England and Scotland with Family
 

Hi there. My family of 8 is traveling to England and Scotland in October. We will be road tripping from London to York, up to Edinburgh and Inverness, and finally down to Plymouth. Does anyone have some advice first on traveling with 4 adult couples, and second, on good pubs or places to stay? We've all been to England before, but not to Scotland. I'd really like to find out what makes Scotland "scotland". A whiskey tour is a must! My father in law and friend of the family are huge scotch drinkers and I'm sure they would love to try every available scotch there is! So, any help you can offer would be much appreciated! Cheers

We did a whisky tour in Edinburgh last year at the Scoth Whisky Heritage Centre, very close to the castle. I went for my husbands sake and found it much more interesting than I expected. He was in absolute heaven - I'd definitely recommend it!

Go here: http://www.scotchwhisky.net/

And here: http://artofmanliness.com/2009/04/05...scotch-whisky/

And check reviews at whiskymag.com

Take the old lushes to Royal Mile Whiskies on High Street in Edinburgh, and Cadenhead on Canongate. Good luck to the old buggers on drinking "every available scotch there is" -- there's far more than you think because not only does every distillery have its own, and frequently varieties of its scotch (The Macallan: 12 [year-old], 18, 25, cask strength, Fine Oak 10, 15, 20), but most of them don't bottle all of their output -- they sell casks to blenders (like Johnnie Walker, Chivas Regal) who make blended whiskey or to independent bottlers (Murray McDavid, Old Malt Cask, Signatory, Provenance, Cadenhead), who hold the stuff in bond and age it however they want. Many of those independent bottlings are very good. The old boys will need liver transplants halfway through the trip . . . And they'll need to know what's a single malt, vatted malt, blended whisky, and grain whisky, and Highland, Lowland, Speyside, Islay.

And let's be honest here: not every scotch whisky (NO "E" in whisky in Scotland) is a gem. Lots of them are crrrrrrrap (the Scots roll their r's). Two letters: J & B, two words: Cutty Sark. Two words and a color: Johnnie Walker Red.

There are plenty of single malts that are not great either (Glenlivet, Glenfiddich -- weak stuff that). And, of course, the variety of scotch whisky means some types aren't quite to everyone's taste -- if they love Highland malts, your two whisky lovers may not have the (ahem) fortitude to drink their med'sin (Ardbeg, Caol Ila, Laphroiag, Lagavulin).

As for what makes Scotland "Scotland" -- first, you need to be made of stern stuff to live at 55-60 degrees north latitude on land that is not far, in any direction but south, from the ocean and the wind and WET that comes from it. There's a reason the highlander regiments were frontline infantry for the British Empire.

Second, when one nation with a rich history agrees to become a junior partner with a far more populous nation with which it has had various, er, falling outs, that less populous nation rightfully seeks to keep a fair bit of its national identity (even if that manifests in a hideous parliament building).

We stayed in a guest house in Edinburgh (B&B with > 5 rooms) and also stayed in The Knight Residence, which is a short walk uphill (all Edinburgh is uphill) to the Castle and which is a good choice for your group.

Why are you going north to the (near) tip of Scotland and then reversing to Plymouth?

What's the interest in Inverness? We stayed near it, but there's not much of interest in it.

Russ has made some excellent comments and provided some good advice. It would help to know how long you plan to spend in Scotland/England and what interests your group has other than whisky. The area around Inverness has much to offer, but the city itself is not that interesting.

You said roadtripping. That means by car, right? But 8 adults plus luggage will require something pretty big. The alternative is 2 cars, but keeping together can be a problem. Bring cell phones if you have quad bands or buy cheap ones in Britain.

Who's going to do the driving? With all that whisky sampling.

Many B&Bs won't have 4 double rooms, let alone 4 such rooms with equivalent amenities. Take turns picking first?

How long will this trip be? Consider flying into Edinburgh or Glasgow or even Inverness to start the trip. The earlier you can get to Scotland the better the weather is likely to be.

I also agree with Russ that the Knight's Residence in Edinburgh might be a good choice to stay. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev..._Scotland.html

I've stayed there twice and highly recommend it. I think the biggest apartment they have is 3 bedrooms, but also two bedroom (which is what we stayed in) and 1 bedroom.

Depending on how far and where you want to drive there is a 'Whiskey Trail' in the Spey River part of the Highlands.

Actually on our first trip in 1998, we spent 17 days going from Cornwall, Cotswolds, Lake District, Highlands and flew out of Glasgow. Trust me, maps are deceptive! It was a whirlwind trip.

Welcome to the forum. First question would be how long have you got for this trip? London to Inverness and then down to Plymouth befoe heading back to London is a serious amount of driving in anyone's book - almost 1500 miles not allowing for side-trips and detours on the way. The traffic may be desperately slow and congested compared to what you're used to, particularly in and around the English cities and motorways. I live in the UK but would never contemplate such a long trip. It would cut down the strain on the driver(s) if you could take an internal flight yo or from Scotland to cut down the driving time, bbut there are 8 of you so this might not be affordable. Do check out the low-cost carriers, Easyjet, FlyBe and Ryanair though.

By the way, why do foreign tourists always automatically head for Inverness when they go to Scotland - believe me there are so many other fantastic things to see and do in Scotland. If you are interested in whisky (note the correct spelling ;)), you'll want to maximise your time in the likes of Speyside, Perthshire or even the Western Isles, rather than head for a fairly unremarkable city in the far NE of the country.

I think Russ has made some excellent points about Scotland being Scotland. I think you probably have to suck it and see.

I think we could use a wee bit more input from you before we can give you much more. Is your Scotland scenery? or culture? or history? or ancestry?

And if you're looking for whisky stuff online you need to spell it correctly- even in Whisky Trail- or you'll not necessarily find what you're looking for

Sheila, the OP hasn't been back for alsmost 2 weeks: maybe he/she is having a re-think (about the logistics in particular).

This was the OP's one and only ever post. Possibly he 1) doesn't know how to find his thread 2) didn't like some answers, or 3) forgot he posted ((B)) :)