skip

In early October, I'm thinking of taking the train up from London to see a little bit of Scotland. I have already seen Endinburgh. Now I'd like to see some of the quintessential, rugged terrain, Highlandy kind of stuff. Oh, and drink some Scotch whisky too. Here's the catch, I only have about two days. It is possible or pointless? If it's possible, where do I go, and do I need a car, or will buses be ok?

virgo839

Two days to Scotland is pointless. Just enough time to get there and back. You would do better to use your time to do a side trip in England. If you're looking for rugged country, you'd have to go to the Lake District or to Yorkshire. Both of those deserve more than two days! Better to go to the Cotswolds. There's nothing more beautiful than the villages there. And you can drink Scotch whiskey there just as well as in Scotland.

janis

While Scotland is my very favorite place on earth, I tend to agree w/ virgo839. The logistics are just not in your favor. The train - assuming it runs on time - will take a little over 4 hours just to Edinburgh. Add on another train trip to the north and you are talking about a 6 to 8 hour travel day hotel to hotel. And the same back to London. So you would not have much of any time to explore.

Flying would seem faster - but it really isn't since you have to get out to the airport and check in early.

If you could squeeze in another couple of days I'd say go for it - but not for two days when you want "Highlandy" and rugged.

sheila

On, the assumption that you can leave the evening before, what to do, is get an Easyjet flight from Luton to Inverness (or Aberdeen- but Inverness will give you more access to rugged).

Hire a car there and then get the last flight back to London on Sunday night.

Less than ideal, but a lot better than nothing. And a LOT better than spending your weeken in London.

chas

I disagree with the previous posters. If Skip wants to see a little bit of Scotland in a couple of days he/she? can with a little bit of planning. Catch the first flight from London to Glasgow (your choice depends on which airport you are nearest to and the best deal from the airline) and hire a car at the airport. There is no shortage of rugged , 'highlandy' terrain within an hours drive of Glasgow -Trossachs, Loch Lomond (especially over the 'Rest and be Thankful' road to Inveraray), etc so you don't have to travel way up north. There are plenty of places to stay overnight at this time of year and a search on this forum will give you lots of suggestions.
As for the Lake District or Yorkshire, well we have a saying up here - why settle for mince when you can have steak!
Enjoy the whisky (note the correct spelling, Virgo389) -you can't beat a nice Macallan 12 year old single malt.

sheila

I'm with chas. Of course if skip goes to Inverness then he can take in the Whisky trail easily.

Or in a "money no object" scenario, get a flight to Islay from Glasgow and achieve all your objectives on one island

keith_l

Why not take the sleeper to Fort William - then you're right there.