Experiencing Scotland in the Winters
 

Hi!
We are a group of 4 adults travelling from India to experience for ourselves the fabled beauty of Scotland!
We plan to travel either at the end of November, around Thanksgiving, or at the end of December, during Christmas and New Year. We know while it is going to be cold and wet especially in the highlands (and we plan to drive ourselves), we really want to put up either a walk / a trek / or a land rover safari on our itinerary.

It will be really helpful if you could help us choose:
1) When would be a better time to come to Scotland to truly be able to appreciate the beauty of the highlands; end of Nov vs end of Dec ?
2) If there are certain packages you would recommend over the others for exploring the highlands.

You see, coming from a tropical country, (despite having trekked on the Himalayas) , we would like an expert to guide us on the weather. We neither want to miss the Highland Safari(s), nor do we want to miss witnessing the Scottish Culture & its Traditions.
Thank you!

It's really dark and cold in Scotland in late autumn & early winter. Effective daylight hours are short, and the angle of light is very low. Health authorities recommend to locals they take Vitamin D supplements.

If coming from a tropical country you are unused to driving in sleet, ice or snow, I would not recommend driving yourselves around the highlands.

Honestly, why not go when it's murderously hot in India (March, April)?

Here are your two biggest problems: (1) the weather - the "fabled beauty of Scotland" keeps itself well-hidden during rainy and dreary days even in summer and it's worse in winter when the flora is dead; (2) daylight or lack thereof - you will be going far north and the days will be short. Edinburgh is on the same latitude as Moscow; Inverness is further north than Riga (Latvia).

For comparison, most of Scotland is north of Krakow, Poland - in December (and early January), Krakow's night time started at about 3:30 to 4 p.m. local time.

many sights will be closed after October

https://www.secret-scotland.com/Blog...in-winter.html

I grew up in England. I would not go to England to visit the countryside in Nov or Dec, never mind Scotland! It is a great time for museums, cathedrals etc., but NOT for the countryside.

For daylight hours in Edinburgh in December see:

https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/uk/e...h=12&year=2017

The only reason I know of to visit Scotland at the end of December is to participate in the drunken and raucous celebrations of Hogmanay (i.e. New Year's Eve). That would certainly count as "culture and traditions" but perhaps not what you had in mind.

Just a silly idea all around.

>>e know while it is going to be cold and wet especially in the highlands (and we plan to drive ourselves), we really want to put up either a walk / a trek / or a land rover safari on our itinerary.<<

There are no 'Highland safaris' that I know of in winter. It is not a time to be walking either.

>>2) If there are certain packages you would recommend over the others for exploring the highlands.<<

You won't find many (any actually) outdoors packages in winter. Now -- you could go to Aviemore to ski. But it is not a time to plan an rural driving trip in northern Scotland.

Trekking in winter is simply a non-starter.

EITHER Travel at a better time of year -- or just go to Edinburgh and/or Glasgow and make it a city holiday. BUT be prepared for VERY high hotel rates if you go at New Years (Hogmanay)

Hate to throw more waster on your plans, but I think you may have an over- romantized view of Scotland in the winter. Along with shorten daylight hours and the vagaries of winter weather, if you are not familiar with driving in Scotland in the winter, then you will be facing a whole slew of problems.

I know of no company that specifically does guided/ packaged tours or ' Highland Safaries' ' in winter. I believe Rabbies will come up with a tour as they do them year round but not sure that's what you had in mind. They don't do land rovers.

As far as witnessing Scottish culture and traditions,in the winter it may involve little more than sitting in front of a peat fire with a glass of whisky.

If you're wanting a winter holiday, I suggest Austria or Switzerland. Honestly, Scotland in winter can be a PIA. I admit there are times when it can be beautiful but, for the most part, and for any extended length of time such as a week or more, it is likely to be miserable.

It's too bad folks have to use the rather rude IMO 'silly idea' but yes the Highlands may not as dreamy you may have thought it to be in winter- but cities like Edinburgh could make a nice stay. I was in Edinburgh one mid-November and though the weather was bright and sunny and in 40s, days were perilously short (and they say we were lucky it wasn't damp and dark and dank) - yet we took day trips to Stirling and its famous castle and St Andrews and stayed in Glasgow too and that was fine - cities are of course the bastion of 'Scottish culture' and could make an OK sojourn. (But don't expect snow - usually too warm for that statistics say.) I never went into the Highlands in late fall or winter but the above posters are real Scottish experts who know what they are talking about.

That said there seem to be winter tours into the Highlands from Edinburgh and Glasgow:

https://www.scotland.org.uk/category...from-edinburgh

wasn't rude -- I did not say the OP is silly. The plan is silly. Not possible, Not doable, Not what they envision.

I have decided I will not post again. (I have been to Scotland recently and frequently -- not a google/armchair expert)

I'll just let him have the floor.

1) The OP mentioned Highland Safaris not cities, although city visits during the winter might be fine.

2) Yes, Edinburgh and even Glasgow can get sunny days but, it's just as likely, perhaps more so, that it will be windy, cold and rainy.

3) I disagree that cities are the bastion of Scottish culture.

4) As I mentioned there are tour companies ( Rabbies for example ) that will arrange tours during the winter, but not sure they would fit into the O.P's idea of Highland Safari .


No one was rude in asserting their opinion as to a winter tour of the Highlands. This forum is all about expressing opinions based on experience and knowledge. Some are just more honest than others.

Certainly one can travel to Scotland during the winter months but they should be aware of the problems involved, and I believe that's what we were doing.

PQ - the only rudeness here is coming from you. And yet again you seem not to have read the OP carefully. There is a big difference between a day trip to St. Andrews and a "highland safari".

OP - Yes you may want to armchair google as things that fit OP's desires:

https://www.highlandsafaris.net/land...ter-watch.html

https://www.wildernessscotland.com/a...inter-walking/

I took the Rabbies 3-day Isle of Skye tour in mid-November 2012 and if you want to go for a package tour, I would recommend them. That tour runs year-round. It did rain a lot but it wasn't particularly cold for me, because I had been living near New York City for a couple years when I made that trip and was used to the cold. However I did get the winter blues on about the fourth day in Scotland due to the low light, and that had never happened before nor since, despite that I've always travel to Europe during late autumn/early winter or in the spring (sometimes with lots of rains).

Most`people whose ideas are called "silly" feel insulted and find the person affecting that pose rude. But good to know I guess I should feel free to characterize the posts of thursdayd, historytraveller and janisj as "silly" -- which they so often are -- and hey won't see me as rude. Whew!

"Silly" charries a different connotation for UK English-speakers. If you like to affect being a Brit, you'll talk that way and then claim your cultural cluelessness isn't being rude.

There is lot more to Scotland and touring Scotland than the handful of people who insists they are the supreme experts on Fodor's know -- as this thread demonstrates. Good news some of them are announcing their retirement (but don't count on it)

@massimop - like PQ you need to read more carefully. I did not use the word "silly". And I don't need to "affect" being British, since I was born and grew up in England.

Hey Guys,

Thank you for your inputs.

Would it be the right time to visit Scotland in November, if we are to spend most of our time in the Highlands, preferably all places above the Oban to Perth Line?

We have planned to visit Portree, Aberdeen, Glenfinnan, Inverness, Skye, Aviemore and a couple of other places in between while we are on the road.

Now we will have a rental car so transport shouldn't be problem, or would it be, if we are to consider the sinusoidal weather patterns also prevalent around the fourth week of November.

Our home base would be Edinburgh but we would want to stay for a night or two in Aviemore to be better able to visit Skye for the Northern Lights(amount of daylight is going to be sore).

Is it that during this time of the year also the attractions are closed or weather might challenge us to follow the plan?

Thanks!

Ask massimop.

I thought all the replies to date had said that the answer to your first question was no.

And if I wanted to see the Northern Lights Skye would not be my first choice. One of the island's tourist sites says:

"It is extremely rare for colours to be visible at this latitude (57.5° North). "

There is this, but from people trying to persuade you to visit Scotland: https://www.visitscotland.com/see-do...rthern-lights/

<<Would it be the right time to visit Scotland in November, if we are to spend most of our time in the Highlands, preferably all places above the Oban to Perth Line?>>

You already have the answer for this: NO.

As Massimop noted in his(?) first response, many attractions will be CLOSED after October. As everyone else has noted, November will be dreary, rainy, cold (more so for you because you're from a very warm country) and dark.

And if you're going all the way to Scotland for Northern Lights, you might as well take a connecting trip to a Scandinavian country where it's more likely to see them (that means closer to 65 degrees N than 55-58, which is most of Scotland).