teagordon

We'll be arriving in Glasgow around noon on Sunday, June 28. Since we'll be short on sleep the thought was to drive just a couple of hours to Ft. William area. We'd like to get to Skye on Monday. Don't know if we could do a little hike in Glencoe or Ben Nevis before going to Skye, or whether we should just plan to maximize time on Skye. We were thinking two nights on Skye and then off to spend three nights in Orkney (starting July 1st) then head back to Glasgow with a night somewhere on the road.

The main question is do we have to make reservations for the ferry? At least one guide book seemed to think we should, but I noticed that they wanted info about the car which we don't have yet. I guess we could drive around to get to a bridge for Skye, but we really need to be on a car ferry for Orkney.

A few years ago we toured Scotland - not going quite as far north or west - and made no reservations at all, just staying at B&B's calling when we arrived in town. It worked out okay, but I'm wondering if that's too risky, especially on Skye. So if there are any suggestions for budget places to stay - I'd love to hear them. We'd also love suggestions for where to stop on the way to Skye. And we love to eat well, so restaurant recommendations - especially local specialites would be lovely.

Nikki

We took a ferry last summer to Islay, and by the time I realized it was a good idea to have reservations, the times I wanted were sold out.

RosemaryM

I would definitely book the Northlink Ferry to Orkney. They can get very full during Summer. You can probably get away with it to Skye, after all, there is the bridge, as you say.
If you love to eat well, try the Three Chimneys Restaurant on Skye, but be warned, it is not a budget choice!

Rosemary

HollydaleK

By all means do make reservations for the Orkney ferry. Just book it for a car, you won't need all the other info.

Whether you use the Mallaig to Armadale ferry or the little four car ferry from Glenelg to Kylerea, you should be able to get by without advance reservations.

In June I don't think I would rely on finding a B&B on the day you arrive in a town. You might be lucky, but then, you might not.

Do take time in Glencoe for a bit of a hike. If nothing else take the bridge to Skye to make up the time.

janisj

"<i>Since we'll be short on sleep the thought was to drive just a couple of hours to Ft. William </i>"

I personally don't recommend driving your first day - or at least no farther than maybe Loch Lomond. The jet lag can be very bad and then you are having to acclimate to driving a strange car on the "wrong" side of the road. The road to Ft William is very busy on summer weekends and IMO it shouldn't be driven in a jetlagged stupor.

I'd either <B>1)</B> spend your first day car-less in Glasgow and then drive to Skye on Monday. It would be totally doable AFTER a good night's sleep -- or -- <B>2)</B> drive only as far as Loch Lomond just north of GLA. You can get a B&B in Luss or other villages along the loch.

I'd definitely pre-book the Orkney ferry. Not quite so necessary for the Mallaig ferry since there are frequent sailings.

teagordon

Thanks for all the suggestions so far. You might be right about the driving. Last time we were in Scotland, my husband had spent the previous week at Oxford, so while *we* were jetlagged he wasn't. I'd rather not spend the night in Glasgow as will be spending most of the week there at the end of our jaunt. (Husband has a conference there.)

mbgg

I toured the same area last month. I decided to book all my B&Bs in advance, despite the loss of flexibility, and it turned out to ne a wise decision because most of the B&Bs on the route had "No vacancy" signs !

It is easy to book in advance because there are now many web sites with extensive listings. Try www.roomfinder.co.uk, the Scottish tourist board, www.walkhighlands.co.uk, or just type in the name of the town in Google.

I also strongly recommend www.walkhighlands.co.uk to find detailed descriptions of hikes at any level.

As to "whether we should just plan to maximize time on Skye" - Skye has a barren, wild landscape compared to the more gentle, forested scenery around Loch Lomond or Ft.William. Which do you prefer?

teagordon

Hmm. Both? But I think leaning to the wilder stuff. However that said, my favorite parts of the last trip were: Staffa, some heather covered hills with narrow sheeppaths somewhere north of Perth and south of Inverness, and somewhere just north of Oban where we were on a single track road and stopped to hike in a valley that looked just like something out of the Lord of the Rings. We did a lot of castles last time, I'd like to do more painting and hiking this time.

sheila

I wouldn't drive as far as Fort William having just come off a flight from the US. If you feel you must you might want to go round the long way on the motorways?

Lots of lovely places to walk in Glen Nevis or Glencoe. Don't miss them.

I would only book the Mallaig ferry if you want to be on either a specific one or the last one of the day

You DO need to book the Orkney boat, tho'. You'll be fine without booking B&Bs but, again, it depends how fussy you are.



Lots of lovely places to eat on Skye at all price ranges- Duntulm, Kinloch Lodge, Cafe Arriba, Three Chimneys.

On Orkney I've always found it a bit more hit and miss, but the Foveran and the Creel would stand out

teagordon

Belatedly getting back to say thanks. We had a wonderful trip. I'm glad we didn't make reservations for the ferry to Skye because we had car trouble and ended up so late we had to go over the bridge, but the ferry to Orkney worked out fine - I had no idea it would be such a fancy ferry though! Made me wish we would be on it longer!

We took the advice not to drive too far the first day - itturned out that one of our bags got lost in Heathrow so we wasted a lot of time at the airport before we could even start our vacation. (That bag chased us all the way to Orkney, but we never saw it till we got back to Glasgow.)

Anyway we spent the first night in a B&B south of Luss, the guy who ran it was a real sweetie and recommended a restaurant just north of Luss that had the best fish and chips tea I've had. He also recommended driving to Skye via a single lane road through Glen Ochry that was stunning. Well worth the extra time.

We had two nights on Skye which wasn't enough - especially since we didn't have the half day there the first day I'd planned on and I felt we needed to leave early for Orkney. We did have a wonderful hike in the Quiraing though. Stunning scenery and a good challenge.

We drove from Skye to Orkney in one day. There was plenty of time to enjoy the bird colonies at Duncansby Head. Wow! Great scenery and we got to see a couple of pairs of nesting puffins.

We spent three nights in Orkney which was really one too many. My boys would rather have been hiking than looking at ruins. We stayed at a funny guesthouse on Kirkwall - the rooms are sort of shabby, but big and clean, the breakfasts were delicious - not the usual at all. Scrambled eggs with smoked salmon and poached eggs and cheddar on smoked haddock were our favorite choices. We had a good meal at the Creel.

We drove back to Glasgow via the Cairngorms spending the night in Aberfeldy - it's on the river Tay and we had a nice walk on the river at about ten at night. This was the one place we didn't have rooms reserved. It took quite a bit of calling at 5 pm, but we did find a perfectly nice B&B in town even though it was a Saturday night. I used roomfinder for the other days, and it worked out very well.

After that we were in Glasgow - husband went to his meeting and I had fun visiting various Macintosh buildings. The weather was marvelous except for one foggy evening and rainy morning on Orkney (when we had to take the ferry back to the mainland anyway). Never saw much of the famed midges even when we went on a couple of after dinner walks in the sheep pastures.

janisj

Thanks for coming back to tell us about your trip. (You and Greendragon have a lot in common - they spent more than 1/2 of a Scotland trip luggage-less )

Sounds like you had a great time.

hopingtotravel

Thanks for coming back with report. You had a lot of the same questions I hope to have in a few years.

Although I've spent a night in Glasgow before, I think I would be looking for a place to stay after overseas flight. While realizing I'd probably go back to the airport for car rental (not wanting to drive in Glasgow), any recommendations (in the $200 or so area) for that overnight in Glasgow anyone?

GreenDragon

Yay, luggage-less folks! Though mine was only 5 days without my bag, on a three week trip. teagordon wins

Glad you had a good time - I found that having the reservations helped a lot with us, as we were on a tight schedule on some times. Other times, it was the only ferry in the evening or the morning...

hopingtotravel

I've always wondered if the luggage actually does follow you past the first town. ?? And, does it ever catch up?

GreenDragon

It did for me. I was in Edinburgh 3 days, then Grantown for 3, then Orkney for 3. It caught up with me the 5th day - one more day, and they would have had to deliver it to Orkney!

hopingtotravel

Wow! Of course by the 5th day I probably would have felt I had to load up on Scottish tweeds and cashmeres.

GreenDragon

I was at least smart and had packed a change of clothes (outer and under) in my carry-on for just such an occurence. unfortunately, since we took three different airlines (on one ticket, though), I could never figure out what my allowances were for purchasing items. I had brought my toiletries with me, as well as all electronics.

hopingtotravel

Well, thankfully you got your luggage. Wonder if the hangup is Heathrow or Scotland. We flew home one year--Glasgow, Heathrow, then Seattle (before flying on to Anchorage). We didn't have to declare anything in customs at Seattle because are luggage didn't come with us.

Flying the reverse someday I was hoping to get away with only one night in Glasgow. It's at least encouraging to know they try to follow you with your luggage!