week in scotland

Old Jan 18th, 2015, 09:15 PM
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week in scotland

Hello,
If two of us were to spend a week in Scotland, flying into Edinburgh, could we confine our stay to maybe two or three hotels? Could we spend three nights in Edinburgh and three nights in one other place and then travel from there to see most of the sights? or even be able to stay the whole time in Edinburgh and travel from there each day? If not, can you offer advice to see the most of Scotland in that short time? small tours or driving are preferable, although we are from the states and not used to driving on the left! ikes!
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Old Jan 18th, 2015, 09:29 PM
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>>and three nights in one other place and then travel from there to see most of the sights? or even be able to stay the whole time in Edinburgh and travel from there each day? If not, can you offer advice to see the most of Scotland in that short time?
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Old Jan 19th, 2015, 07:52 AM
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If you've never driven in the UK before PLEASE read the relevant sections of the Highway Code before you do.
https://www.gov.uk/highway-code/contents
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Old Jan 19th, 2015, 08:08 AM
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I can highly recommend Rabbies. You could spend a couple of days in Edinburgh and, then, do a multiday tour from there or, instead, do several day trips with them. I think you'll be able to cover much more area with Rabbies than you could on your own. Do get a guidebook as suggested and have a look at the offerings on the Rabbies website. They are small group tours with excellent driver/ guides.
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Old Jan 19th, 2015, 08:17 AM
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Although I agree with Janis that Scotland is diverse and travel is very slow, but no stretch of the imagination can it be described as very large. The province I live in in Canada is bigger than the whole of Europe. Now that's large!
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Old Jan 19th, 2015, 09:32 AM
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Hey -- I know large, living on the west coast USA, and everything is relative. Is it large by Nunavut or Alaska standards - no.

But it is MUCH larger than many first time trip planners seem to think - wanting to see all the bits in a week or 10 days.

That was my point - not that one has to drive 200 kilometers to the nearest neighbor or grocery store like in parts of the frozen north - but that it is a large place w/ hundreds of things to see/do.

Context matters . . .
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Old Jan 20th, 2015, 01:19 AM
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The "bigness" of Scotland is partly a function of its emptiness. I saw a 54,000 acre estate for sale in Country Life recently. That's not the King Ranch, but it is a hunk of land anywhere.

It is partly a function of its slowness. There are very busy main highways that are two lane still, there are one lane roads with passing places, and there are one-lane tracks that make travel slow. You have to take ferries to most of the islands, another factor that will have an impact on what you do.

Finally, in the Western Islands, there are towns where, for religious reasons, basically nothing is open on Sundays.

What I would do if I wanted to see a lot in a brief time would be

1-3 fly into Edinburgh for three nights. See the Castle, Royal Mile, Holyrood House. Visit the Museum of Scotland and the area around it, national Galley and the National Portrait Gallery. Visit the New Town. Tour the Georgian House. Next door is the home of the First Minister. Very different from the White House!

4 Take an early train to Glasgow. Change stations (4 blocks). Take the west Highland Railway to Mallaig, Scotland's equivalent of the Canadian across the Rockies. Incredible scenery, including the Glenfinnan Viaduct, famous fro Harry Potter. You will pass by the foot of Ben .nevis, Scotland's highest mountain. Reserve a room in Mallaig.

5 take the ferry to Skye. You can get a bus to Portree or stop in Armadale at Lady Claire MacDonald's hotel for a day of relaxing and fabulous food. Bring money.

6' Get to Kyle of Lochalsh for another very scenic rail journey to Inverness. This is a miserable drive but a great train ride. Inverness is not very interesting. If you get there in time, go on to Aberdeen for the night. In mid summer, it won't get dark until 10 or so.

7 if you can manage an extra day, get a tour from Aberdeen up through the Royal Deeside to Balmoral. Lovely, but much gentler scenery.

7 or 8. Train down the East Coast of Scotland, back to Edinburgh. Stop in St Andrews if you love golf.

8 or 9. fly home
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Old Jan 20th, 2015, 07:32 AM
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Scotland is "large" because it has a lot of coastline - more than the province in Canada in all likelihood - and that makes travel to "all the sites" (a ridiculous concept) impossible because you have to drive in and out of functional dead-ends.
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Old Jan 20th, 2015, 08:13 AM
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Note: in Ackislander #4 suggestion, you can take train from Waverley Station in central Edinburgh directly to Glasgow Queen Street Station to catch the West Highland Line. No need to change stations or walk four blocks. If this plan interests you, I suggest renting a car for Skye or having a driver meet you at the ferry port ( Armadale ) and a day's tour of Skye. Buses on Skye can be problematic. Will add that the train ride from just outside of Glasgow to Mallaig is very scenic as is the route from Kyle of Lochalsh to Inverness. Also a pretty nice ride from Inverness to Edinburgh.

Still think a Rabbies tour just might be better. It all depends on how you prefer to travel.

It's important to know if your 7 days includes arrival and departure. If it does, then your travel time outside of Edinburgh will be limited for the reasons mentioned by janisj, Ackislander and Big Russ. Regardless,and even with a full week, you simply won't be able to see most of Scotland's sites.
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Old Jan 21st, 2015, 10:11 AM
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Thanks all of you for taking the time to respond! Love ya! Ack....great suggestions. Rabbies, have check out the websight and it looks promising, too. Does Rabbies have some tours that are more outstanding than others? Peace,
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Old Jan 21st, 2015, 11:26 AM
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I would guess that all Rabbies tours are good -- you can't tell specifically because they use multiple guides for some of the same routes, and one might be superior to the others. But AFAIK they are all good tours -- mostly depends on what/where/you want to see/go.
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Old Jan 22nd, 2015, 08:54 AM
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Ha....yes...where do I want to go!! Tough question when you haven't been someplace to KNOW where you want to go.....just want to see it ALL! BUT, I did get a travel book in the mail today and will study. I think I will end up combining all the suggestions .......I like Ack's itinerary and also knowing there are tours/rabbis from Edinburgh that can get me to some of it, the closer stuff.

I am ONE happy camper! thanks!
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Old Jan 22nd, 2015, 09:09 AM
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BTW, I have done Ackislander's train itinerary a number of times with variations, so if you have any questions I'd be happy to try and answer them. My only suggestion regarding which Rabbies tour to take is after studing your guidebook have a further look at the various itineraries, routes and reviews on their website. It may even be possible to combine a couple of the shorter tours.
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Old Jan 30th, 2015, 03:11 PM
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thank you. quick thought: are we going to miss seeing amazing views if sitting in a van than on a train?
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Old Jan 30th, 2015, 04:50 PM
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>> quick thought: are we going to miss seeing amazing views if sitting in a van than on a train?
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Old Jan 30th, 2015, 06:45 PM
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Which Rabbies tours are you considering? I have been on their Isle of Skye, Orkney and the Far North and the Lake District in England tours and have another one planned for this summer. On each tour we have seen so much and never felt rushed. I've also gone on a few day of their day trips too so I might be able to help you decide.
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