm sweater, hat, and gloves.
So, we'll stick with layers and unless there's a major heat wave or freeze we should be OK. And we can always buy something

Just to clarify re Skye, we do not want a group tour at all, we are looking for a car and driver/guide to take us all around, on our schedule. I really want to spend some time on photography and not be tied to a fixed schedule.

Taxi drivers on Skye will give you a tour of the island. Here's one such: www.nicolsonhire.co.uk.

Also this company offered personalized tours: www.skyetours.co.uk -- at least when we went 5 or 6 years ago.

Thank you, Mimar! Will be checking into both of these. I can't wait.

While on Skye, we stayed at the Lodge at Edinbane - the family that owns it are incredibly nice, and they have a restaurant/pub on the premises. http://www.the-lodge-at-edinbane.co.uk/ It's about 15 minutes drive from Portree.

Be sure to find the Fairy Glen, and the Fairy Pools on Skye. I found the former, but didn't know about the latter until later, so I have to find it myself the next trip. Also, Three Chimneys is great food - a much higher standard than I expected for the rural locale.

In Inverness, we enjoyed our boat ride across the loch to Urquhart. There is a small restaurant called Oakwood on the road from Inverness to the Loch Ness center that's delicious - French wife and Scottish husband, great cooks

I have my trip report here, if it helps: http://www.greendragonartist.com/BI/BItripreportScotland2008.htm With Pics
http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/kilts-and-cockaleekie---a-yank-wanders-through-scotland.cfm On Fodor's.

Thanks, GreenDragon.
My MIL's maiden name was Urquhart, and her family was from Scotland (likely peasants or serfs or whatever, several generations back), so definitely Urquhart Castle is on the list.

Urquhart is a pretty cool castle. We enjoyed tramping around it, and the day was nice and warm (though clouds scutted across the sky).

Looks like you have a good plan in place! I hope you enjoy the trip. Skye is beautiful, and you will have a great time if you hire a driver to take you around.

I am so looking forward to this trip! I am particularly interested in Skye and all the coastal areas. I know the scenery is going to be beautiful.

GreenDragon, I've started reading your trip report! Very interesting. Thank you so much.

Skye is truly beautiful. We were there four days, I could spend two weeks, easily. I do regret not driving the Applecross road (highest road in elevation), but I did drive the Golden Road on Harris, and that was pretty harrowing

Hi challiman ! Apologies that I cannot help with your trip - I, too, am looking for Scotland ideas.

We probably won't go til Fall so aybe by then I'll have your trip report to help. In the meantime, I'm gonna tag along on your research quest if you don't mind.

soogies, things are coming along pretty well. We have the first three days in London pretty well mapped out and hotel booked. We've sent the request for the Ceremony of the Keys (see my thread on that, if you are interested), and are hoping to get tickets for that.
As for the rest, we are using a travel agent for parts of the trip, and she had pretty much dawdled through the whole thing. We've had to really push her, she keeps insisting that it is hard to contact people for some of the things we want to do because they places are not open during the winter. I have another meeting with her tomorrow and she assures me she has been able to contact most of the places. We know we are trying to see and do a lot and without having a car things are much trickier, so perhaps she's doing the best she can.
In any case, I am very excited.
I have not used a travel agent in years, just booked the airfare and hotel(s) myself in Europe, and found any kind of guide online or through previous guides, for things we really wanted to see (Battle of the Bulge sites in Belgium, D-Day sites in Normandy, Meteora and Corinth in Greece, etc). But I was trying to reduce my stress level this trip, and instead I think I've increased it.
So, follow along and if I can share any of my info I will gladly do so. If you want to email me at c halliman at a o l dot com, no spaces, I can send you a list of the boats, tours, etc.

Thanks for the update challiman. I may email you in the coming weeks. Right now I am up to my elbows in stuff.... Not pleasant stuff either. .

I'll continue following with interest, on the sidelines for now.

Geez, that should be eyeballs... Not elbows ...