Leaving tonight for Scotland
 

As I finish up my packing for a week of touring, I got to thinking about the weather and any clothing requirements. First the weather: Should I assume wet? And if wet, torrential downpours? This will require extra shoes and socks. Then the requirements: In moderate restaurants, in the evening, can I wear clothing that I might have worn during the day or do I need to dress up more? Are skirts required in most restaurants? Does my husband need a sports jacket? Again, I'm not looking for "foo foo" restaurants - just local places.
Thank you

We just returned from Scotland last week. We did pack for the possibility of rain, and we were not sorry. Specifically, we took waterproof jackets, hats, umbrellas and shoes that would withstand some water.

I wouldn't pack shoes just for rain, but rather, based on what type of touring you will be doing. We did a lot of walking -- up and down hills and steps around Edinburgh; through sheep pastures while looking at the sites in Kilmartin Glen; up the side of the mountain on Skye. Many of the castles and palaces have extensive gardens with gravel or dirt paths that can get a little muddy. That said, I did the whole trip on two pairs of shoes -- the day hikers and one pair of black flats that was a little dressier. I did take sandals, but they only came out for one dinner in the hotel, as they weren't practical for most of the walking we did and it was too cold.

There were a few torrential downpours, but we were generally lucky to encounter them when we were driving, not walking. Some days, the rain showers passed pretty quickly. Some days, they lingered most of the day.

As far as clothes, we ate ate at mostly moderate restaurants and were able to wear whatever we had on for the day. I didn't take a skirt on the trip, and my husband did not take a jacket. For the nicest places, we wore khakis or dark pants and decent sweaters and never felt out of place.

Have fun. We really enjoyed Scotland.

We just got back a week ago (search for our trip report if you haven't already). Ms. Go might offer better advice than mine re: evening fashions & footwear, but these are my general observations:

If I had to do it again, I would have packed fewer short-sleeve shirts and at least one more sweater or sweatshirt.

Bring a rain jacket and hat everywhere. The weather changes every 5 minutes, and there's nothing you can do to anticipate it.

Edinburgh is somewhat sophisticated, but the rest of the country (that we saw, anyway) was delightfully casual about dress.

Have a great time!

Ha! Looks we we both posted at the same time.

Mr. & Ms. Go,

Thank you so much for the help. How do I get to read your trip report?

Why, right here:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...amp;dirtyBit=1

Enjoy!

Ooops, I'm not sure that worked correctly. Just type "sunny Scotland" in the search field above.

Here is the correct link:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...een_name=ms_go

Just in case you haven't left... I think the weather may be on the turn. It didn't rain all day, and was positively warm and sunny.

Which, by comparison with the last 6 weeks, is close to a miracle

SHEILA AND MS_GO and others -

I've had trouble finding the various threads I've written on earlier, so happy to see this.

We (my husband, myself and our 18 year old daughter) are now down to our final plans and packing. We leave in one week!!!

Happy to report that we now have all accommodations and travel arrangements finalized. We DID find a B&B in Edinburgh and without having to break the bank, just a small crack!

Our 16 day itinerary for England and Scotland is now set:

day 1 - arrive in London and spend 5 days there.
day 6 - take the train to Stratford - on - Avon. We have tickets for Shakespeare theatre and will stay overnight.
day 7 - take train to Oxford. We will be staying at the University in one of the dorms. My daughter made this arrangement since she has her eye on studying at Oxford in a few years (as junior year abroad from her college).
day 8 - train back to London and return to our hotel for another night. A last chance to do all the sightseeing we wished we had done earlier!
day 9 - take the fast train (5 hours) to Glasgow. Pick up our car and drive to our first Inn just south of Fort William.
day 10 - spend the day hiking in fort william and sight seeing in the area.
day 11 - take the Jacobite train - something our daughter really wanted to do. (Actually, my husband as well.) We will drive to Skye in the evening.
day 12 - spend the day exploring Skye.
day 13 - drive north to Inverness area and have a tour at my husband's family "castle"
day 14 - spend the day driving down to Edinburgh and spend two full days and three nights.
day 17 - to Edinburgh Airport to begin our journey back home.

Our time in Scotland wil be a lot of driving, but we will also have time for exploring.

Any thoughts on not-to-miss-places to see in the areas we'll be? What we like - in London history, theatre, day trip to Cambridge, etc. In Scotland - the castles, scenery, etc.

Any thoughts on restaurants - we'd like "reasonably" priced places. Reasonably meaning on the low end of possiblites.

Any thoughts on special passes, reservations, etc. needed for site seeing? I've read about the heritage pass.

Thank you in advance for all the information.

P.S. TO EARLIER REPLY

Any thoughts on packing for our 16 day trip to London and Scotland regarding weather, versatile items, and general packing tips????