Sister and I are traveling for the first time to Scotland in June 2001, and this may be our only visit. We want to see Blantyre (where our great-grandfather Weir was born) and perhaps do some light family-tree research. We're interested in sight-seeing: historical areas and current culture. Unsure if we want to try driving on the "other side of the road." Does one recommend we stay in one city, or split the nights (about 10)? Is it easy to also see a little of Ireland, Wales, and London? <BR> <BR>Should we book through a travel agent or do it on our own? If so, please recommend hotels/B&Bs with en suite facilities and airports. <BR> <BR>THANKS!!

Definately do not spend all the time in one place. My preference is Edinburgh over Glasgow but... no trip to Scotland is complete without heading to the highlands. You can use the train if you don't want to drive, but driving allows you to go onto small roads which can be delightful. <BR> <BR>I would recommend planning on your own - plug names of towns or Scotland into your search engine and see what beautiful sites await you. It is really a lot of fun finding destinations then going to see them. The anticipation is great. <BR> <BR>Do a search on this site for B&Bs and such, lots of info here, and buy a travel book to get ideas on what you can see. <BR> <BR>Traveling to other locations depends on how you plan to arrive and leave from Scotland.

Edinburgh is a great city. Plenty to see and do around the area. <BR> <BR>If you drive: Pay extra and get an automatic transmission. Most rentals in Europe are 5 speed, but you can request automatic. It is just one less thing to hassle with while driving on the left. I got used to the driving about day 3 and was very glad I did the auto trans. Shifting with your left hand and pulling the gears in to yor body feels funnier than driving on the left! But your own car really lets you explore much better into the small fun towns. If you don't mind driving you can see a lot as it is a pretty small area to cover compared to the U.S.

If you're planning a jaunt to the Highlands then I would tend to leave Ireland, London and Wales for another time. Or at least drop one or two of them. <BR> <BR>Try the cities AND the countryside. Not sure about current culture - plenty of it about,Diane, it's whether you wish to view it that's the question. <BR> <BR>As for B&B's with airports - that's a tough one! You're realistically looking at either Edinburgh or more probably Glasgow airport to fly into. <BR> <BR>If you're confident doing it on your own then do it - it's more fun. If not so conf. then do it through a travel agent.

Blantryre is about 10 miles south of Glasgow, fairly frequent trains from Glasgow Central station. <BR>Was a coalmining village in your great grandfathers time, now on the edge of the Glasgow/Lanarkshire conurbation. <BR>Not much there: main item of interest is the David Livingstone memorial park, well worth a visit.

Edinburgh is better for the toy-town touristy stuff - Glasgows better for pubs and clubs etc. If youre young enough to want to paint the town red choose Glasgow.

Diane <BR> <BR>There is no question, I am voting for Edinborough. And here is a web site of the B&B we stayed at there, a wonderful place: <BR> <BR>http://www.laudervilleguesthouse.co.uk/ <BR> <BR>As to "a little of Ireland, Wales, and London?" darling, this is Europe, true, much much smaller than USA, but still, many many miles away. London is about a 5-6 hrs. train ride from Edinborough. And you don't go to London for a half day. So is Ireland, or Wales. <BR> <BR>AMIK.

... But of course, Edinburgh, not Edinborough, stupid me. Sorry. <BR>AMIK.

Diane, though I don't claim to be any kind of an expert on Scotland, I would tend to agree that for historical and touresty types of things Edinborough would be better, when my husband and I went to Glasgow it seemed very much a college age party town, that I would have loved to visit in my 20's. Unfortunately we weren't able to stay long enough to probe beyond our first impression. Another place we really enjoyed was Stirling castle and the battlefields surrounding it, very profound and full of history.

Hi Diane, We did a 13 night trip in June. It was wonderful. We started in London(4 days).Then we rented an automatic(I drove, my husband had trouble with the left). I loved driving--no problem at all. We drove to Stonehenge, through the Cotswalds, one night in Stratford on Avon,up to Haworth(beautiful!)--stayed for one night, on to Edinburgh(drove along the North Sea) where we stayed for 3 nights, then on to the Highlands(absolutely wonderful) where we stayed for 2 nights(Loch Ness). Then we took a train from Inverness to London(about 8 hours) and went by taxi to Windsor for a one night stay. We had a great time--didn't feel rushed at all. Email me if you need more info. Have fun!!!!

Dear Diane, Just got back from 20 days in Glasgow. I'm going back to live there for 6 months. Visited Edinburgh too but found one day there was enough for me. Felt to "cute" too touristy in general. In Edinburgh the National museaum is wonderful. Highly recommend you stop for Cream tea ( scones and tea with Cream for the scones) In Clarinda's on your left a few blocks down from the castle. Glasgow has a wonderful public transport train system and underground. Great museaums etc and shops. I love the people of Glasgow and found them down to earth. Miss Cranston's tea room upstairs at 33 Gordon street I would also highly recommend. I stayed at Lochgilvie house a b and b on randolphe rd and it was just a block from the train station. Visit Central Station just for the lovliness of it. You can pop down to Edinburgh in 45 mins for 7.50 pounds return/roundtrip ( reserve your seat if you can as it gets busy on the return) Hope this helps. No offense to the Edinburgh fans, I hope to learn to love it on my 6 months stay but for now, my heart is in Glasgow. Sincerely, Susan

Diane<BR><BR>You can do what you want to by train reasonably easily (except possibly for the Highland bit) If you want to do it all in Scotland I'd be inclined to suggest 3 days in Glasgow including one for a day trip to Blantyre; two days in Edinburgh and a 5 day tour of the Highlands. If you fly in and out of Glasgow you could do 2 days at the start and one at the end. There is a very good public transport between Glasgow City Centre and the airport and much more affordable accommodation thereabouts.<BR><BR>If this appeals come back to us and we can help you plan a bit more.<BR><BR>Scotlandbound, if you would like some help with seeing some of Scotland outside the Central belt during your stay please feel free to e-mail me.

Diane: <BR>I just returned from 17 days in Edinburgh with my children. We were primarily visiting my family and also did a lot of tourist things as my kids had not been there before. I did have a rental car and found that the most "shocking" thing was the narrowness of the streets! I had an automatic Ford Mondeo from Hertz. It did not cost any more than a stick shift. It was very convenient to have a car for trips outside the town, and to get to my relatives' homes from our hotel, but in the city you would walk mostly or use public transportation or cabs(in the rain, snow or at night!)I found that I walked so much more there than I do at home that, despite eating much more (those "full Scottish breakfasts" and lunches and great dinners!) I have actually lost weight! In other threads I noticed that baked beans were one of the breakfast items. Well, I'm sorry to say I couldn't believe it. I do now! One of my 14yr old son's greatest joys was watching my face each morning as he mixed his scrambled eggs and baked beans together.(Hint: do not look at this particular mixture if you have had a little too much to drink the night before!) <BR>As someone else has said, it is a small country, but the roads are not freeways as in the US so driving takes more time. I would suggest using the AA (Automobile Association) web site for routes and approximate driving time. I found it to be quite accurate. The address is www.theaa.com. You will also find info about all kinds of places to stay and restaurants throughout Scotland on that site. <BR>I hope you have a wonderful time.

Have fun in Scotland. Getting there - You are realistically looking at flying in somewhere else, unless you're departing from somewhere in Europe. When looking for a place to land in Europe, try London Gatwick, London Heathrow. And even Amsterdam Holland. Manchester in England might be good, too. <BR> <BR>You've had warnings about driving in the U.K. Most are more to do with driving a manual transmission versus automatic. If you are used to manual, no problem, otherwise you will pay a little more in general because price also equates to size of vehicle and automatic is only found on larger vehicles. <BR> <BR>Left versus right side of road. No big deal. It's all the same, just the other way around - yes the pedals are in the same sequence regardless of the side thew steering wheel is on. Just think before you get in the car and remember to start on the correct side of the road - no problem. You will find a tendancy to drive too close to the edge of road since you're tendancy is to position yourself right of the center of the road. It's no big deal just think - and if you're from the States - don't try turning on any red light. <BR> <BR>Split your time across several cities and also rent the car so you can get out and explore. Edinburgh definately over Glasgow - have lived in both. <BR> <BR>If you are thinking of June due to weather - you don't go to UK for wether and the way air fares are going right now, there is a big difference in coat high to low season. The down side of off peak travel is not so much weather but hours of daylight - especially in the North. !0:30 PM is light in the North in Summer, 4:00Pm is dark in Winter. <BR> <BR>You can find all you need to about places to visit in guide books and web sites - I hope this helps a little with more practicle info - whoops forgot to say that flights from Amsterdam to Edinburgh are cheaper and easier in some cases than London to Edinburgh - check out Easyjet.com - buy on line - no frills very cheap, but it's a short flight. e- mail me if this has been helpful and let me know of any other questions.

You can now fly direct from the eastern seaboard to Glasgow. <BR> <BR>You can fly from Washington's other airport (the one in Delaware?), Boston, Newark etc.