Hi Folks,

Family of 4 (2 teenagers)is heading to Scotland this July. We have relatives in Lanark (about an hour from Glasgow). Here is a our proposed itinerary, I would appreciate your comments.

Day 1 - Arrive p.m. and pick up Enterprise rent a car (Mid size, automatic). Drive to Lanark (1 hour). We are staying in a self catering flat recommended by our relatives.

Day 2 - Look around Lanark. Is New Lanark worth a visit? Play golf at Mouse Valley course.

Day 3 - Edinburgh. We are thinking of taking the train to Edinburgh, as I have read on these posts that driving in the City will be a nightmare. We will start with a tour of the castle (hopefully before the crowds build), then take the open top bus tour, shop the Royal Mile and take in the real Mary King's Close in the early evening. It will be a full day.

Day 3 - We are thinking of driving to Carlisle, England. It's about 75 minutes away and the kids would like to say they were in England too. It seems the closest City and does have a castle and parts of Hadrians wall nearby. Anything else we should see on the way?

Day 4 - Golf at Lanark golf club and relax.

Day 5 - Is this day do-able? Drive to St. Andrews (leaving about 7:00 a.m., it should take a couple of hours) and spend a few hours there. What highlights should we hit? (we will check out the Old Course). Then we wanted to drive to Stirling (about 90 minutes) to spend the rest of the day there, looking at the Castle and town. The Jail tour looks neat.
I would expect we would be back in Lanark late that night.

Day 6 - Sleep in and then a quick jaunt into Glasgow for the Bus tour and some shopping. Should we take the car or train?

Day 7 - Drive to Culzean Castle (about 90 minutes). Anything we should see along the way?

Day 8 - Head to Glasgow airport and then home.

So that's the first draft. Anyone see something we're missing that is a good daytrip, and if so what might you drop from the plan. We considered Loch Lomond but don't want to do a boat tour and are not sure what else we would do.

Thanks for your help.

Oops, I forgot to post this under Scotland. Anyone know how I can do that?

You have indexed the post to the UK (that's how I found it, by searching the United Kingdom)which includes the Scotland posts. You were nice and specific in your heading, so you're pretty well set on how you set up your post. Everything actually posts in Europe, but the countries come in when someone does a search.

I have just one quick comment. I know several families that have taken the jail tour in Stirling and really did not care for it. They thought it was pretty cheesy. In Stirling, the castle tour should be pretty enjoyable, and your children might enjoy climbing to the top of the Wallace Monument (great views). Not too far away is Doune Castle, where Monty Python and the Holy Grail was filmed, so they might like that also.

There isn't a "Scotland" forum -- heck there isn't even a UK forum. All threads end up in "Europe" so you are OK.

As for your itinerary - most of those days are doable - the St Andrews/Stirling one will be stretch though. But you realize that.

What day of the week is day 5? If by chance it is a Sunday there is no play on the Old Course and it is just a big city park. So you can walk the whole course. But be sure to leave yourselves plenty of time to get to Stirling. I'd probably do it in reverse - Stirling first, then over to St Andrews since there is no "closing time" for the Old course and it will be light very late. But Stirling Castle closes at 6 p.m.

Yes, I'd probably take the train into Edinburgh.

As for Carlisle - I'm not sure I'd go to Carlisle proper - there is nothing wrong w/ the place but you can do a a great day just driving along the Wall and visiting a few of the major sites. Plus a visit to Lanercost Priory on your way back would be good.

Culzean is wonderful so plan on a few hours there. But also in the area are several Robert Burns sites and Crossraugel abbey.

You need to be prepared for the fact that Lanark is not a terribly pretty place. New Lanark is a World Heritage Site and you should not miss it or the nearby Falls of Clyde.

I agree about taking the train to Edinburgh, although it's the parking that's a nightmare, not the driving. It might be worth checking out the train routes. Lanark is not that far from Edinburgh so it might be worth driving in to a commuter station rather than having to take a long rail based detour to get there.

I agree with Janis about Carlisle.

Your St Andrews day is fine. Watch your route and don't tryo to cross the Bridge in the rush hour (in other words if you're doing this to get an early start come up to Stirling and cross over the river at Kincardine Bridge or even further west, and then go over Fife; rather than cross through Edinburgh and cross the Forth road Bridge in the middle of the morning traffic.

I wouldn't drive into Glasgow for the same reason as Edinburgh. If you're going to hop on- hop off, it's just a waste.

Loch Lomond is lovely, and since you're obviously golfers, you could play at Cameron House. Or you could go over to Arran and play at Brodick.

The other thing to consider is your proximity to the Border Abbeys. Time to fit one in?

You should definitely visit New Lanark, especially since you're so close.

Sheila, a recommendation for the Borders? Must have been your Galloway trip.

Thanks everyone for the quick and very useful replies.
Sheila - I looked up the Border Abbeys in my guide books and think I could fit in a jaunt to see one.
It appears Dryburgh Abbey and Melrose Abbey are just over an hour away. Would they be good choices?
Oh well, I better ask this while I am at it. My wife and I read the DaVinci Code and the family will be seeing the movie shortly. In the pictures I have seen of Rosslyn Chapel it appears to be covered with scaffolding. Is it worth the time and effort to fit into the schedule?
Thanks.

You'd be better off at Melrose Abbey. The heart of Robert the Bruce is buried there. that's history. Nothing about Rosslyn Chapel is anything but myth, and modern myth at that.

Melrose and Dryburgh are practically next door to each other - just about 4 miles apart so you should definitely see both.. Melrose is larger, Dryburgh has the lovlier setting.

As for Rosslyn Chapel - unfortunately the book has just about ruined the experience. The chapel used to be a lovely wee chapel sort of off the beaten path that one could have quite literally have to themselves. But hundreds of DaVinci fanmatics descend on it every single day - the church authorities are quite worried they will have to restrict access in some way because all the wear and tear is doing damage. And one the movie is realeased it will only get worse.

It is such a shame that people who had never heard of the place and its amazing 'Prentice Pillar before now swarm all over it because of some work of fiction.

Go, if your wife insists, but you'll be rubbing shoulders w/ <u>masses</u> of day trippers and tour groups.

Hi Hugh
Most of your itinerary looks good. St Andrews and Stirling will be a long long day from Lanark but as long as you know what you're letting yourself in for you'll be OK - BUT - there's a lot more to St Andrews than the old course. The west sands, harbour, cathedral and castle are all worthwhile, but you'll struggle to fit them all in after spending time in Stirling. The Forth Road Bridge shouldn't be too bad as you'll be heading out of Edinburgh in the morning and towards the city at night, so the worst of the traffic will be going the other way. I agree it would be better to do Stirling first and avoid going anywhere near Edinburgh in the morning.
Read the whole story of New Lanark before you go, I find it fascinating to see the things we take for granted that were thought radical in those days. Being from Lanarkshire stock the Falls of Clyde were a favourite beauty spot for my grandparents' generation even though they could probably remember them before the hydro electric schemes took away most of their wow factor. Near here there's a live CCTV link to a peregrine falcon nest which can give some wonderful pictures.
I'm not a big fan of Loch Lomond as even on the &quot;quiet&quot; side it's hard to escape the roar of the traffic. There are hundreds of other lochs that look just as good but are much quieter because they don't have a song. If you want to visit the loch, leave the main A82 road near Balloch and head for Drymen (nice pub n the village square) then Balmaha on the east side of the loch. The road along this side ends half way up the loch so is much quieter than on the other side. You could even make this your approach route to Stirling and keep St Andrews for another day.