20 Day Trip May 2016
 

Hi,

My husband and I took our first visit to Europe 2 years ago. We visited Florence, Tuscany and Rome for 15 nights. This was a DIY trip. We took the train and rented a car.

I am thinking about doing two locations for our next trip - 10 days France primarily Provence and 10 days Scotland primarily hiking St Cuthberts Way.

We like scenery, history, hiking, wine country, small towns.

Any thoughts on this?

Thanks.

I have not been to Scotland, but love Provence. It certainly fills every one of your interests. There is so much to do and see. Have to admit we are kind of slow travelers, but our 13 days was not nearly enough to see even half of what I wanted. I would probably skew towards a little more time in Provence and a bit less Scotland, but I know without having seen Scotland, that is not a valid opinion. It will be interesting to hear thoughts of people who have visited both.

Thanks for the reply. I like the idea of being a slow traveler. I think there would be a ton to see in Provence. We will adjust our plans maybe even dramatically as we learn about the areas.

I've spent time in both areas. I don't know if I would combine the two in one trip though.

Much as I love Scotland and hiking, I am always reluctant to suggest the two together because of the weather. While the scenery is there and some long distance trails exist, the rain just makes it miserable if you have bad luck with the weather which unfortunately is all too common.

Instead I might suggest spending the entire 20 days doing the GR51 in France. It's a relatively level trail following the coast from Menton to Marseilles.

A visit to Scotland is best when you do not have to have good weather to do something enjoyable. Days hikes on a good day and sightseeing on a poor day works best I think.

Good point on the weather. We visited Italy end of October beginning of Nov and we had indoor options for bad weather days.

I will look into GR51 in France.

St Cuthberts Way is fabulous. It crosses the Borders from Lindesfarne to Melrose and is <B>VERY</B> worthwhile. I would actually allow more time to Scotland. 7 or 8 days for St Cuthberts Way, a couple of days in Edinburgh and a 3 or 4 days in the Trossachs.

The Trossachs have amazing walking and also Stirling Castle, Inchmahome Priory, Doune Castle, Queen Elizabeth Forest Park plus many lochs/waterfalls/footpaths.

I'd want two weeks just for those . . .

As a Scotsman who also lives part of the year on the Cote D'Azur, I love both places!

Scotland has great scenery, hiking and history but, alas, no wine; however, you could visit a whisky distillery instead? It also doesn't compare with Provence for quaint villages either, I'm afraid.

Obviously Scotland cannot compete with the south of France for weather; however, May and June give you the best chance for good weather for hiking.

If you are reasonably fit you might consider doing some hill walking in Scotland: the hills are accessible and all can be done as day walks.

I know that long distance walks have their attraction; personally, I prefer the walking in the NW of Scotland or some of the islands eg Skye, where you get that combination of hills, lochs and sea.

Thank you for all the great replies!

Whiskey distillery visit would suit us well and something we wouldn't want to miss anyway.

I will start my own research in to all the suggestions.

I will purchase Michelin for Provence. What sources do you recommend for a Scotland (besides Fodors and tripadvisor forums).

>>Whiskey distillery<<

That would be Whisky (no <B>E</B>) - 'E' whiskey = Irish or North American.

For maps -- get the applicable Ordinance Survey. For a guidebook check out 'Scotland the Best' by Peter Irvine. Not a 'guidebook' as such -- but a massive list of the best things in Scotland. The best walks, best hill walks, best long walks, best serious walks, best Munros (mountains), best viewpoints, best Italian restaurants, best castles, best lochs, best waterfalls, best pubs, best picnic spots, best B&Bs, best hotels, best hotel bars, best graveyards, best coastal villages, best gardens, best delis -- you name it. Categories for anything you can imagine.

DK's Eyewitness Scotland is also good. It has reasonable maps for planning, lots of good pictures and enough information to whet the appetite. It also covers many places ignored by the other guide books.

If you haven't already found it, then the Undiscovered Scotland web site is marvellous. We use this for planning all our holidays in Scotland and rarely bother with a guide book now.
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/
Begin with the map pages and follow the links for the text pages with lots of pictures and information.

If you are walking the Ordnance (NOT Ordinance) Survey maps are essential. The 1:25,000 are the best as they have a tremendous amount of detail and they show field boundaries. Failing that use the 1:50,000, which has the advantage of covering a bit more ground.

Northumberland and the Borders is a lovely part of Scotland and is ignored by most people who rush through to get to Edinburgh and then the Highlands. If you do get bad weather there are plenty of stately homes or ruined abbeys if you don't want to walk.

When planning check the tide timetables to make sure you are able to cross to Lindisfarne, Holy Island. Don't risk crossing outside the safe times as the tide comes in very quickly and every year people and cars get trapped by the incoming tide and have to be rescued.

Thank you. I am looking forward to the research and will check out all of the sources.

Also noted spelling regarding several words.

Mary