I am planning our family's vacation to Scotland, early June, and have heard about Kilconquhar Castle. I am confused. Is it only a timeshare or can anyone call up for reservations? Also, I need help planning our holiday - can anyone suggest a great place to start?? We are a family of 4, the kids are 9 and 11. My thought was to fly (from Canada) to Edinburgh, stay a couple of days then head to Kilconquhar Castle for a week and take in St. Andrews, Inverness, Peebles East Neuk etc. Then head back to Edinburgh to Glasgow (my birthplace) stay a day or two then home.
All help is appreciated!
Regards, Lorraine

Kilconquhar is a time share resort - but like most such places it also rents units to the general public. It is an amazing place - especially if you get one of the flats in the main bldg. It is a great location for exploring all of Fife, and a bit farher like Glamis Castle, Dunnottar, Stirling and Perth.

But it is NOT a good base for places as far away as Inverness or Peebles.

How many days total are you considering - it looks like about 11-12? w/ 2 full weeks you could do Peebles/the Borders as a day or overnight from Edinburgh. Inverness is really not a "must" - just famous, not special in any way.

&quot;<i>can anyone suggest a great place to start??</i> - Yes - first get a good map of Scotland and see how far apart some of those places are.

A sample Itinerary might look something like

3 nights in Edinburgh w/ one day trip down into the Borders.

7 nights at Kilconquhar exploring Fife, the east coast, Maybe a bit of the Castle trail up near Aberdeen, Perth, Stirling, etc.

2 days in Glasgow and then home.

Any add'l days could be added between Kilconquhar and Glasgow where you could go farther north or west.

Sold! Sounds fabulous to me! Inverness is only on the list because of the kids ... will try to fit it in somehow. Do you think Skye is manageable? Now that I think of it ... Peebles isn't on my hit list ... it's Pittenweem (sp)which I believe is close to St. Andrews. I remember Pittenweem from my childhood visit, many moons ago, as being the place where the beach was completely covered in shells!!
Thanks so much for the info. Lorraine

Skye is on the other side of the country, and unless you want to take a couple days to do it (most of one day will be traveling to it, and most of one day traveling to Glasgow from it) then I would leave it for another trip.

OK - Pittenweem makes MUCH more sense

There is a string of fishing villages along the Fife coast Crail, Anstruther, Pittenweem etc. All have their charm and all are a very short drive from each other and from Kilconquhar. Crail has the ptreeiets harbor, Anstruther has the very interesting fisheries museum and boat trips out to the Isle of May, Pittenweem is still a working fishing harbor.

As GreenDragon says - Skye is all the way across the country. If you can add another 2 or 3 days to your itinerary you could certainly fit in 2 nights on Skye before heading down to Glasgow. But there are amazing places all along the east coast too . . . . .

Is there a beach near St. Andrews or Kilconquhar Castle that is good for walking and looking for shells? We are staying at Kilconquhar and our kids love to look for neat shells.

There are beaches everywhere around the coast of Fife. The biggie of course is the West Sands in St Andrews (the one where they filmed the famous Chariots of Fire sequences)

But you will fine lots of beaches.

Hello Oakville,

I was in Fife this year as part of a 10 day tour of Scotland. I would recommend a visit to the beach at Elie, eating in St Monans at the Seafood Restaurant (expensive for dinner, but lunch is reasonable), Crail is very pretty and when you visit St. Andrews be sure to climb St Rule's Tower at the cathedral (stunning views!).

I guess, like you, I spent a lot of time trying to research the trip on the internet. Eventually I found a website called &quot;Secret-Scotland&quot; where I bought a tour itinerary plan that visited Edinburgh, Fife, Deeside, Spey Valley, Inverness, Skye, Oban and Glasgow. I got all the tips mentioned above from their guide.

I noticed that they also do Customised Tour Itineraries with recommended accommodation. This might be a better option to help you plan your trip.

Bon voyage! J-N

IMHO, an organized tour of Scotland is totally un-necessary. Why pay someone to plan your route when it is so easy to do on one's own. Fodors has more collective knowledge for free than any ten for-pay agencies

(Disclaimer: I do plan trips for pay but only as a last resort if my clients just can't cope)

The great walking beach in Fife is Tentsmuir.

I thought the same as you JanisJ and spent a lot of hours on the Fodors website trying to plan a tour itinerary, but for ~&pound;10 the level of detail in the Secret Scotland itinerary was excellent value and helped me get much more from my trip than I could have found on my own. Things like the &quot;Fairy Glen&quot; on Skye or the little tearoom at Loch Hourn would never have been known about without it. It also helped me to schedule my days and pick the best routes between places.

IMHO... it was the best solution for me as a first time visitor to Scotland.

just one of your examples - The fairy glen is very well known and is not an &quot;inside secret&quot; by any means. It is often mentioned here on Fodors.

But if you only paid &pound;10 - no harm, no foul . . . . . .

I think one of the problems is that people do have a habit of saying things like &quot;I've got 10 days/ 3 days in Scotland. I really want to go to Skye, and {insert location of choice]. We love scenery and good food. Where else should we go?&quot;

I can't think of EVER mentioning the Fairy Glen, becuase it's so rare anyone wants to go north east of Inverness, and if they do, they want to get to the Orkney Ferry.

Is there anything else we might help you with, Oakville or JeanNoel?

Sheila - I don't think JeanNoel meant the bird sanctuary Fairy Glen on the Black Isle (nor the one in Wales) but the one on Skye near Uig. It is mentioned in most every guide book.

I've been to all three and all are beautiful - but few tourists (or tour companies for that matter) will know about the RSPB one.

Hi, yes Janis, it was the Fairy Glen on Skye that I visited. It probably is in a lot of guidebooks, but I can't say it featured in any of the French ones that I have seen.

Sheila, I wasn't suggesting that it was something that Oakville would want to make a main point of seeing. I was just using it to illustrate how helpful I'd found the guide from Secret Scotland.

Sure. I guess I'm agreeing with you.

i've been to the Fiary Glen on Skye, too. I think my eyes read &quot;or&quot; instead of &quot;on&quot;

You are all fabulous! I am intrigued with Kilconquhar and the fact that you can hire a driver ... so really, no need for a car. That is, if I can get a booking there. If I can't, could you suggest an equally interesting place to stay? Perhaps in East Neuk? Thanks so much! Lorraine

East Neuk isn't a &quot;place&quot; - it is the general coast and a bit inland part of Fife along the Firth of Forth - so would include all the fishing villages, Kilconquhar, etc.

There are many self-catering cottages in this area that can be rented by the week.

here are just a few examples:

http://www.crailholidaycottages.co.u...iewcottage.cfm
www.naamara.com/
www.abbeywall.co.uk/