twk

Great photos. You certainly caught a break with the weather.

d1carter

Barbara313:
Great pictures! It really really makes me want to go back. Sounds like you had a great trip!

d1

tod

Oh I see now - you saw the Puffins on Staffa! I automatically thought you had the day trip where the boat takes you to the Trishnish Isles (hope I spelt the correctly).
There were no boats going to Iona on our excursion to went so the isles & Staffa instead.

travelgirl2

It sounds like a great trip. Loved the pictures.

irishface

More accolades for your pictures! Thanks for helping me relive my trip to many of the same places. A great job of editing the pictures--made me wish there were more.

The puffins on Staffa were pretty special. My nephews (then 11 and 14) also thought that part of the trip was one of our best days!

GreenDragon

I leave for my Scotland adventure in 10 days, so I loved your report and your fantastic pics - it looks like you take photos like I do, scenics and castles and abbeys, oh my!

We are going to many of the same places, though we're going to Orkney and Lewis as well. We've got 3 weeks, though, so there was more time. Based on your report and pics, though, I'm also moving Inchmahome from an 'if we have time' to 'definitely!'

amelie

GD you are finally going! It seems like you've been planning this trip forever. Have fun.

lilygirl

Wonderful photos, thanks for sharing. May I ask what kind of camera you used? We're in the market for a new camera before our trip this fall. Thanks.

GreenDragon

Yes, I've been planning it since I got back from Ireland, in July 2006 - two years!

LCBoniti

I'm excited for you, GreenDragon - and looking forward to your wonderful trip report!

barbara313

Thanks everyone for the kudos on the photos...it's tough to take a bad picture with scenery like this.

Lilygirl - I have a regular point and shoot - it's an Olympus C-770 Ultra Zoom. Also had a wide-angle lens - highly recommended for landscape pics.

frestonia

Thanks for sharing Barbara! Beautiful pics. We will be in Scotland in July and will be staying for 2 nights in Plockton, 1 in Inverness and 2 nights in Edinburgh. Still have to plan our daily itinerary. I don't think ours will be as involved as we are traveling with our 13 y/o & 3 y/o. So hikes & ferries are out. Hope the weather will cooperate.

We will be driving from Lake Windermere to Plockton which will pretty much take up much of our 1st day in Scotland. Perhaps you can suggest a 1 day itinerary around the Plockton area for our one full day there. Thanks!

celticmoon

Barbara: Thank you very much for posting those beautiful photos.
My favourite abbey is Melrose also, then Dryburgh. We even bought Christmas cards with a beautiful winter scene of the abbey ruins with a dusting of snow..stunning. Good to hear that you had nice weather on Mull/Iona We were there for 2 days last May and it was so cold, windy and rainy. We will have to try again for Mull. This was our 3rd trip in 4 years....which leads people to ask us "do we have relatives there"! We just returned from Italy...but I am thinking of Scotland again. Next time try the Applecross drive !

janisj

frestonia: Windermere to Plockton is nearly 550 km (340 miles) and a minimum of 8 hours driving w/o stops. W/ reasonable stops for meals/toilets/stretching you are talking about nearly 10+ hours in the car. IMO that is crazy - especially w/ 2 kids. And if you are driving it on a weekend you can add a more time due to all the coaches/caravans/holiday traffic.

You will probably all hate Scotland by the time to pull into Plockton.

sheila

That might be a BIT extreme. I reckon about 6 1/2 hours (even for folk just off the plane).

It IS a long way; and you seem to understand that. With kids on board, I would break it frrequently; but maybe after you get off the motorway. It IS beautiful country, so lots to stop for.

A day itinerary near Plockton- in a wrod, Skye

hanl

Just read an article about the decline of the puffin colony on the Isle of May, so thought I would post the link here as there seem to be a few puffin fans on this thread:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7434258.stm

Hopefully it won't be a long-term decline.

P.S. Barbara313, your photos are fabulous!

caroline_edinburgh

So glad you had a lovely time - you certainly fitted a lot in and have seen a lot that I haven't - including puffins ! I went to Staffa (late May) expecting to be tripping over them and didn't see one. So envious of your lovely experience with them.

You were lucky to have mostly good weather, it's been so mixed lately. Here on the east coast we've only had about 3 warm days - the rest of the time when it's been sunny there's been a cold east wind. Last weekend was a good illustration - hot on Saturday (and I would have got sunburnt if I'd had the chance to sit outside), back needing a winter coat, gloves and a big brolly on Sunday !

frestonia

Hi Janis, it was my hubby who insisted on going to Plockton first. Since he's driving, I conceeded. I was actually planning on going to Edinburgh first since it's a shorter drive from Windermere. But I do appreciate the concern. I too am concerned coz the last thing I would want to do is for my kids to hate Scotland.

Sheila, thanks for the tip. Hopefully, the drive won't be as bad. We'll definitely do lots of stops. My 3 y/o is into castles so hopefully, we'll see plenty of those along the way. And yes, Skye will be on our agenda for our day in Plockton. Thanks again.

Meredith

What beautiful pictures!! I was lucky enough to go to Scotland twice this year, once in March and again in May at the same time you were there. I visited many of the same places as you, and I too took at least 600 pictures of Eilean Donan.

Thanks for sharing!

JennaJ

Great pics! I am also a photography buff, so I am going to use parts of your itinerary for my last minute trip this July. Thanks for sharing your details!