If you were going to choose your favorite villages and small towns to stay in for a few nights which would they be?

I'm hoping on our trip in September to stay in a few somewhat remote places and book dinner, bed and breakfast, but I really want some places where we can stay at a neat place in town and walk and enjoy different restaurants, shops, etc.

Thanks!
Canajoharie

Canojoharie: Try Drumnadrochit in the west of Scotland, about 30 miles south of Inverness. Borlum Farms is a stately B and B on gorgeous farmland, with charmng self-catering cottages available. The small town is home to the Loch Ness Monster statue and only a short distnace from the lake and eerie Urquhart Castle ruins. The farmhouse is absolutely beautiful with over sized bedrooms...it may now be private, but check with them at [email protected] ..at any rate the cottages are certainly available... town itself only a few miles away has some small hotels, pub-inns, etc. great walking trails everywhere. You can easily walk to Loch Ness from the farm, also. Look it up on the map.
Stu T.

We really enjoyed Dunkeld in Perthshire. Nice little town set on the River Tay with the famous Telford Bridge and the Dunkeld Cathedral. Centrally located for visits throughout Perthshire including Aberfeldy, Crieff, Kenmore, etc.

We stayed at the Atholl Arms right on the River. Good restaurant, popular with locals. We looked forward to our evening walks along the river after dinner. There are also several interesting antique shops nearby for browsing. We bought a colored print of the Cathedral which we love!

www.athollarmshotel.com

Also see info on Perthsire:

www.perthshire.co.uk

Fjor something different you could stay at the oldest inhabited house in Scotland, Traquair House, with links to Mary Stuart. The owners now operate the house as a very nice B&B, and you can have evening dinner if you wish. The grounds are extensive, and Peter Maxwell-Stuart has a small on-site brewery. Walter Scott's home is not far and is open to visitors.

I would second Dunkeld - but if you are inclined towards the Highlands I would go for Plockton (regarded by most as the most pleasant Scottish seaside village) or Applecross. Kulross is rather quiet but not far from Edinburgh.There are plenty more, but these are the ones that come to my mind.

Dornoch in Sutherland. More of a town than a village, though...

http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.u...och/index.html

We too enjoyed Dunkeld ( also stayed at the Atholl Arms ) but I'm in agreement w/ stevelyon - Plockton stole our hearts. It may be too small for some but our family of four loved it. We stayed in the annex of Plockton Hotel and looked right out to the harbor - which was picture perfect. Dunkeld has more in the way of shopping and nightlife but there was an out-of-the-way charm about Plockton ( and I still have Sheila to thank for the tip!). We want to return and explore a bit further up this coastline. You can also make a nice day trip to the Isle of Skye from here and there's a spectacular castle nearby as well - Eileen Donan( I'm probably spelling that wrong, I don't have my notes in front of me ). One last note - we spent our 1st night in Scotland in a very small town called Kilmartin ( south of Oban). It was somehow mystical there.
Port Appin ( north of Oban) was also a worthwhile stopover.
Have a great trip.

Umm, some of you have a pretty different notion of remote to mine

But, on the basis that no-where on the mainland is really remote- at least no-where south of the Great Glen- then I would suggest:-

The Heatherbrae at Nethy Bridge

The Melvich Hotel at Melvich

The Applecross Inn at Applecross

The Glenelg Inn at Glenelg

The Arisaig Hotel at Arisaig (or Arisaig House, if you're minted)

The Argyll Hotel on Iona

The Cuilfail Hotel at Kilmelford

The West Loch Hotel at Tarbert

The Ardeonaig on Loch Tay

The Tormaukin in Glen Devon.

The Fortingall in Glen Lyon

The Moulin Inn at Moulin

The Glen Clova Hotel at the top of Glen Clova

The Kinord Hotel in Dinnet

As to busier villages, following the same rough route, The Royal in Dornoch,

Anywhere in Kirkwall,

anywhere in Stromness

Anywhere in Ullapool

Anywhere in Gairloch

Anywhere in Plockton

Anywhere in Oban

Anywhere in Tobermory on Mull

The Harbour or the Lochside in Bowmore on Islay

The Royal in Comrie

Anywhere in Aberfeldy

Anywhere in Ballater

Hope you have a good trip

Thanks for all the suggestions, it looks like Plockton might be nicer to stay in than Portree? The Hotel looked pretty nice too, are there other places there that anyone would reccommend?

Dunkeld has been on my radar as we need a night in that area also. Atholl Arms looks charming.

I'm going to check out some of the other villages, towns and lodging reccommendations.

I've emailed Borlum Farms to see if they still do B&B. The Ardeonaig is definitely a possibility it seems to have pretty universal approval.

Traquair House is further south than I was planning unless we go to Culzean Castle. The grounds at Traquair House look amazing! Maybe that would be a good first night after flying into Edinburgh, as we could relax and adjust to the time zone, and explore the grounds and then get to bed early!

And thanks Sheila, there's quite a few on your list I haven't investigated.

Canajoharie

Plockton is hugely nicer than Portree, but it does suffer from not being in the middle of Skye.

Sheila, anyone ~

We are used to doing quite a bit of driving, actually we don't mind it. Is Plockton unrealistic for exploring Skye? Should we stay 1 or 2 nights there, and 1 night futher north?

Canajoharie,
I second Dunkeld, it's a really interesting wee place with lots to do round about, and its location means you'll be passing by on almost any itinerary.
There's not a lot to chose between Plockton, Gairloch and Ullapool. They are all in fabulous settings and you just might decide to spend the rest of your holiday there.
Unless you are really keen to set foot on Skye this time I wouldn't bother. You can't begin to do it justice in a day or two. If you decide to go there you'd be better getting accommodation on the island. The nearest place on the mainland is Kyle of Lochalsh - a nice enough place but since they built the bridge there's less need for people to stay overnight before or after their ferry trip, and IMHO some of the hotels are beginning to suffer from the loss of trade.
I don't know many of the hotels and B&Bs Sheila recommended, but as always I'm drooling at the mere mention of some of the places.
For a complete change of locaton, any of the villages in the East Neuk of Fife would fit your requirements.
And since it's Burns Night (or at least it was when I logged on)
Then let us pray that come it may
As come it will, for a' that
That sense and worth o'er a' the earth
Shall bear the gree for a' that.
For a'that, an' a' that,
It's comin' yet for a' that
That man tae man the warld o'er
Shall brithers be, for a'that.

Dunkeld is a definite in that area.

I'm planning on 14 travel days with 2 additional days for flying in and home.

Tentative game plan is 3 days north/northeast of Edinburg in the Perthshire area, 3 days Argyll area (we have quite a few gardens we want to go to) 3 days Highlands and 3 days Isle of Skye. This leaves 2 days unscheduled to overlap as needed.

Does it make sense at Isle of Skye to stay 1 night @ Plockton, 1 night at Flodigarry and 1 night at ???
In other words doing a large loop?


Thanks!
Canajoharie

For Skye, what actually makes sense is to stay all three nights at Portree. It's just that it's Portree

Try the Rosedale?

Or, if you want to be on Skye, but don't mind being off to one side, have a look at the Eilean Iarmain