First trip to Scotland
 

I will be traveling with my family (six total) to Scotland for 2 weeks in 2002. We are thinking of a self-catering and day trips. My question is where would be the best location for a home-base and what are the best areas to visit? I would like to spend a week sightseeing and then a week relaxing and getting to know the locals. My son is a Medievil buff and plans to major in Medievil History in collage, so castles are a must. Any help would be great. Thanks <BR> <BR>Barbara S.

With the amount of time you have for planning, I would suggest buying guide books - I like Insight Guides - I am a sucker for their pictures and maps. Get a good map, they mark the castles on them, and search the internet. I have been to Scotland 4 times with the 5th trip in August, and there is still a lot I want to see. Fortunately I get there at least once a year to visit family. <BR> <BR>For central location in the highlands I would recommend Oban area or Ft. William, and time in Edinburgh. Where ever you stay - you will meet local people - the Scottish are very friendly. <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>

Three of my favorite sights in Scotland were Edinburugh Castle, where you can see the Royal Honors; Dunnottar Castle near Stonehaven, where the Honors were held during a siege by Oliver Cromwell, and also where part of the Mel Gibson "Hamlet" was filmed; and the battlefield at Culloden Moor, where Bonnie Prince Charlie's forces met their final defeat.

Barbara <BR> <BR>Given the very bare bones you give us, my suggestion would be that you base your selves in Edinburgh for the first week, giving yourselves access to the Borders, Edinburgh, Stirling, Glasgow, Perth and Fife for day or shorter trips; <BR> <BR>followed by a week in a small town with easy access. I've recently started recommending Dunkeld for ease of access to the west coast, the Highlands, and the more urban areas. <BR> <BR>Alternatives would include Oban, Dornoch, or one of the islands- given your son's interest inmediaeval history, Islay springs to mind. It was the headquarters of the Lords of the Isles and has links to our Viking past too. It also has splendid scenery, excellent whisky, plenty of amenities but is still culturally quite intact. <BR> <BR>Please feel free to revert for further information or advice

You are right to go the fixed base/self catering route. I recommend a week in Callendar (near Stirling) at the Leny Lodge. We stayed their last year and it was great. I found it from one of the Scotland web sites (I forget which one) I also once ran a list of self catering and there were tons of them from as low as 100 pounds per week. <BR> <BR>Castles I visited were Stirling, Edingburgh, Doune, Campbell, Threave,a nd Caervelock. All intersting - Threave was my favorite

Can I put in a good word for St Andrews? Although most well known these days as the "home of golf", St Andrews was the focal point of political, religious and academic life in Scotland for much of the medieval period. <BR> <BR>Historic sites to see today include the Castle (which includes a small museum of medieval life), the famous cathedral ruins (climb St Rules Tower for wonderful views of the town and countryside), St Andrews University (beautiful and very atmospheric old college buildings). <BR> <BR>Of course, there's also the golf courses (and golf museum), long sandy beach (as featured in the movie "Chariots of Fire") and Sealife Centre. <BR> <BR>It's easy to visit St Andrews as a day trip north from Edinburgh or stay over and enjoy the excellent pubs and restaurants in the evening.

May I suggest my own home region of The Scottish Borders. Beautiful rolling countryside, 4 historic abbeys - Melrose, Jedburgh, Kelso and my favourite, Dryburgh. Lots of pretty towns and villages, friendly locals reasonably priced accommodation. Just writing this is making me homesick! Have a good trip!

<BR>If you look in "the Internet guide to Scotland": http://www.scotland-inverness.co.uk/scotland.htm <BR>you will find a link to professionally guided castle tours near the bottom.The main site has plently of self-catering listings & links to many other pages. <BR>Self-catering can be a very good deal - some of the houses are incredible.Don't judge by price.

Having just returned from Scotland, the best internet site I used to plan our accommodations was Scotland2000.co.uk. It had both self-catering and lengthy-stay B&Bs. The internet guide cited here is great too.

Hi Barbara, <BR> <BR>Take a look at: <BR>http://www.hotelsandflights.com/scotland.html which has some suggestions. My favourite places in Scotland are Edinburgh; Glencoe (and most of the Highlands); the Isle of Skye; Plockton (gorgeous little village); Torridon and Orkney (particularly Stromness). I would avoid Inverness and Fort William (nothing wrong with them, but there are nicer places). <BR> <BR>The book 'Scotland the Best' is also good for suggestions and ideas. It is online at: http://www.famousgrouse.com/frameset_js.html <BR> <BR>Hope this helps! <BR> <BR>Mark. <BR> <BR>Mark Southgate. <BR>www.OneClickTravel.com <BR>-----------------------&gt;

I second the vote for Callander. <BR> <BR>We were there late last fall and planned on staying in Callander only a couple of days.....ended up staying a week. It was centrally located. Callander is equidistant to Glasgow and Edinburgh and close to the train. It was a hop, skip and jump to Stirling...very close to Doune Castle. Even did a day trip around Loch Lomond. It is a beautiful location. The town is wonderfully small with good restaurants. <BR> <BR>We had so much fun on our first trip to Scotland that we decided immediately to go back again as soon as we could manage. <BR> <BR>Enjoy!