Castles in Scotland
 

Our family of four (two boys 10 and 14) needs help planning a 6 day trip of Scotland which starts with departing Edinburgh and ending in Glasgow by the end of 6th day. <BR>We are thinking of visiting areas of Inverness and Glencoe. <BR><BR>We also would like to visit a few castles from the list below:<BR>Blair, Glamis, Balmoral, Brodie, Cawdor, Urquhart, Stirling, and we need help with your recommendations and preferences. Should we also include Eilean Donan Castle?<BR>We want to visit a few distilleries as well. <BR>

Zoya<BR><BR>I have some stuff I've done before stored in Word -it's all on here,but you'd have to search for it.<BR><BR>If you want, email me and I'll send it to you direct.<BR><BR>One comment- as I may have mentioned before Inverness itself is not a great town- great location, but not a great twon. Apart from its gateway attributes, I'd give it a by, myself.<BR><BR>As to castles-Blair is grand and well loked after very much in the style of a Victorian Country House, Glamis is much older and atmospheric, Balmoral is only open a few weeks of the year, when Lizzie Windsor's not in residence, but you can go round the grounds most o the time and Desside can be glorious. balmoral is, of course a 19th century confection.<BR><BR>Brodie and Cawdor are very similar to each other andboth nice with their own idiosyncracies, Castle Urquhart is more noted for its location than its architecture or history and Stirling is glorious.<BR><BR>Eilean Donan is picture perfect , but most people here say the tour's not worth it.What sort of castle do you like- ruined and historic or country house like.<BR><BR>Once you've sorted your route, I can tell you which distilleries are open for visitors along it. The biggest concentrations are in Speyside and on Islay- but you really don't want to do more than a couple. Drink the whisky, for sure, but one copper still is much like another (Heresy!!)

Please wright any suggestions you might have to our itinerary:<BR><BR>After few days in Edinburgh:<BR>Day 1: Early departure from Edinburgh to St. Andrews, then Glamis Castle and long drive to the Kildrummy Castle for the night.<BR>Day 2: Few visits to distilleries (most likely Glenfiddich, Dallas Dhu), Elgin Cathedral. Overnight in Nairn. <BR>Day 3: Cawdor Castle, boat trip down Loch Ness (does anyone have info about boat trips), Culloden (if time permits). <BR>Stay in Invergarry for the next two nights.<BR>Day 4: Daytrip to Skye<BR>Day 5: Fort William – GlenCoe – Oban (overnight)<BR>Day 6: Stirling Castle, Stirling with the night stay there.<BR><BR>Day 7: Still open. Leaving Glasgow airport to London @ 6:30, probably need to be there by 4:30 pm. Is there a half day tours of Glasgow?<BR><BR>Is it possible to change the name of the message? <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>

I wanted to say 'Title', sorry.

Zoya<BR><BR>I think that's a very good itinerary.<BR><BR>There are tours of Glasgow by bus.<BR><BR>The stuff about the boat trips is on here already. I'll see if I can top it.<BR><BR>Do try to go to Culloden, especially in the evening

Zoya, re your half day trip from Glasgow. Why not a short car trip west to visit Dumbarton Rock and the Castle, and then on to Balloch for a sail on Loch Lomond. If your gear is in the car, you can then head back to Glasgow Airport via the Erskine Bridge in plenty of time for a 1630hrs check-in.<BR>Hope you enjoy your holiday, and that the weather is kind to you.

Hi,<BR>If you go to Balmoral Castle, your near many distilleries. We enjoyed Glenfarcles distillery! Beautiful area!<BR>Here's the website for the boat ride.<BR>http://www.jacobitecruises.co.uk/framesindex.htm<BR><BR>They do have a bus tour of Glasgow. Hop on hop off. http://scotguide.com/glasgowtour/<BR><BR>As previously stated, Inverness, does not have special things to see. Beautiful city though.<BR><BR>Enjoyed Glamis and Scoone Palace very much, and near each other.<BR><BR>Your tripr sounds doable! Enjoy!<BR>

Maggie,<BR>thank you very much for the links - they were what was missing to make my trip planning complete.

Do not miss Glen Coe....it is one of the most hauntingly beautiful places in the world!!!<BR><BR>US

Nairn is a good choice for overnighting to see the Inverness area and distilleries. We stayed at the Clifton Hotel in Nairn when we went to the area for a long weekend.<BR><BR>If you want, you could do Culloden the evening of Day 2 since it is very close to Nairn (on the west side). Cawdor is also very close.<BR><BR>The boat trips for Loch Ness are fairly short - say 90 mins or so. We did some easy hikes around the area - good as long as you're there in the summer with longer days and milder weather. There is also another Loch just south of Loch Ness that was highly recommended but we missed. Unfortunately, the name slips my mind (maybe Sheila can help!)<BR><BR>We also visited the Glenfiddich distillery. Very interesting tour, but not much else in the town. However, the area is beautiful and there are many other castles/distilleries within easy driving distance.<BR><BR>Have a great trip! Scotland is wonderful!