Scotland 7 day self drive itinerary ideas?
Jun 16th, 2014, 01:35 PM
#1
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Scotland 7 day self drive itinerary ideas?
We're thinking of possibly going to Scotland with the car over the summer. We don't do expensive accomodation so any suggestions on places to go, how long for and reasonably priced accomodation would be greatly appreciated. Cheers 
Jun 16th, 2014, 03:19 PM
#2
Okay - can you give us <i>anything</i> to work with???
You don't 'do' expensive accommodations - so what do you do? What is your actual budget?
>>any suggestions on places to go<< -- Scotland is a very big place -- what sorts of things do you want to see/do? Do you have a guidebook?
You don't 'do' expensive accommodations - so what do you do? What is your actual budget?
>>any suggestions on places to go<< -- Scotland is a very big place -- what sorts of things do you want to see/do? Do you have a guidebook?
Jun 16th, 2014, 04:26 PM
#3
Scotland is full of wonderful places, and I have only scratched the surface. When I was planning our two driving trips there, I got lots of ideas and inspiration reading trip reports here on Fodors. Here is mine from last August:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...o-scotland.cfm
And here is one from several years ago:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...o-scotland.cfm
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...o-scotland.cfm
And here is one from several years ago:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...o-scotland.cfm
Jun 17th, 2014, 11:08 AM
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Basically all I'm after is nice places to visit. A couple of hours between overnight destinations. Per night lodging of around £60(ish) per night for a double room but can be flexible. I see that staying in Edinburgh and Glasgow themselves are quite expensive so maybe someone can recommend nice towns to stay within driving distance?
Jun 17th, 2014, 12:26 PM
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"Can't pick this for you"
Is in itself a ridiculous comment.
Advice is the point of posting here.
Rhianna
Where are you coming from? "going with the car" indicates that you are driving to Scotland. This does have a bearing on any suggestions, also how much driving do you want to do when to get here?
Is in itself a ridiculous comment.
Advice is the point of posting here.
Rhianna
Where are you coming from? "going with the car" indicates that you are driving to Scotland. This does have a bearing on any suggestions, also how much driving do you want to do when to get here?
Jun 17th, 2014, 01:23 PM
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We're coming from Mid Wales so would be driving North. Maybe start in Southern Scotland, make our way northwards and then back down toward the end of the week. Janisj, we quite like history so castles, museums and the like. We tend to just go with the flow, I know that's not much use to you! I have been recommended the Portpatrick area, so maybe this would be a good starting place? Would like to visit Loch Lomond and Edinburgh too. I don't have a guidebook yet as we've only just started thinking about it but I'll get one ASAP
Jun 17th, 2014, 03:04 PM
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<<Advice is the point of posting here.>>
And here's the advice: TELL US WHAT YOU LIKE TO DO AND YOUR NIGHTLY LODGING BUDGET.
You want advice, you get it on this board tailored to YOU. If we don't know your interests other than "someplace nice" then you cannot get information.
Answer this: WHY ARE YOU THINKING OF GOING TO SCOTLAND?
If the only answer you currently have is because you think it'd be nice, you need to hit the books and see what interests you and then come back with targeted questions.
And here's the advice: TELL US WHAT YOU LIKE TO DO AND YOUR NIGHTLY LODGING BUDGET.
You want advice, you get it on this board tailored to YOU. If we don't know your interests other than "someplace nice" then you cannot get information.
Answer this: WHY ARE YOU THINKING OF GOING TO SCOTLAND?
If the only answer you currently have is because you think it'd be nice, you need to hit the books and see what interests you and then come back with targeted questions.
Jun 17th, 2014, 03:19 PM
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Okay, here are a few of my favorite things:
Edinburgh: the castle for the Stone of Scone and the Honours of Scotland, the Museum of Scotland for the ancient collections- Pictish stones and early people, the Lewis chessmen. (Although they may be moving the collection?)
Near Inverness: Culloden Battlefield and Clava Cairns.
Aberlour: WHISKY at the Mash Tun!
Any stone circles you can find along with the Culsh Souterrain, IF you can find it.
The Trossachs area- Lochs for days...Lomond, Katrine, etc.
I can't imagine a not nice place in Scotland...
Edinburgh: the castle for the Stone of Scone and the Honours of Scotland, the Museum of Scotland for the ancient collections- Pictish stones and early people, the Lewis chessmen. (Although they may be moving the collection?)
Near Inverness: Culloden Battlefield and Clava Cairns.
Aberlour: WHISKY at the Mash Tun!
Any stone circles you can find along with the Culsh Souterrain, IF you can find it.
The Trossachs area- Lochs for days...Lomond, Katrine, etc.
I can't imagine a not nice place in Scotland...
Jun 18th, 2014, 01:16 AM
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Rhianna
We drive every week from Lancashire to Dumfries and Galloway, from Mid Wales The highlands is quite a drive for a week. I would suggest stopping the first night in the borders, there are many B&Bs in the area where £60 will not be an issue. Possibly head down to Caerlaverock or to
Threave Castle and then over to The Clyde in the afternoon to see Culzean Castle, stay near Ayr on the second night.
Go into Glasgow spend the night at a Travellodge but book well in advance. Then drive up through Loch Lomond turn right half way up, travel throughout Inveraray and onto to the Argyll west coast around Oban second two nights in this area. From here drive down the other side of Loch Lomond to the Trossachs area and spend the night before driving home.
This all presumes that you want to spend time on the move.
Alternatively I would just drive straight up to the Oban area, it is a good base and easy to take ferries to the islands. A day foot passenger trip to the Outer Hebrides is cheap(ish) and possible. Renting a cottage for a week is an option but is difficult in August for a nightly price of £60. If you shop around you may find one for £500.
Port Patrick (Galloway?) is a lovely area, great little fishing harbour, fairly quiet but not quite the stunning countryside of the highlands. It is a far shorter drive from Wales but Glasgow is a very long day trip. You could easily base yourself in PP and spend two nights in Glasgow.
We drive every week from Lancashire to Dumfries and Galloway, from Mid Wales The highlands is quite a drive for a week. I would suggest stopping the first night in the borders, there are many B&Bs in the area where £60 will not be an issue. Possibly head down to Caerlaverock or to
Threave Castle and then over to The Clyde in the afternoon to see Culzean Castle, stay near Ayr on the second night.
Go into Glasgow spend the night at a Travellodge but book well in advance. Then drive up through Loch Lomond turn right half way up, travel throughout Inveraray and onto to the Argyll west coast around Oban second two nights in this area. From here drive down the other side of Loch Lomond to the Trossachs area and spend the night before driving home.
This all presumes that you want to spend time on the move.
Alternatively I would just drive straight up to the Oban area, it is a good base and easy to take ferries to the islands. A day foot passenger trip to the Outer Hebrides is cheap(ish) and possible. Renting a cottage for a week is an option but is difficult in August for a nightly price of £60. If you shop around you may find one for £500.
Port Patrick (Galloway?) is a lovely area, great little fishing harbour, fairly quiet but not quite the stunning countryside of the highlands. It is a far shorter drive from Wales but Glasgow is a very long day trip. You could easily base yourself in PP and spend two nights in Glasgow.
Jun 18th, 2014, 02:48 PM
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A good website for ideas, places to stay, and suggested touring routes:
www.visitscotland.com
There are any number of books: I've used one of the Frommer's guides for both inspiration and to follow an actual route.
Where are you coming from - that makes a difference on how much time you actually have to tour.
www.visitscotland.com
There are any number of books: I've used one of the Frommer's guides for both inspiration and to follow an actual route.
Where are you coming from - that makes a difference on how much time you actually have to tour.
Jun 19th, 2014, 07:37 AM
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There has been a lot of hot air so far. Let's start again.
Basically where ever you go in Scotland you will get super scenery. The west tends to be drier thaan the east.
Have you found the Undiscovered Scotland website? I use this for planning all my holidays in Scotland. It is way way better than the guide books, although Eye Witness Scotland is the best as it has good pictures and covers more places to visit than the rest, including those less well visited places whicjh often turn up trumps.
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk
This is the place to start. Use the map oages to find out things to do and see in an area. Click on the links to pull up text pages with lots of information and photos.
They also have a series of driving itineraries which will give you plenty of ideas - map here:
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/ustours/
With your £60 per night you'll be looking at B&B , or possibly Travelodge although those are few and far between. Edinburgh in the summer will be busy, especially around the tatoo and festival. Accommodation will be full and any left is likely to be expensive. I'd give this a miss this year - there's always another year.
Portpatrick is lovely but is rather out on a limb and there isn't a lot to do or see in the immediate area. You'll be struggling for castles for example. Have a look at the map on Undiscovered Scotland:
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.u...thwestern.html
If you are thinking of Dumfries and Galloway area, you may find that Newton Stewart area would be a better base. The mountains up around Glen Trool are worthy of the highlands although not quite as high. We've had many good holidays based around here so if you do decide on this area, I can give more detailed information.
Alternative suggestions are Fife and Angus. There are places like St Andrews (good castle) as well as Falkland Palace, Loch Leven Castle, CAstle Campbell all within easy drive. You are also not too far from Edinburgh so could go there for a day - use public transport to save problems with driving. The Angus Glens are good and less busy than the highlands further north. The fishing villages are also good and there are boat trips to Isle of May.
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.u...tandrews.htmlt
If you want to head further north, Think about Grampian. Again this is off the usual tourist beat but is stuffed full of castles and stately homes as well as some good scenery. We spent ten days exploring the area last summer and my detailed trip report with lots of ideas is here:
http://www.slowtrav.com/tr/tripreport.asp?tripid=2088
And the undiscovered Scotland map is here:
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.u...theastern.html
Basically where ever you go in Scotland you will get super scenery. The west tends to be drier thaan the east.
Have you found the Undiscovered Scotland website? I use this for planning all my holidays in Scotland. It is way way better than the guide books, although Eye Witness Scotland is the best as it has good pictures and covers more places to visit than the rest, including those less well visited places whicjh often turn up trumps.
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk
This is the place to start. Use the map oages to find out things to do and see in an area. Click on the links to pull up text pages with lots of information and photos.
They also have a series of driving itineraries which will give you plenty of ideas - map here:
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/ustours/
With your £60 per night you'll be looking at B&B , or possibly Travelodge although those are few and far between. Edinburgh in the summer will be busy, especially around the tatoo and festival. Accommodation will be full and any left is likely to be expensive. I'd give this a miss this year - there's always another year.
Portpatrick is lovely but is rather out on a limb and there isn't a lot to do or see in the immediate area. You'll be struggling for castles for example. Have a look at the map on Undiscovered Scotland:
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.u...thwestern.html
If you are thinking of Dumfries and Galloway area, you may find that Newton Stewart area would be a better base. The mountains up around Glen Trool are worthy of the highlands although not quite as high. We've had many good holidays based around here so if you do decide on this area, I can give more detailed information.
Alternative suggestions are Fife and Angus. There are places like St Andrews (good castle) as well as Falkland Palace, Loch Leven Castle, CAstle Campbell all within easy drive. You are also not too far from Edinburgh so could go there for a day - use public transport to save problems with driving. The Angus Glens are good and less busy than the highlands further north. The fishing villages are also good and there are boat trips to Isle of May.
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.u...tandrews.htmlt
If you want to head further north, Think about Grampian. Again this is off the usual tourist beat but is stuffed full of castles and stately homes as well as some good scenery. We spent ten days exploring the area last summer and my detailed trip report with lots of ideas is here:
http://www.slowtrav.com/tr/tripreport.asp?tripid=2088
And the undiscovered Scotland map is here:
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.u...theastern.html
