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Depends on the time of day - outwith the rush hour it shouldn't take more than 45-60 mins.
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Caroline: thanks for the info about the driving route from www.theaa.com; I'll look into that. All of you: Thank you all for your suggestions--I really do appreciate the enthusiasm with which you are all responding. I'd be happy to share my whole itinerary, but we are not interested in changing it. We gave a lot of thought to the places we really want to see, and this schedule works for us. The majority of our trip is going to be spent touring the countryside (so we definitely need the car) west and then north, winding up back in Edinburgh for a final night in a castle and then fly home. If we change it, we will have to skip something we really want to see. My only concerns are basically 1) getting as close as possible to our b&b before we get too tired and 2) killing time until we can actually check in. We will look into getting a cab or bus from there; I will email b&b owner for suggestions. Or maybe there is something we could just do around there, though I would like to spend a few hours in Glasgow. Maybe we could just go into town for dinner after we check in. Re: our package: we have a package that includes airfare, b&b vouchers, and car rental. We don't *have* to stay in Glasgow the first night. The stopover in Glasgow is only because 1) we don't want to drive too far the first day and 2) we want to be able to head right to the coast the next day to take the ferry to Arran. Then we will stay in the same b&b that night, and leave the next day for Loch Lomond. There are no b&bs in our voucher program between Edinburgh and Glasgow--our choices are Edinburgh, Glasgow, or drive all the way to the coast. Stopping near Glasgow works for us. I'm not worried about the length of that drive, just what to do with ourselves for a few hours before check-in that does not require a lot of driving. The b&b is Pannell Farm, Bridge of Weir, Renfrewshire PA11 3RN; from Glasgow airport A737 to Kilbarchan exit, so we do need to get to the west side of Glasgow, even if that may be a little trying. Better to do it earlier in the day than when the jet lag is really kicking in. I will check www.theaa.com to see if we can avoid the city entirely to get there. So if anyone is familiar with this area -- is there anything to do around here where we can waste a few hours? I will ask b&b owner about getting into the city from there. Thanks a bunch.
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looks like we can take M8 all the way to A737 and avoid the city--is that true?
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To change the subject but stay with your original questions, I had a late lunch at the Willow Tea Rooms in April 2003, and the place was almost empty. It's definitely worth visiting, by the way.
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The M8 runs through the middle of Glasgow. If you avoid peak traffic times i.e. 0730 -0930 and 1600-1800 then you should be OK. There are currently roadworks at Glasgow Airport which may also slow you down
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I didn't put those icons in - what happened?
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Chas: shoot, not good news about the M8. It will be after 9:30 am, so we'll see how it goes. Joe18: thanks for the tip about Willow Tea Rooms. Didn't want to commit to a reservation time, but would really like to go if we get the chance. Got an email back from b&b owner -- she'll let us check in early (even said we could take a nap), and apparently there is easy access to a train into town. So I think we're good to go. Thanks everybody!
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If you intend to drive to Ardrossan to catch ths Arran ferry, I would advise against it. There is a train that goes from Central station to Ardrossan and meets the boat. The boat does not leave until the train arrives. The same thing happens in reverse.
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almcd: that's good to know -- we didn't know that but it would be so much easier. I'll look at the train schedule and check that out. Thanks!
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Not for libbync - but for others who may be following this thread to plan their own trip: As many of us recommend for both Ireland and the UK - B&B vouchers are usually not the best way to go. They do not guarantee you a room and generally don't save money. The vouchers merely pay for the B&B if there is availability. Any B&B that takes vouchers also takes cash, and usually credit cards, plus a majority of B&Bs don't honor them. So instead of "<i>There are no b&bs in our voucher program between Edinburgh and Glasgow--our choices are Edinburgh, Glasgow, or drive all the way to the coast.</i>" travelers w/o vouchers can stay exactly where they want.
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actually, we're really happy with the b&bs available to us. certainly if you want to be able to stay *anywhere*, this is not the way to go. we weren't interested in staying somewhere halfway between Edinburgh and Glasgow. I was just trying to let you know that you didn't need to spend any more time trying to suggest an alternate place for us to stay.
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I just don't get the voucher part of the package. Why would anyone prepay for a voucher that limits your choice. Can someone please explain the usefulness, need and advantages?
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I don't know why I'm biting, but...I know voucher packages are fairly unpopular on this board, but we used one on our trip to Ireland several years ago and were perfectly happy with even the more limited choices. When you are traveling somewhere with a gazillion B&Bs it does not always matter that you can't stay in all of them. (We did not use B&Bs on our more recent trip to Scotland because we chose self-catering instead.) The advantage of the package, for us, was that we basically budgeted our accommodation in advance. Yes, I know you can stick to a budget without doing that. I'm just saying it worked for us, and we enjoyed all of the places we stayed. Some were more quaint and cozy than others, some proprietors more friendly than others, but I really don't think that had anything to do with the vouchers. Have a good trip, libbync!
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thanks Barbara! I agree with her, Roger -- I don't need a gazillion choices, and I didn't want to spend all my time researching b&bs. frankly, where I sleep is not something I need to spend an awful lot of time thinking about. our vouchers allow us to go everywhere we want to go, we have a set budget for accommodations, all of the b&bs had availability on the nights we wanted, and we handled all of our reservations very easily by email. the listing also offered a great variety of types of lodging. It's not for everyone -- some people like to be more spontaneous or have more choices. But, for me, it offered everything I needed. If I had been to the country before, I might have more particular ideas about where I wanted to stay, but it was nice to have some guidance. I didn't want to do all the "leg work" myself on this one.
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"<i>I didn't want to do all the "leg work" myself on this one.</i>"
not to belabor it (but I guess that's just what I'm doing) - but my final word re the vouchers. They are NOT terrible -- but they do not save <u>any</u> leg work, and they usually don't save any money (they normally cost more) You still need to contact the B&Bs to see if there is availability. So no difference w/ or w/o vouchers in the "leg work" The main - and only real - benefit is to have all the accomodations pre-paid in $ and having a firm handle on the spending. |
sorry janis I continue to disagree with you. but no matter. i did not have to find a b&b in each town I wanted to stay in; did not have to compare costs and check for availability... please continue to have your own opinion; and allow me to have a different one. can we drop the matter; or please start an "i hate vouchers" thread.
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