Our family will be traveling to the UK next summer and plan to spend a few days in Scotland touring through Glasgow, Loch Ness, Sterling and Edinburgh.

We have 4 children and as a result our options are either using a minivan or traveling by train between locations.

How practical is driving by minivan on the roads in these areas? I won't be use to driving on the left side as well as any concerns on driving on narrow roads and navigating roundabouts

Roundabouts are fine... but the roads ARE narrow, even if you stick to the N roads (stands for National, I think), and stay off the Locals and Regionals...

However, the minivans in Ireland tend to run small, and there are a great deal of them there for mail delivery, repair companies, etc.

When you get the minivan, practice some driving around the area first, before you dive into the traffic. If you are picking it up in the city, this won't be easy, but it is smart

I have huge problems with the terminology here. I KNOW that minivan is not what I think of as a minivan (ie a mini with a van back) but I'm never certain if it's a people carrier or a mini bus or what...

Tour buses use these roads, so whatever it is it shouldn't be a problem

N roads are in France. A roads are in the UK. We still have one A road with single track bits

Sheila, a minivan is the same as a people carrier.

taxman, lots of people in Scotland have minivans these days, so it can be done.

Last year we rented (from Dan Dooley) a minivan (there called a people carrier) a Ford Galaxy. We loved the room, and also being up higher made sightseeing much easier. You have to be careful on the narrow roads, but we got through without a dent or scratch. It should meet your needs.

In UK, there are two types of what Americans call mini-vans. Full size MPV (multi-purpose vehicle) like Ford Galaxy and VW Sharan, and mini MPV like Vauxhall Zafira and the new VW Touran. Both types seat 7 people, but the compact overall size of mini MPV makes them easier to drive on narrow, twisting roads in Scotland. You may like to bear this in mind when renting your car. Zafira is quite common in rental fleets.

I'm just curious - nothing to do with minivans/people carriers but, for the umpteenth time in this forum, I note that taxman refers to a town called 'Sterling'??.
I've seen this so often it can't be a spelling mistake -are there maps in the US with a Scottish town of this name? (the town been called Stirling for hundreds of years so where does 'Sterling' come from - is it confusion with the currency?)

Re. roundabouts - I've seen several useful postings on this forum on how to negotiate these and a text search should recover them (I come from a town called East Kilbride which is known locally as 'Polo Mint City'as it probably contains more roundabouts than any other town in the UK, so avoid if nervous about negotiating them)

It is a bl***y spelling mistake. It drives me nust, but I'm usually too well brought up to say anything...except when I think they may be searching for it with the wrong spelling.

Well, it seems that Stirling and Sterling are one in the same. If you do a search for Sterling on google.com, you will come up with Sterling Castle and the Wallace Monument in Sterling.

Maybe Sheila or someone else can tell us if there is any real difference.

I used to correct all the Sterling's - but got ripped for it so I usually let folks go off on their merry way.

bettyk - the main reason you find so many "Sterling Castles" and "Sterlings" on web searches is because there are a LOT of people who don't pay any attention to where they are when they travel and post mistakes over and over.

"Cotswalds" also bugs me no end. there are folks on the forum who claim to have been there many times and still spell it Cotswalds. It is too far from the a to the o on a key board for it to be a simple typo.

As a parent of 4 (grown) children, I sympathize with you, taxman.

You not only have the six of you, you have all the luggage as well. I'd be concerned about thievery when you leave the auto unoccupied but with the valuables inside.

Speaking of valuables, the safety of those precious living ones should be of concern as well. The driving is not easy, especially in cities and towns, especially if this is your first time.

If nothing else, I'd buy some travel insurance.