3 days in Scotland starting Monday, Nov. 25th!
 

We would like a rural base about 1.5 hours north of Glasgow International Airport to base for 3 nights. A return visit after 52 years. Any suggestions?

From your other threads, I thought you were to be in Northern Ireland/Ireland over that period?? I 'think' the weather is expected to improve over the next few days but AFAIK the area is still being being battered by named storm Bert.

From the BBC 3 hours ago "Areas in Scotland and north-east England will be most affected by snow, while strong winds will be felt the most in Wales and the north and south-east of England. Heavy rainfall is expected across the UK.". I'd hunker down in either Glasgow or Edinburgh.

janisj's weather report knocks out any ideas I might have had...

Right now the forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday looks pretty decent (for late November) - temperature about 5/6 degrees, some sunshine about and little or no rain. But, as we always say in the UK, that's too far out for any real confidence.

But I would encourage some posters to suggest a base and for the OP to make a plan for if the weather holds but book nothing until you arrive. If the forecast still looks good when you land book something. If not revert to a city plan. There should be reasonable availability at this lowest of all seasons of the year even if plenty of places might already have shut for the winter.

Like I said -- things will probably improve a bit by Monday but this was just updated in the times about an hour ago:

"Two amber warnings for snow and ice in Scotland and the northeast of England came into force at 7am on Saturday, with forecasts of up to 40cm of snow and freezing rain. A series of yellow warnings for rain, wind and snow will remain in force for large parts of the UK until Sunday."

I'm not sure if this helps, but, I use the BBC weather app for my bit of North England and I check the weather at 10 at night and by 8 in the morning it will have changed. Mainly this is not wind but is to do with rain levels and rain storms. My advice for the isle of Ireland would be similar.

Was posting the same time as johnEW2912. I did suggest two bases - Glasgow or Edinburgh.

The problem is the OP apparently is in the Dumfries area as we speak and was planning on going one to Belfast/NI/the Republic and finish up in Dublin. NE Ireland is also getting the brunt of the storm. Yes, things will almost certainly be better in a couple of days -- but there has been flooding and power outages and bus service is currently suspended throughout much of Scotland.

I personally would not go touring around parts of western/central Scotland in the wake of this storm. But that's just me.

And now I was posting the same time as bilbo . . . ;)

janisj- you did indeed suggest Glasgow and Edinburgh, as did I if the forecast for Monday to Wednesday changed from what it currently is. But viginiafish did ask for rural spots and that’s what I was suggesting that she needed ideas for should the weather improve. The forecast for tomorrow isn’t great and is likely now to be pretty reliable but that wasn’t what was being asked.

I did read and understand the question. And did offer the most practical options IMO/IME

1.5 hours north of GLA would put them around Crianlarich or Inveraray - not places I'd want to spend 3 nights in the winter.

janisj - let’s not fall out about this.

It’s certainly a legitimate view that this time of year is not a great one for the Highlands. But, if the weather abates as per the current forecast, then I think somewhere like Callendar or Pitlochry could provide a decent option. Or, if the wind dies down maybe a nearby island like Bute or Arran.

Glasgow or Edinburgh will always be good choices but if virginiafish wants rural……

We appreciate your thoughtful help so much. I will write a trip report soon but to clarify we spent some wonderful days in Ireland but now would like to end our trip in Scotland. We fly home on the 28th. I appreciate all your weather updates and we have changed our flight to go into Glasgow very early on Monday morning. We can either stay in Glasgow for the three nights and enjoy our time there or if the weather looks better, look into staying in either Stirling or Pithlochery. How does that sound? We cannot say enough how much your help means. The weather has been so variable we almost did not go to Northwest Ireland because of it predictions and it ended up being very fine and very wonderful every day.

Stirling or Pitlochry (note spellings) would be perfectly fine choices. Although neither are the “real” highlands. An alternative would be to stay in Glasgow and have a day trip out to one of the islands to the west?
As you have noted in Ireland, even a very short notice weather forecast can turn out very differently.

Sorry about spelling; I was dictating;). We are thinking Stirling. We understand we cannot get back to the Highlands this trip, just want to savor some more Scotland. We will love your weather updates and any recommendations for accommodations in Stirling. Tomorrow, Belfast day. We are staying in a funky, lovely boutique hotel-Harrison Chambers.

Check if there are any openings at Cameron House. It is a wonderful place on the west shore of Loch Lomond and less than 20 miles from GLA.

Or Drymen. Or a bit farther -- Callander or Doune

Cameron House is a great shout and, if you can afford £350 or more for B&B for 2 a night, readily available. If that's too much there will a range of options in the village of Luss, right on the loch and a little further north.

As for the weather right now it looks like tomorrow will be drizzly with still strong winds from Storm Bert. Tuesday and particularly Wednesday look much better - calmer and some sunshine although temperatures only a bit over freezing. Great days for walks if you have some appropriate footwear.

We are considering staying in Glasgow and taking some tours. Rabbie’s is advertising a day trip that looks good. I think janisj recommended them before. Any thoughts and accommodations in Glasgow? Incidentally, enjoyed Belfast.

I’ve only ever been to Belfast once myself but thoroughly enjoyed it and must get back. I remember having breakfast with Robert Plant - well he and his band were on the next table!

I can’t help much with accommodation recommendations. Whilst I stayed there a lot it was mostly foe meetings associated with a charity I was and am still involved with so we were very much on budget. Back there last year we had an AirBnB just off Byers Road in the west end.

Rabbies are indeed a company to be trusted. Whatever day trips they have will be worth it. My only advice would be not to choose one with a lot of driving. Better to choose a shorter trip with more chance to stop and see and less chance of a lot of driving in the dark at this time of year.

foe meetings??

Oops! There was the odd person at the meetings we had issues with but on the whole they were very amenable and enjoyable - especially the overnight evenings!

Never heard the expression before. I've met with reps of the Iranian National Guard and the local flower arranging team. Same prep. ;-)

many years ago I joined Fodors and an old timer suggested to me the best way to give advice was not to try and join the gang that is answering the question like a school test but to answer the question honestly and truefully about what one would do in that situation as if you were answering at a much higher, maybe University, level. As a result I've often seen people disagree about the answer even though both pieces of advice are correct to what one would do. Once that concept is in your mind it might help.

I thought both Janisj and you were right, just different anwers.

It was just a typo that should have read for! I then read your query as that I was meeting some foes.

Earlier I was just pointing out that the weather forecast for tomorrow and Wednesday was really rather good for November in contrast to the stormy weekend, so maybe getting at least some way north might still be on.

Hello dear fodorites, Hi,
Your ideas are stellar. We are enjoying Glasgow. We have a wonderful last minute deal at Alamo Guest House in the West End. We took a hop on hop off tour (we didn’t hop), ,had a great lunch at an Indian restaurant across form Kelvingrove and spent the rest of the day there until we had to leave, as they closed. Superb museum! We have booked the Oban, Glencoe, Highland Lochs & Castles tour; this goes where we wanted to go and DH is happy to take a driving break. We will see, maybe go to Stirling for the day on Wednesday., depending how we feel.
Much thanks!

Great day on Rabbie’s tour! Thanks for recommending. We will stay in Glasgow tomorrow, our last day. Any suggestions welcomed.