flygirl

Good morning

I'm heading to Scotland next week and am poking around seeing what to do with my time there. Some of the trip is already sorted, I'll be hiking with some friends and visit a distillery or two.

I will be going to Edinburgh for a few days after the hiking and while I'm there hope to see some Puffins nearby and I believe there are UNESCO sites near enough to Edinburgh to visit.

I will probably have two days and one night after Edinburgh to wend my way back to Aberdeen.

I recently saw photos of this Viaduct on Instagram. No, I haven't seen Harry Potter movies, any of them.

If I make a trek here from Edinburgh one day, then the next day head along to Aberdeen... I'm sure to see some gorgeous country and it would be a nice drive each day.

Has anyone visited here? What else did you do or see in the general location?

thanks for any thoughts.

flygirl

I should have put this in the title I hope someone sees this - or I can start a new thread:

Would there be good distilleries along my proposed path - Edinburgh to Fort William and then on to Aberdeen the next day? Or any worth a detour?

thanks

elberko

JanisJ will be able to give you better advice, but Glennfinnan seems pretty far out of your way. If it were me, I'd go here on the way between Edinburgh and Aberdeen:
http://www.dunnottarcastle.co.uk

flygirl

Whoa. Gorgeous! Thank you!

Just poking around for ideas right now. I saw a photo of the Viaduct and thought it was gorgeous and I like driving in the countryside. Lots of puttering.

It's all going to be beautiful!

janisj

are you driving or trying via public transport?

But either way - Glenfinan really doesn't make sense for this. As elberko says there is plenty of dramatic scenery/sites between Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

Dunnottar would be a MUST.

There the Fife fishing villages - Crail, http://www.britainexpress.com/images...Crail-3238.jpg

Anstruther (where you catch the boat to see the puffins) http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.u...footer-450.jpg

Pittenweem. http://i1.trekearth.com/photos/48186/img_2483a.jpg

Glamis Castle http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Gani...astle.jpg.html

Edzell Castle, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...ell_Castle.jpg

Stonehaven (next door to Dunnottar) http://www.coolplaces.co.uk/system/i...ages-large.jpg

gailscout

Glenfinnan is way out of your way, though you did mention you were going to Fort William and then Aberdeen. Driving along the roads takes longer than anticipated and I suggest, like Janis and elberko, that you head towards Aberdeen from Edinburgh. We stopped in Stonehaven for a few nights and included Dunnottar - which is fantastic!

Glenfinnan can be saved for a future trip to Skye. At Glenfinnan, you can take a short hike to a outcrop of rocks - the 360 view with the viaduct on one side and Loch Shiel with the Glenfinnan monument to the Jacobite uprising on the other is stunning.

janisj

>though you did mention you were going to Fort William and then Aberdeenthink (hope) that was just because it is on the way to Glenfinnan.

Go NE basically straight up to Aberdeen (seeing as many of the places as you can that we've linked) -- not all the way across the country to Ft William/Glenfinnan and all the way back across the country to Aberdeen.

flygirl

Wow! Fantastic!

Hugging the coast would definitely be easier and those are stunning photos. Not enough time. Again.

ESW

Don't forget St Andrews either with its ruined castle (don't miss the mine and countermine) and ruined cathedral.
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.u...ews/standrews/

Dunnottar Castle is also magnificent.
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.u...nnottarcastle/

flygirl

Visited Dunnottar yesterday... gorgeous. And what a nice day for it too.

elberko

Glad it worked out for you! Have you done the puffin part of your trip yet?

docdan

So sorry I am late chiming in on this thread. My daughters were HP addicts so our trip to Scotland revolved around the viaduct. 1/2 of posters to Fodors suggest doing the train (we did that) and 1/2 suggest hiking to the viaduct and watching the train steam past (a more time and cost effective option, but then you miss other nice parts of the ride) EVERYONE, however, agrees it is too difficult to get to if you are not heading in the direction of the West Isles, Great Glen or Glen Coe, and it doesn't sound like that is in your plans, so I agree it was a smart decision if you dropped trying to see it.
If not too late, the town of Dufftown is a 90 min ride away from Aberdeen, home of several distilleries, esp. Glenfiddich, as well as the Dufftown Whisky Heritage Center.

Do publish your trip report. Here is mine, so you can check out what you missed! http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...tlandwales.cfm

flygirl

Hi docdan! thank you! Will come back later with a report - a new thread, though.

elberko, I am home. Sadly no puffins, while there are a few here and there it was too late for most of them and as a result the seabird center did not have daily trips, they only had weekend boat trips and I was back in Aberdeen the weekend.

I am going to see if I can swing a trip in June, perhaps next year. Or another puffin place? Iceland?