Help needed to pack clothes for Scottish weather
 

Heading to Fort William July 17th for a weeklong barge cruise towards Inverness. Not sure how warm or cold it will be. Goretex raingear is a no brainer, but fleece? Need to pack light for a carry on bag only. Thanks in advance.

topper

I spent 2 weeks in Scotland (Glasgow, Fort William and West Highlands, Perth area and Edinburgh). I saw rain for 1 hour the entire trip, wore a windbreaker maybe 20% of the time and t-shirts the rest of the time. Who would have believed in June the weather would be so mild and dry.

I flew Easy Jet taking just a carry-on backpack and I suspect you may be doing something similar (backpack thing). If so I would go easy on the warm clothes, do the Gore-Tex thing in case of rain and keep in mind that in the Highlands there are stores selling wool items everywhere if the need arises for warmer clothes...........then again Scotland weather is unpredictable so who knows.

Larry J

<<< Not sure how warm or cold it will be. >>>

I live in Scotland and I haven't a clue either. Yesterday was hot and muggy, today is wet and a lot cooler. Scotland has just had it's driest start to the year for about 80 years but there's no guarantee that that will continue.

So pack most things except winter clothing as it's extremely unlikely it will snow in July - though it's not unknown. Raincoat is an essential - as are probably shorts

It will be less windy where you are heading than Edinburgh but I think it is often the wind that makes people uncomfortable than the actual temperature. A Goretex raincoat is great for blocking the wind as well as keeping you dry. If you haven't gotten one yet, I suggest a knee length coat. LL Bean makes one that is light, packable but very good.

Carry one cardigan. You can use it when it is cool or roll it up and use as a pillow on the plane.

many thanks, will keep my fingers crossed for good weather. I am actually spending 3 nights in Edinburgh July 15, then train to Fort Williams to join a barge cruise for 6 nights. Then may spend a few nights in the Inverness area. It's a last mminute trip, I haven't read up enough yet.

think layers

I was just in Scotland from June 17 to 28 and enjoyed the warm weather alanRow mentioned. Saw the coolest temps one afternoon/evening with misty sprinkles, the rest of the time pretty much warm and sunny. If cloudy the temps felt cooler when the sun went behind the clouds.

I had shirts that could be worn separately or together in layers, depending on heat of the day. I brought a rain jacket from Bean's, didn't wear it much (blocking wind sometimes since there was so little rain or on the cloudy occasions mentioned).

It all depends, of course, but I would not have wanted a knee length coat, but clothing and weather needs are certainly best seen in hindsight.

Enjoy your trip. Nice to know a barge cruise exists. I wondered about that myself when we passed by the canal locks in Inverness!

http://www.gobarging.com/scottish-highlander-barge
very excited, thanks again.

Have experienced 40F with horizontal rain in Glen Coe in August. Son experienced heatwave in same area in June.

I would take the goretex, take the fleece top, skip the fleece bottoms, and make sure I had trousers that would dry quickly or goretex trousers overtrousers. And a pair of shorts. No jeans. My wife would take gloves and a scarf. You will both want hats of some sort.

All this stuff is available in Ft William at mountain shops if you don't want to take it. You can bring it home as a souvenir or leave it at a charity shop.

Count on polo shirts and such like. Shorts and long trousers- or the zip off type. One light weight fleece jersey. A Gore Tex.

The one thing you can be fairly sure of is that it won't freeze

<<< The one thing you can be fairly sure of is that it won't freeze >>>

probably.