hausfrau

I am developing an 8-night itinerary for a trip to Scotland this September. Travelers include me, my husband, our 3-year-old daughter, and my mother-in-law. Target destinations are Edinburgh, the West Highlands (ideally Skye), and the Strathaven region south of Glasgow (for ancestral touring). This is the first time we have traveled in Europe with a small child and I am having a difficult time finding child-friendly accommodation (I have done extensive research on Trip Advisor). We are used to higher-end hotels and B&Bs but also do not want to break the bank (we would like the entire trip to average <$200 per night per room). Many of my first choices are already booked for our dates or do not allow children, so I am open to suggestions. We will also require parking at all our stops as we will pick up and drop off our car at the airport.

My tentative itinerary & hotels (some reservations and inquiries already made) are as follows:

Day 1: Depart USA for EDI
Day 2: Arrive EDI, pick up car, spend afternoon & night in Edinburgh (Rutland Hotel)
Day 3: Day and night in Edinburgh (Rutland)
Day 4: Drive to Highlands via Glen Coe, night in Ballachulish (Loch Leven Hotel)
Day 5: Drive to Skye via Eilean Donan (A87 route), night in Portree (Ben Tianavaig B&B)
Day 6: Day in Skye, night in Portree (Ben Tianavaig)
Day 7: Drive to Strathaven, night in Strathaven (Best Western)
Day 8: Tour Strathaven region (Best Western)
Day 9: Tour Strathaven region, night near EDI (Norton Hotel or ?)
Day 10: Return to USA

Questions:
1. I have a fully-cancellable reservation at the Rutland Hotel in Edinburgh but it is quite a bit outside our budget. Any other recommendations for child-friendly accommodation with parking close to the Royal Mile and major sights in the $250 range? (I realize this is a hefty list of requirements, hence my willingness to splurge on the Rutland.)

2. We want to spend a leisurely first day in Edinburgh. My husband and I spent 5 hours at the castle on our last visit so we probably will skip it on this visit. Suggestions for child-friendly activities in the city? How is the walk up Calton Hill?

3. I have inquired into rooms at the Loch Leven Hotel in Ballachulish. Does this seem like the best stopover point en route to Skye (it appears to be almost exactly half-way)?

4. My list of possible activities on Skye include Armadale Castle, Dunvegan Castle, and a boat trip from Elgol to Loch Coruisk. Other suggestions for short child-friendly scenic walks would be appreciated.

5. We need a good stopping point between Skye and Strathaven for lunch and a break. (It is a 6-hour, 220-mile drive.)

6. My heart has been set on going to Skye but am I being too ambitious trying to get there on this short trip? Can we really do it justice with one full day (plus an afternoon)? The alternative would be to go only as far as Glen Coe (which my husband and I have visited previously) and spend more time in the central Highlands – perhaps Killin, Falls of Dochart, Oban, etc. Keep in mind we will be traveling with a small child so long hikes are out, but interesting child-friendly attractions, castles, and short scenic walks are in! (We will have an Ergo child carrier.) With this option we would have 2 days/3 nights in the region plus 2 half-days (as opposed to 1.5 days on Skye and a very long drive to Strathaven).

7. I have found good reviews of the Norton Hotel near EDI – as long as you don’t stay there while a wedding is going on. This sounds more attractive to me than staying at an airport hotel like the Hilton, which costs nearly as much. Our flight won’t leave until 11:15 am and the Norton claims to be only 10 minutes from the airport, so I think this would leave us plenty of time to get there and turn in our car. Opinions?

janisj

Will try w/ #1 after a bit of research -- for the rest:

2: The Museum of Scotland, the Botanic Gardens, a picnic in Princes Street Gardens . . . all are kid friendly.

3: The Loch Leven is a good stopping point.

5: I'd stop along Loch Lomond (Tarbet, Luss, Duck Bay etc.)

6: Is really up to you. Skye is wonderful of course. But so would be a more leisurely itinerary staying on Loch Tay or Loch Earn or thereabouts. Me personally -- I think shorter is better.

7: "<i>as long as you don’t stay there while a wedding is going on.</i>" -- well as long as they guarantee there won't be a wedding or hen party

janisj

Meant to say >> Me personally -- I think shorter/less hectic drives are better.<<

janisj

Have you checked the Apex -- there are two Apex Hotels in Old Town and one has a car park (I think guests of both properties can use the one car park)

historytraveler

Have you already booked your rental car? If not I'd wait until you left Edinburgh to pick it up. The airport bus runs by the Rutland Hotel. Does the Rutland have parking? You really don't need the car while in Edinburgh and parking can be expensive even when it's available.

For Skye, do you realize that Armadale Castle is only ruins and not very good ones at that? The gardens are just okay IMO. Nearby the Clan Donald Visitor Center/Museum of the Isles is excellent.

Boat trips on the <I> Bella Jane </I> run about three hours, and I'm guessing you're about an hours drive from Elgol at Portree.

With your schedule, I'd probably opt for Loch Tay.

The airport is about 20 minutes from the west side of Edinburgh, of course, you'll need to allow for a bit more. Is your flight direct to US, or do you connect in London? The recommended time for a flight in the UK is 90 minutes, for an international flight it's 2 1/2-3 hours. Edinburgh Airport is not nearly as big or busy as LHR, so 2 1/2 might be fine. You need to allow time for the rental check-in, but you really don't save a lot by staying 10 minutes nearer the airport. Of course, it depends on what you're comfortable with.

janisj

"<i>For Skye, do you realize that Armadale Castle is only ruins and not very good ones at that? The gardens are just okay IMO. Nearby the Clan Donald Visitor Center/Museum of the Isles is excellent.</i>"

I assumed by Armadale Castle hausfrau meant the Clan Donald centre. (all one and the same really -- the castle is in the grounds of the Centre.)

hausfrau

janisj, thanks again for your quick response. I think I will present the two options (Skye vs. central Highlands) to my husband and mother-in-law and we will have to hash out the pros and cons amongst ourselves. My heart still says Skye but my rational side may win out in the end...and I did see some lovely pictures of the Killin area. I'm noting that I have 2 votes for Loch Tay right now!

I will check out the Apex hotels again. I may have been turned off by some bad reviews on Trip Advisor, but I just looked at the Waterloo Place location (I like the looks of it better than their other 2 hotels and it is well-located). It looks pretty nice and they have very good prices (breakfast included - which isn't at the Rutland!). Thanks for the suggestion and the ideas for child-friendly activities.

historytraveler, since we are traveling overseas with a small child for the first time we felt it would be safest and easiest to pick up the car at the airport, install the car seat, and head into Edinburgh. (We will either be renting a seat or bringing ours with us - obviously we don't want to haul one around with us on public transit.) We realize this isn't the cheapest option. The Rutland and Apex indicate that there are parking structures nearby.

Yes, I'm aware that Armadale is a ruin and was referring to the whole complex - castle, gardens, and museum.

We are flying EDI to Amsterdam and then on to Detroit. I was assuming we would have to be at the airport at least 2 hours in advance, plus time to turn in the car. My mother-in-law is not an early riser, so 10 minutes away is going to be enough of a squeeze. We don't want to go back into Edinburgh for that last night anyway, but still want a hotel with some character, and it looks like the Norton has that. (Hopefully there won't be a wedding or hen party that Friday night!)

historytraveler

hausfau, you do seem to have this well thought out. Not always the case on this forum.

Take hope in the fact that hen parties and wedding parties are usually a Saturday night affair.

alanRow

"obviously we don't want to haul one around with us on public transit.)"

Why obviously? By the time you've got your car you could have reached the Rutland hotel and be settled in. And trying to fit a car seat / drive around Edinburgh is bad enough, doing so when jetlagged and your body thinks it's 2:00am is stupid.

palmettoprincess

I wouldn't worry about carrying a car seat via public transportation, especially on the airport shuttle. They are used to folks having bulky luggage. Now you won't be able to use it on the bus, but no one else there will be strapping a three year old in a car seat on a bus either.

Besides riding a bus may well be the highlight of her trip. Besides if there are three of you, you might want to hire a car to take you from the airport directly to the hotel. We did it two years ago for a family of six and it was less than 20 GBP.

I can not stress how difficult it is to find parking in Edinburgh.

hausfrau

historytraveler - thanks; after 2.5 years in Germany and a LOT of trip planning, I have a pretty good handle on things, but my skills are a bit rusty!

I think you've successfully convinced us not to rent the car first thing. It looks like we're going to switch to one of the Apex hotels and I'm sure they have an airport shuttle. Plus we've confirmed that we can rent a car seat so we won't have to bring our own. Less money for the rental, no finding/paying for parking in Edinburgh. Sounds good to me!

hausfrau

Update: my heart won out and we are going to Skye! Booked our tickets yesterday and working on hotels now. We've switched to the Apex Waterloo Place in Edinburgh (only slightly cheaper than the Rutland but includes breakfast and is better located for our purposes) and will rent our car upon leaving the city.

Still looking for suggestions for short scenic walks on Skye. We can carry our 3-year-old for a ways but can't go for any epic hikes.

historytraveler

www.walkhighlands.co.uk/skye is an excellent website for selecting one's walks. I've always found it very helpful. They provide all the information you'll need, such as level of walk, distance, the approximate time factor, a discription of the scenery along the walk and even the bog level which is very important when walking in Scotland

hausfrau

Perfect. Thank you!

hausfrau

Just wanted to thank everyone again for all your help. We are leaving on Thursday eve. Unfortunately my mother-in-law has had to back out of the trip due to illness, so it will just be the three of us. We are taking the AirLink bus into Edinburgh (staying at Apex Waterloo Place), then renting a car for the drive to the West Highlands. The rest of the itinerary & hotels are pretty much unchanged except we'll be spending an extra day on Skye (Yay!), as we determined that we could visit the ancestral homes in Strathaven in just one day.

10-day forecast calls for lots of "light rain." I take that as a positive outlook in U.K. terms! Wish us luck...first time overseas with a kid!

janisj

Have a GREAT trip! We expect a detailed trip report

caroline_edinburgh

hausfrau, don't want to seem nitpicking, but how are you planning to get from the airbus terminus on Waverley Bridge to Waterloo Place ? With nothing to carry it's a short stroll - say about 10 minutes, allowing for negotiating the traffic & tramworks. Will you & DH be able to transport your luggage & child (anything else ?) easily ? I think it would be much easier to get a taxi. What time does your flight get in ? If it's before the rush hour it shouldn't be more than about £20.

caroline_edinburgh

P.S. Your daughter should enjoy this - http://www.jungle-city.org/09intro.php. They are all over the place !

hausfrau

Caroline, I was under the impression from the maps (and the hotel's website) that it was just a couple of blocks. From what you've said it might be farther than I thought, but since we are not bringing a car seat I don't know how we could transport our daughter safely in a taxi. Correct me if I'm wrong - I never take taxis - but I don't think they are equipped with child seats. We are not bringing our own seat because we have had such terrible experiences with the airlines' handling of car seats in the past, and we don't want to have to check anything. We are traveling carry-on, so I was assuming that we could walk, as we each will just have a roller-bag and a purse or backpack. I just traveled carry-on cross-country alone with my daughter and we managed to navigate two airports, including some LONG walks through terminals, without too much difficulty. My daughter can pull her own suitcase but since my husband will be with us he will be able to pull or carry our daughter's suitcase for her while I keep tabs on her. Let me know if you think I'm nuts!

And thanks for the link - I haven't checked it out yet!

caroline_edinburgh

Sorry if I've alarmed you, it is just a couple of blocks. I had visions of you struggling, though, maybe carrying 4 or 5 bags & a child. Not being a parent, I'm afraid I hadn't thought of the car seat / taxi issue - sorry. Sounds like you are well up to it !