Eight days or so in Scotland

Old Mar 17th, 2011, 05:45 AM
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Eight days or so in Scotland

We're coming up from hot Aqaba in late August/early Sept. and my husband said he wanted to "drink beer and stay in a castle." That was his idea of Scotland. I also like single malt scotch and want to see Edinburgh. We will rent a car and want a little walking, pretty scenery and small towns. I have the driving tours book, day hike book and other guides but have no idea how to narrow it down. What area should we concentrate on? British history is not a strong interest with my Dutch husband, though if it LOOKS interesting he would like it, i.e., a big castle. Good food is nice, too.

Any ideas?
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Old Mar 17th, 2011, 06:32 AM
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You definitely want to stay at Traquair.

http://www.traquair.co.uk/. You could do Edinburgh on day trips from there, but it might be a bit of a hassle.

I'm tempted to say, do 2-3 days in Edinburgh, hire a car, stay a night or two in Traquair, and do the Border Abbeys etc, then go across to Dumfries and Galloway and visit Bladnoch distillery. Lots of small towns, nice pretty stuff, Border Reivers and Mary Queen of Scots type history and some interesting pre history too. Masses of good food.

Personally for a week, I would not try to cover too much ground. If the Borders do not appeal, we can offer alternatives.
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Old Mar 17th, 2011, 07:43 AM
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Traquair makes its own beer, which is quite good.

You might want to take a look at my trip report; just click on my name to find it.
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Old Mar 17th, 2011, 07:56 AM
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What's "8 days" -- does that mean 8 nights?

Are your dates set? If not, do early September because Edinburgh festival season is the whole month of August and the city of 450,000 swells to 1.3 million due to tourist influx.

We did four nights Edinburgh, two nights Inverness (nice drive there, Dalwhinnie distillery en route, Cawdor, Brodie and Dunrobin Castles nearby), two nights Aberdeenshire (Drum, Fraser, Craigevar Castles, Glamis and Scone on the way back to Edinburgh), then a couple of nights again in Edinburgh. You can trim that a bit to fit your needs.

Great country. Petrol prices sucked then (2004, about $5.70/gallon, exchange rate was worse for Americans then than now), worse now (pushing $10).
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Old Mar 17th, 2011, 08:01 AM
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Petrol prices still suck. Topping £6 GBP per gallon.
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Old Mar 17th, 2011, 08:04 AM
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If you plan to visit Edinburgh, check the dates of the festivals and of the tattoo.

http://www.edinburghfestivals.co.uk/

Great fun! And I urge you to book your hotel or other lodging NOW.
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Old Mar 17th, 2011, 09:04 AM
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Yes -- give us more details -- your actual dates if you've already booked the flights. And do you have "wiggle room" for your travel dates? And is it 8 days/nights plus travel time -- or 8 days total inc travel from Aqaba?

August is a special case in Edinburgh because of all the festivals and the Tattoo. Sept would be better for an Edinburgh visit -- unless the festivals were your reason for going there. Everything is VERY crowded and rates go up (some places charge double in August vs. Sept.) The festival/Tattoo are wonderful -- do complicate things.

Definitely book Traquair if you can get in. A fabulous place.
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Old Mar 31st, 2011, 09:37 AM
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Michael, Traquair beer is only "quite good"? You must set very high standards!

Seriously Janetk, if hubby enjoys good beer he'll need to be very careful what he orders in most Scottish pubs. We make and sell some of th best beers in the world but also some of the worst - and it's usually the worst ones that have the big advertising budgets. Ask for "real ale" or "cask conditioned ale" (they mean the same) and you should be OK - if they serve it.
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