My daughter and I will be spending about one week in Scotland at the beginning of July. It is my first trip. She was there two years ago spending some time in Edinburgh and Inverness. She took the train from London to Edinburgh. We might be doing this to head back to London. We are looking for suggestions from sites to see, places to stay, restaurants, etc... Last time she took a day bus tour she loved. Our plans are wide open at this time so we are open to ideas that entail seeing sites, enjoying local events, physical activities such as hikes and enjoying food and beverages. Before arriving we will have spent a week in Dublin and Galway. After Scotland we head to London for one more week. My great grandfather was from Scotland so I am excited to see and learn. Thank you!

What a nice trip! We enjoyed Edinburgh, walking all around the city, up to "Arthur's Seat." We stayed at university housing on the Royal Mile, near the Castle. Wonderful! Previous trips we stayed in B&Bs which were also enjoyable. As to experiences, in addition to the city walking a bus tour around the city is one way we get oriented.

We've taken both day and night trains between London and Edinburgh, but then we are train people & dislike driving over there.

We went from there to Pitlochry one trip (nice smallish town on a loch with a lovely regional theatre), staying over at self-catering place. The train stops right there if you are traveling that way. The lads and DH golfed several times while I walked or window shipped.

If you are in Edinburgh during the Festival consider getting tickets to the Fringe Festival events. Something I aspire to do and has been recommended by friends. The 2010 Edinburgh Festival Fringe takes place from 6 to 30 August.

We had a car for one of our trips and greatly enjoyed driving through the Borders region, seeing Sir Walter Scott's home. Another trip we went up to St. Andrews, a lovely place even for non-golfers IMO. We did drive up to Loch Ness one time but other than the lore it is no more worth seeing than many other gorgeous lakes; we did have a look at Urquart Castle while in the area.

OK - Scotland is a very big place -- some questions:

(BTW - you won't be there during the Edinburgh Festivals as you are going in early July)

1) Do you know where your GGF came from? If you want to see the ancestral area, we can help you w/ an itinerary.

2) Do you want to do everything by public transport -- or are you willing to rent a car?

3) Where are you arriving from Ireland -- By plane (which airport?) or by ferry in to the southwest?

4) What research have you done -- are there any particular places that are "musts"?

5) What is your budget for accommodations? What sorts of places do you like to stay?

7 days is not long enough to "do" Scotland, so we need a bit more focus. There are hundreds of castles/gardens/distilleries/hikes/waterfalls/lochs/islands -- and that isn't counting Edinburgh or Glasgow.

We can absolutely help w/ an itinerary - but we need some more input from you before we can offer truly useful advice.

janisj
Okay, I will try to focus which I realize is needed. We don't want all of our time scheduled (some flexibility) but realize we do need to have some plans set or we will end up disappointed.
1) Regarding GGF - the name was Buchanan so I have researched some of the clan. Currently I don't have more detailed info. While I like having the history of family from Scotland it does not need to be our major focus.

2) We lean towards public transportation rather then dealing with car rentals. It seems this will be more relaxing for us.

3)Where we arrive is not determined right now. We fly into Dublin and out of London. Due to this it is looking like after traveling a bit in Ireland the easiest might be to fly from Dublin possibly into Edinburgh. My daughter does not like the thought of this flight but in looking at money and time it seems to be the best method. Thoughts by you??

4) I am reading a lot of information and it all starts to melt together. We would enjoy some big city activities and sights and also would like to enjoy a smaller town with scenery. My daughter is trying to find her info from her day bus trip to Loch Ness as she said there was a beautiful town she thought would be great to explore. She is an art teacher so definitely enjoys art type activities. We also are active, enjoy sports and definitely would enjoy a distillery. She also works at an Irish Pub and wants to send some scotch and whiskey home.

5) We are trying to keep our accommodations under $50 per night per person. Hostels are fine but I would prefer one that tends to have middle age people rather then all 20 something. B&B's would be great. We can up our amount on a few nights throughout our trip if it is something that deserves the extra money due to the experience. Otherwise where we stay is less important then the other activities.

We definitely know 7 days is not enough time to do any of our areas justice but we also know it is a wonderful opportunity to experience the countries. My daughter's last trip was 5 weeks split between London, Edinburgh/Inverness,Amsterdam, Paris for a week and two weeks in Italy. We will travel with backpacks for our belongings. Definitely will need to pack wisely and light!

Thank you for your help. I hope I have given a little more focus and let me know if I can answer more questions. I enjoy getting this first hand knowledge.

annw

Could you tell me the name of the University you stayed at in Edinburgh?

Also, regarding the train to London did you enjoy the day or night trip better? My daughter loved the trip for the scenery so it would sound like we should do a day one but I am wondering what a night trip experience is like. She does not like the thought of short flights while over there so mostly we will do trains or buses.

When you are traveling by train do you do point to point tickets or have you bought one of the other types of passes?

Thank you.

First sorry I missed that reference to July though I read your post twice, so never mind about the Festival.

Regarding the Uni housing, it was University of Edinburgh, where we booked housing through a travel agent (in US) who was a "Scots Specialist." However, I just looked at the University website and found this link to their self-catering summer accommodation.

http://www.edinburghfirst.co.uk/for-...n/summer-flats

If you go this route (within your budget I'd say though I can't recall about breakfast), I would recommend the lodging on the Royal Mile, where ours was. It's essentially student housing with a suite (2 br I think). Nothing fancy but can't beat the location. A B&B would also be within budget and could be very charming (and well located--stone's throw from the Castle!).

Regarding the train, it was fun to do the night trip once, but I can't say we got a ton of sleep, and frankly it is fun to see the countryside. Also, on a previous trip by train I was able to make some stops (York, for example) and then hop onto the next train. That was a few years ago and I've no idea if that is feasible schedule wise for you. Maybe night train one way and day train the other? You do save on a night's lodging.

I have usually bought a rail pass and then gotten seat reservations or specific tix only as needed. For ex, I doubt a regular rail pass would cover an overnight train if you get berths (vs. stay in regular seats). This overnight was a while ago though and things may have changed. In your shoes I would search the Britrail site
http://www.britrail.com/?gclid=CP3-7...FRJYbQodTCJq9g

to see what I could learn. You buy the passes in advance and validate when you get there on first use, but they don't guarantee you a specific seat on a specific route.

Here's some time info:

London Kings Cross (KGX) Edinburgh (EDB) 4hrs 25min

From Britrail site, re: reservations:

If you have a BritRail Pass or a point to point ticket, then you can make seat reservations per person, per train for a nominal fee. Although reserving a seat is not required, it is recommended if you want peace of mind and an assured a seat on a specific train. Perhaps you have a plane to catch and don’t want to chance it or you want to travel during rush hour and don’t want to stand among the crowd.

http://www.britrail.com/tickets-and-reservations

Flying into Edinburgh is likely your best option both time and money wise. If it helps planning your itinerary any -- you can fly from Galway to Edinburgh.

Trains and buses work -- they do limit you a bit though. W/ just 7 days (is that seven nights or just 6?)

Normally I recommend a visit to St Andrewsand Fife -- but the British Open is in early July so it will be <u>totally packed</u>, and booked up by now anyway. You'd do best to stay over to the west/north-ish side of the country to miss the extra crowds.

I might consider something like this:

Fly to Edinburgh and stay 2 days/nights. There your budget will be a bit low. But you can easily find B&Bs in other parts of the country for £60-£75 ($85-$110 approx) a night double -- or even less. University housing in Edinburgh might be a good option -- but get on it now since the the city will be filling up.

Then train to Oban for 2 nights. Not to spend 2 days exploring Oban -- but to take an organized coach tour to Mull/Iona. Take the train to Oban and arrive in the afternoon. Walk around Oban and have a nice dinner. Next morning take in the ferry/coach tour. You see Mull and spend a couple of hours exploring/walking around Iona. Better by car --but totally OK by coach tour.

(Option: If you want to see another and totally different city, do the 2 day/nights in Edinburgh, train to Glasgow for 1 day/night, then a train to Oban for the 2 nights)

Then train to Inverness for either 2 or 3 nights (depending on the Glasgow option). I normally recommend not staying IN Inverness. But it does make sense here because you'll be w/o a car. Inverness itself is really no great shakes. It is a nice enough town but is really mainly the commercial hub of northern Scotland. Because it is a transport/tourist centre -- there are lots of guided tours/boat trips and easy access out into countryside. You can visit Culloden, Clava Cairns, Loch Ness, Urquhart Castle, etc.

Then either take the Sleeper train from Inverness to London -- or fly down.

I don't think a rail pass will pencil out for this itinerary since point-to-point tickets are pretty cheap. The earlier you book the sleeper the better the price -- it gets very expensive close to the date of travel.

Of course there are lots of other options -- but this is just one possible itinerary.

Thank you for some more information. Now I need to find time with my daughter so we can do some better planning. This morning I was reading about the Fat Tire bike tours in London. They sounded fun and a different way to see some site while there.
I am wondering if you can answer a few questions regarding the "hopper" type flights in the area. I have been looking at these flights online through ryanair and another company. I have looked out of Shannon, Galway and Dublin. It seems some flights have huge tax fees - 100 euro. My nephew feels if you book when you are there you do not have to pay these fees. The basic flight will be listed at 20 euro and under but then all the fees really add up the cost. Do these fees vary? Any knowledge of these short flights around the area would be helpful. Thank you.

You have to pay the tax (no matter where you book it)

Ryanair is famous for hiding the cost and just showing you their element. Also famous for minimum service (even pushing up against the law if they can.

If you can fly easyjet, jet2.com, flybe or any of the others you will be treated as a human being. This is kinda critical given the issues Ireland and Scotland is having with the volcano in Iceland.

"<i>My nephew feels if you book when you are there you do not have to pay these fees. </i>"

That isn't true -- but even if it was, you really can't wait until you are in the country to book your flights. The later you wait, the more expensive the fares. Those €4 and €20 fares become €60 or €10+ close to the departure date.

Flights originating in the UK will cost more because the departure taxes are higher.

For Galway/Edinburgh check Aer Arran - better than RyanAir.

That should read . . . >>Those €4 and €20 fares become €60 or <u>€100+</u> . . . . .<<

(I really should preview!)

Having said that, they are still the most cost effective. In terms of time and money your best option is definitely to take Easyjet or Ryan air flights from Ireland to Scotland. And try not to land a Prestwick which is miles from anywhere.

there are a number of companies which do mini bus tours of Scotland out of Edinburgh with different focuses (foci?). Most of them do one, two and three night options and give you different options for accommodation too.

Have a look at Macbackapackers, Haggis, Timberbush and Rabbie's web sites and see if any fit your aspirations.

Clan Buchanan basically belongs to the south end of Loch Lomond, so you may want to look at some Trossachs tours.

Edinburgh/Glasgow have a listing magazine with a web site. You might want to have a look at this.

http://www.list.co.uk/events/when:1-Jul-2010/

I also note that Loch Lomond Games is on 3rd July at Luss. For other Highland Games, you'll find the listings here

http://www.albagames.co.uk/

I hope this helps a bit. refine it a little for yourself and then come back and we'll see what more we might be able to do to help

You'd need a rental car - but you can see Buchanan Castle which is between the village of Drymen and Loch Lomond. It is a ruin and and you can just look at the outside --then you could see Loch Lomond, the Trossachs, Inchmahome Priory and Doune Castle (where they filmed Monty Python and the Holy Grail and is a terrific place even w/o the movie connections).

Just a tour of the general area -- you can manage by bus tour from Edinburgh. But to see Buchanan Castle and other rural bits you'd need a car.

re.Sheila's reply:
<And try not to land a Prestwick which is miles from anywhere.>

This is slightly misleading as the airport has its own train station and you can be in Glasgow city centre in 50 minutes. If Ryanair's Dublin - Prestwick flight is the cheapest option then you should consider this route. For more information look at

http://www.gpia.co.uk/AirportInfo/HowTo/train.asp

But then they'd have to add the time/£ to get to Edinburgh. By far the easiest/most efficient, and likely least expensive option would be to fly Galway to Edinburgh

(or some other airport to EDI depending on their final itinerary in Ireland)

Sorry; but if you don't think 50 minutes WEST of Glasgow by train isn't miles from, well, anywhere but Ayr, I guess, you're not living in the same world as me.

Prestwick has its uses, but central it ain't.