Boveney

Of course it's only about 50 miles so we (husband, teenage son and I) have time to explore a bit. Husband's meetings end in Glasgow July 11 and we then have 5-7 days before we need to be in Edinburgh where we have already booked accomodation and festival tickets. I have read over a few pages of old threads - they are invaluable (especially sheila, janisj and Nikki's trip report) but my eyes are beginning to cross so thought I'd throw myself on mercy of the knowledgeable posters for suggestions of how best to maximize that time, keeping in mind that we are looking for beautiful coastal scenery with some opportunity for outdoor activities (eg marine wildlife boat trip). I especially like the idea of Islay/Jura / Mull - would like to base ourselves someplace where husband and son might do some cycling or sea kayakinge. But one very real concern is midges - not just the annoyance factor but because son has very reactive skin which easily gets infected. I'm also aware that August is high season and assume we need to book car ferrys as far in advance as possible. Any advice gratefully welcomed! We know Edinburgh from multiple trips there and have taken a week long drive as far north as Cromarty and years ago husband I spent time on Iona.

sheila

what? Today? (or did you mean August?)

If midges are a real problem and you don't think you can cope with just Autan or whatever, avoid the west coast.

Ignoring that concern, fly to Islay from Glasgow, hire a car and do Islay and Jura for 3 or more days. You can hire cars and kayaks.

You could also do the same on North Uist, (fly to Benbecula) and if you stay west, the midge factor will be limited.

As an alternative, you can do all the same things in Fife.

http://www.eastneukoutdoors.co.uk/

almcd

I have written several times on the merits of a day trip to the Isle of Arran from Glasgow. Look under these previous articles and you won't regret it.

almcd

You might have a hard time finding the aforementioned articles, so here goes again. To get to Arran, you catch a train from Glasgow's Cenral station. This connects with the ferry to Arran. The train takes an hour to get to Ardrossan and the ferry crossing to Brodick is 55 minutes. Buses meet the ferry there to take you round the island. There is a bicycle hire place in the village-a ten minute walk from the ferry- and you can cycle half the island and still be back in time for the afternoon boat. Better still, plan to stay overnight and do some hill walking. Bugs are not nearly such a problem on Arran as they are elsewhere. Arran is a delightful place to visit and it is said to be Scotland in miniature. If I was you, I would put it at the top of my list of places to go, especially as you seem to have been to other parts of Scotland quite often. Let me know if any more information is needed. However, I do stay some 4000km away from what was my second home!

janisj

almcd: It isn't at all hard to find your posts - here are just a few:

fodors.com/community/europe/scotland-in-week-with-kids-in-july.cfm

fodors.com/community/europe/scotland-arran-in-early-march.cfm

fodors.com/community/europe/discovering-scotland-1st-timer-in-the-uk.cfm

fodors.com/community/europe/first-trip-to-scotland-378879-2.cfm

Boveney: There are insect repellents that work OK -- but not perfectly. Sheila's idea to fly Glasgow to Islay and hire a local car for 2 or 3 days is good. But you couldn't take that car for the rest of your journey eventually on to Edinburgh.

But w/ 5-7 days to play w/ you could easily take a car from GLA to Islay and/or Mull and a couple of days in maybe Perthshire/the Trossachs (Stirling/Doune/Inchamhome + waterfalls/lochs) and drop the car at EDI.

Or even Skye/the Trossachs. Midges are a problem --but depending on the weather on the specific days you are in the area -you may not see a single one of the little buggers.

If you totally want to avoid them - you could head over to the east coast instead. Dunnottar, Fife, Isle of May etc.

Boveney

Thank you for all your replies. (And yes, I did make a mistake - this trip is in August - those July dates would be absurdly last minute, even for procrastinator me!). I have taken on board all the suggestions, have diligently used the links and searched the threads and am following with interest the current threads on Scotland posted by Trojan1 and Jennywren.

SO the upshot is, while I am almost persuaded by almcd's eloquent pitch on behalf of Arran, I have completely switched focus to the eastern coast, the Fife area. Current thinking is to head from Glasgow to the Trossachs (maybe not directly - crazy idea to come below) - we want to do the steamer/cycle tour around Loch Katrine. Then move on to East Neuk area to visit St. Andrews, Isle of May and the Secret Bunker. That last is a stop I think my teen will enjoy. In fact, the one thing that keeps the western orientation on the burner is the power plant at Cruachan - again something for my teen to balance out all the National Trust visits he has so patiently made with his aged parents in the past.

Questions: is it crazy to think about going from Glasgow up to Cruachan (19 miles east of Oban) and then heading for Trossachs? Staying two nights, then moving on to East Neuk. Crail looks lovely but am having trouble finding places with a family room (our first choice preference). Caiplie House's is booked the nights we'd need it. It sounds like Callander would be a good base for Loch Katrine but I'm having the same trouble with finding a family room. And would it be unpleasantly crowded on an August weekend, assuming we'd find room?

Sorry this is rushed and disjointed - I keep losing internet connexion (last time for 30 hours) which has made researching and replying frustrating (not to mention checking spellings - please excuse mistakes I'm sure I've made). But again, thank you for your suggestions and any comments on the way this trip is (barely) shaping up, would be very much welcomed. Cheers.

janisj

From Glasgow to Lochawe/Cruachan to Callander wouldn't be a difficult drive since you won't be dealing w/ jet lag.

From GLA to Cruachan and then back across to Callander (also look in Aberfoyle/Port of Menteith) would take about 3hours of just driving plus all the stops (Power station, Kilchurn Castle, photo ops) so plan on most of a day for the trip.

For Fife (too bad about Caiplie) also check in Anstruther and Pittenweem.

Lifeman

Try my trip report to Scotland on:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...d-354860-2.cfm

We went to Cruachan on the way to Oban. It is a long way from there back to the East Coast and there's so much to do if you go to Mull and/or Skye.

Boveney

Lifeman! Your trip report is what inspired me to try to include the Cruachan stopover - I wrote a thanks on that thread the other day before the computer crashed. Thank you,janisj for suggestions on other likely locations for finding accomodation and for providing estimates on drive times - very difficult to figure out how long ths should all take although I am checking on via michelin. Thanks so much. I wish our budget stretched to taking two separate rooms each night but a family room or triple works out much more economically.

sheila

Why don't you do the Falkirk Wheel instead of Cruachan?

Boveney

As I found the comments here so useful, I am posting some feedback - nothing fancy enough to be called a trip report though. This was a combined business/fun trip so I won't go into too much detail about certain aspects. I think it will be clear which were the expense account hotels ...Started off in the Glasgow City Centre Hilton - convenient enough, allowing us (teenage son and I) to walk everywhere with exception of bus to the West End (Kelgingrove, university, botanical garden). Very easy and very straight shot from a bus stop one street over from the hotel which amused us as when we'd asked the concierge for bus information he rather loftily replied that he hadn't taken a bus in years and directed us to the taxi rank. Most memorable eating was at Two Fat Ladies (Blythswood street), chosen purely because it was a quick walk away. (Yes, we're a bit lazy). Glasgow sights have been well covered elsewhere - just to say son and I loved the Mackintosh House at the Hunterian and were so disappointed that a change in husband's meetings meant we cut our Glasgow stay short by a day so we missed the Willow Tearooms.

Picked up a hire car and drove to Cruachan - my son was particularly interested in this: the world's first high head reversible pumped storage hydro scheme, housed in a gigantic man-made cavern. Otherwise it seemed a little crazy to drive two hours in one direction then turn around and drive almost as long again in the opposite. I'm glad we went but here's my travel tip: if at all possible, book your tour first! Cruachan turned out to be incredibly popular - we showed up just after 2 to find the first available tour was at 4. (we were unable to book in advance as husband had scheduled conference calls en route and we had no idea how long those would take.) So we examined the exhibit, had a nice snack in the pleasant tearoom, exhausted the tiny gift shop, went back to the car and read our books. The tour is only 25 minutes long and my son admitted it perhaps hadn't been entirely worth the wait but we were happy enough to accommodate this request on his part. And the drive to Cruachan was beautiful - we then hopped in the car and drove to Dunkeld - to another Hilton property.

Dunkeld: whereas the Glasgow city centre Hilton is the standard corporate high rise, the Dunkeld hotel is lovely, a very traditional Highland-type lodge which was acquired by Hilton long after the hotel had established a name for itself. It sits on the banks of the River Tay and we walked along to the ruins of the historic and haunting Dunkeld cathedral. One can then walk further into the little village of Dunkeld - very pretty with shops along the specialty boutique line rather than tourist tat. Also on the grounds of the hotel is a an activity centre: archery, quad biking, clay pigeon shooting etc. Again, it is advisable to book an activity in advance (everything was booked by the time we showed up but we hadn't had our heart set on anything in particular).

After two nights in Dunkeld we drove to our next two night stop: Crail on the Fife Coast, East Neuk. On the way we stopped at Scone Palace where my son rated the maze very highly indeed. We spent an absurd amount of time trying to find the site which is NOT in Scone. We'd booked a triple room in The Hazelton Guest House in Crail - I cannot recommend it enough. Cost was £30 each per night - we had a large light room with a view over the harbour, three separate beds in a row which sounds a bit dorm-like but it wasn't at all. Lots of space for us and our three huge suitcases plus three chairs, TV, sink in the room. Our ensuite bathroom (shower) was also spacious and the hot water pressure was far superior to the Dunkeld Hilton's! Spotlessly clean, an 18th century merchant's house - no noise from the other guests though it was fully booked. The owners were friendly and helpful without being obtrusive at all- they pointed us to a short circular walk which we did that evening - down by the beach and harbour. Breakfast was a high point - my husband had the full Scottish each morning but I chose the fish option: smoked salmon on creamy scrambled eggs on a muffin with a little roast tomato on the side. Again, much better than the institutional buffets at the Hiltons.

Crail was a good base for exploring this corner of Fife. The only drawback was lack of choice for dinner in the evening - this wouldn't have been a problem if we'd wanted to drive down the road but instead each night we crossed the street and ate at the restaurant in the Golf Hotel - good plain seafood, delicous desserts. The second night we tried to book dinner at the Caiplie House, another B&B but it was fully booked. In fact that night we had trouble getting into the Golf Hotel diningroom (that sounds wrong - atmosphere is much more like a family pub) and saw one group of tourists being turned away. With a little planning (our weak spot obviously), a reservation at the Caiplie would have been a good idea. The menu that night featured lobster. (also available fresh off the boats in Crail harbour).

Our big expedition the next day was a boat trip to the Isle of May - this we DID book in advance but the boat takes about 100 so I'm not sure it was strictly necessary. There are also RIB (rigid inflatable boat) trips and those only hold about 10 people so booking in advance is advisable for those. The trip totals about 4 hours and although my husband had moaned that that would kill the whole day, in fact we fit in both a visit to the arts festival in Pittenweem and tour of Kellie Castle and Garden first.
Am getting nervous about the length of this (is it turning into a trip report?!) and I have a poor record of losing stuff so will post this and then continue on.

Boveney

So: Pitenweem, Kellie and Isle of May all in one day and it wasn't rushed at all. The art festival was fun in that many venues were actually private homes and it was fascinating to go into a little cottage and discover that behind high walls were beautiful gardens or that a plain warehouse looking facade hid a huge light filled loft. We got to Kellie an hour before the house actually opened so read the paper in the incredible walled garden - we had amazing weather. My husband had to buy a hat to prevent sunburn. Kellie was perhaps our favourite historic house/castle - although so romantic from the outside, the roomos though beautiful are very homey and include a nursery at the top of the tower complete with heaps of toys.

The Isle of May trip seemed to pass in a flash. The schedule varies with the tide - that day the boat left at 2. I noticed that the next day's departure was at 10:15. Although the 40,000 puffins had left the isle a fortnight before, there were plenty of birds and seals to marvel at. . We'd worried that two hours on the island seemed a bit long but in fact we thoroughly enjoyed the time spent exploring the trails. And although the boat was full, people dispersed very quickly and one could almost imagine one was alone on the island.

Next day we were heading for Edinburgh and the Fringe but we went via St. Andrews and also stopped at Falkland Palace. Had a terrible time finding the Hertz office in Edinburgh due to road closures caused both by the Festival and the laying of the tram lines. Another Hilton - this time the Caledonian which was superb. Best thing was the view of the castle from the rooms (and even from the loo). Also spotting all the celebrities at breakfast the next morning - not talking Brangelina here but rather well known faces off the BBC. This was our third visit to the Fringe and if you have any interest at all in theatre/music/performanc/arts/book GO! One memorable day we saw five performances starting with a radical reinterpretation of Dracula at midnight and including a free stand up at noon, back to back Soweto Gospel Choir concert and a Korean beat box/martial arts comedy, an Iranian comic, pre-West End production of Five Guys Named Moe starring The Wire actor Clarke Peters, an immersive theatre piece which was both terrifying and exhilarating (101) etc etc etc.

Oh and finally, I'd booked dinner at The Witchery. I'd read all of the comments here and knew a lot of people think it is over priced/over hyped. It is over priced but the dining room was beautiful, the food was great and for a special occasion blow out meal we all enjoyed it. We might have loaded up on the breakfast buffet and skipped lunch a few days to afford it but we thought it well worth it.

Final thought: we were struck by how few American tourists there were in East Neuk. Everywhere else was crawling with them but not there. Lots of people from the continent (Spanish, Italians, French in particular) but no Americans. Not complaining! Just wondering. Husband thought it's because that Coast doesn't have the splendid drama of Highland type scenery - it is all very pretty but then there are many pretty fishing villages where we live (England). The Fife villages though were quite unspoiled and I definitely recommend them for a gentle change of pace.

And finally, finally forgot to say that on our way to Crail we stopped at Scotland's Secret Bunker which

Boveney

I hit 'submit' by mistake. I meant to say, which 17 year old son and husband thought a great deal of fun. Must be a guy thing.

janisj

"<i>nothing fancy enough to be called a trip report though. </i>"

Great "Non-trip report" trip report

I'm really not surprised re the lack of American visitors in Fife. From the threads on here - a lot have heard of/are interested in Edinburgh/Loch Ness/Skye (the Tartan Triangle) and not too much else. That is until after they get feedback here.

When I give my travel programs, it is really mostly only the golf-types who initially have even heard of Fife.

You stayed in some great places. I've stayed at Caiplie 4 times (over a span of 20+ years and 3 different owners) and one constant has always been the wonderful food. But it doesn't have the wonderful views at the Hazelton so you picked well.

Too bad this isn't tagged a trip report - it may get lost in the shuffle. (psst - don't tell anyone --but you <i>could</i> Copy/paste your 'trip report' entries into a new thread tagged as a TR

just sayin'

Boveney

Thank you, janisj, for your kind comments about my ramblings! I don't think I'm up to copy and pasting though; it's a wonder I managed what I did. Forgot to say that from Dunkeld we visited the Dewars distillery which was fun, also had a great meal at the Inn on the Tay, overlooking the river, watching the white water rafters struggle against the current.

janisj

OK - How about some collusion here?? (if you care to)

You start a new thread tagged a trip report and make your first post something like "Thanks to everyone who helped us plan our trip, it was great. I'm going to post my trip report here." (or something like that)

And then I can copy/paste your two long posts into that thread. It would only take me a couple of minutes to do both of them.

That way - it will show up as your TR instead of mine.

Boveney

I did as you suggested (I hope). Thank you!