I am planning my first trip to Scotland for the first 10-11 days of October, and I'm looking for major advice from the experienced. Here are the basics:

I'm an experienced international traveler, but never been to Scotland before. I can fly into either Edinburgh or Glasgow, so would like the best advice on that. Or, I could fly into one of those cities and return from the other.

My primary interests are history, culture, and getting a real sense of the country's character. I do want to see the classic sites, but don't want to have a "tourist" experience.

I am not on a student budget, but not on a champagne tour either. I like European-style hotels or the unusual little place that the average American tourist wouldn't find.

Horseback riding would be great to include, but not necessary. (I ride English style, although not very often anymore).

I am physically capable, but not an athelete.

So, with that information to go on, tell me oh Fodor's experts - what are my must-sees, must-dos and must tastes? All advice gratefully accepted!

Fasten your seatbelt, pal.

...paging Sheila... Yo, Aberdeen...

PS love the handle, Elbereth.

I would think that you would like to visit both Glasgow and Edinburgh so it does not matter which airport you use. The two cities are well linked by train. Edinburgh has more obvious attractions (and visitors) whereas Glasgow seemed to me friendlier.

I beg your pardon? Where did Aberdeen come into THAT??

1. Fly into one and out of the other. You choose.

What do you think the "classic" sites are? Just so we know?

Are you talking pony trekking, or something more formal?

Will you drive? Or is this by public transport?

It may seem you have given us a lot of info/details to work w/ but you really haven't given us much.

Do you want to drive or try it by public transport?

&quot;<i> do want to see the classic sites</i>&quot; - well, there are several hundered &quot;classic sites&quot; so we need a bit more. What sorts of things interest you -- famous castles?, mountains and dramatic scenery?, islands?, sea birds/wild life?, whisky? gardens (tho' by October they will have wound down)?,

&quot;<i>don't want to have a &quot;tourist&quot; experience.</i>&quot; I <u>honestly</u> don't know what you mean there. You are a tourist and will naturally have a tourist's experience. Scotland is not an overly &quot;touristy&quot; place. W/ a few obvious exceptions like the schlocky Nessie exhibits it isn't a Theme Park.

&quot;<i>I like European-style hotels or the unusual little place that the average American tourist wouldn't find.</i>&quot; Sorry - but there isn't a corner of Scotland that American tourists haven't discovered.

Where you flyi in/out of really makes very little difference. EDI and GLA are less than an hour apart so use whichever airport(s) get you the best fares/most convenient schedule.

&quot;<i>what are my must-sees, must-dos and must tastes?</i>&quot; See my comment above re several hundred &quot;must sees&quot;

Several of us could give you a terrific 10 day itinerary - but the choices are so vast you need to help us narrow things down a bit. Any places you have at least heard of and dream of visiting?

I just have to pipe in here. There are far fewer American tourists in the SW of Scotland. We seem to always go from Edinburgh to the Highlands. There are more areas of Scotland.

Kirkcudbright is our base of operation and we haven't even come close to seeing the area. We prefer to take the coach, but have rented a car on occasion.

&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;
I like European-style hotels
....
that the average American tourist wouldn't find.
&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;

european style or UK-style? big difference. most UK hotels are a nightmare of poor design...from wooden toilet seats to medieval plumbing.

the americans are the last people you need to worry about in scotland, for goodness sake....i'm sure even the scots here will agree with that!

Plenty in Edinburgh at the moment - what's scary is how they are so stereotypical - right down to baseball caps college tops, knee length shorts, white socks &amp; white tennis shoes - at first I thought it was some Fringe show.

For the amount of time you have, I would focus on Edinburgh for at least 5 days. You literally could spend a month there and not do everything. Believe me, because I have (OK The Fringe Festival was on and I spent a lot of time at performances).

For the balance of the trip, select one or two destinations in the highlands, east coast or islands. Rent a car and go there. By the way, I would not go to more than one island. The only one I have been to is Aran on a day trip. Others can tell you about other islands. Skye gets a good press due to the Bonnie Prince Charlie connection.

For a 10 day trip personally I would skip Glasgow entirely the first time. Glasgow does have its promoters, but it really is not as interesting as Edinburgh by a long shot. The most interesting thing in Glasgow (if you like art) is the Burrell Museum. I have been there and I was less impressed by the collection than I was with the building. The building was built specially to highlight the specific collection--and it is a wonderful building.

As to which airport to use, it doesn't matter. I would go with the one with the most convenient connections or cheapest deal. The cities are very close together and you can easily fly into one and take public transport (or a limo or taxi) to your hotel in the other.

A word on driving in the Highlands. Roads are narrow and distances on the map are deceptive. It takes a lot more time to drive from point to point than it looks like on your map.

Remember to get to all the islands except Skye (there is a bridge there), you have to take a ferry. Check the ferry schedule and do not show up after it has just left and you have to wait.

And, in Edinburgh, do not overlook the Museum of Scotland. Many people rush to see Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood House and totally overlook the Museum of Scotland. Big mistake to do that. I spent 4 hours in that museum on my last trip and unfortunately it was on the last day and I could not return. I have been telling everyone ever since what a wonderful museum it is is. The museum is focused on Scottish history from prehistory to the present. Believe me it is fascinating!

Some people do go to Scotland to focus on the highlands or islands. If that is what you want to do, feel free to throw my advice in the trash. There are so many different possibilities (not to mention a castle every time you turn around) and it is your trip.

I have home exchanged in Edinburgh in the city once and also exchanged outside of Edinburgh in South Queensferry once (near the Forth Bridges). I also visited Edinburgh in 1969 as one of those &quot;do all of Europe in 6 weeks during the summer&quot; trips that crazy students do. So, that is my background.

Thanks, Danna and FauxSteMarie in particular, for a beginning. As I am at the very beginning of my research and have never been there, I am definitely looking for personal opinions from those who have been there on what they liked.

As for transport in country, I generally use public transit, but would rent a car if a special destination really requires it.

In regards to hotels, yes, European, not UK. In regards to riding, I was wondering if they have something like a day's excursion on horseback to see some dramatic scenery and/or castle. Just a thought.

My first thought was to spend about 5-6 days in cities and the rest getting a sense of the countryside. I have no delusions that I'll be able to see all of Scotland, or even one city, in the time available. I simply want a good introduction to the country.

I'm sorry, janisj, if you feel I haven't given you a lot to work with but I'm not looking for anyone to answer all possible questions. What I meant to convey with my comments about classic sites and non-tourist experience is that I am not the sort to travel abroad and stay in American hotels, talk only to other Americans and eat American food. Some &quot;sites&quot; are famous for good reason - they show you something real about the nature of the country, it's history and culture. Other sites are more like the Eiffel Tower in Vegas - a kind of Hollywood version of culture - Ugh.

Again, I'm really looking for personal opinions. If there was a place you went that really blew you away or touched you, that's what I'd like to hear about. All thoughts, even contradictory ones, are more grist for the mill!

I lived in the UK for 5 years taking many trips to Scotland in that time, and get back there every couple of years for 3 or 4 weeks each time, And sheila lives there. We have a LOT of information we could share but you just seem to have some odd ideas about Scotland. Las Vegas? &quot;American&quot; hotels? Hollywood culture? What do you consider a &quot;European&quot; hotel - and how would it differ from a UK property?

A <u>short</u> list of classic sites

Edinburgh Castle
Stirling Castle
Dunnottar Castle
Glencoe
Culloden
all of Skye
Mull/Iona
Culzean Castle
Craigievar Castle
Crathes Castle/Garden
Melrose/Dryburgh/Jedburgh Abbeys
St Abbs Head
Fingal's Cave
Traquair House
Glamis Castle
Blair Athol
Inverewe Gardens
Loch Lomond
Loch Tay
Loch Earn
the Falls of Dochart
Caeverlock Castle
Threave Gardens
Islay
Skara Brae
Maes Howe
Callanish Stones
Cawdor Castle
Glenfinnan
The Jacobite train
St Andrews
Crail/Anstruther
Hill House
Loch Maree
Loch Broom/Little Loch Broom
the Burrell Collection
Kilmartin

there are many many more . . . . .

Anyway - if you want to follow Faux' plan - go for it.

Well, we'll be very pleased to welcome our first elf in many years, Gil;

If you intend to spend 5-ish days in the cities, I would suggest that you get a base in Edinburgh and take day trips. One to Glasgow; which is well worth a day out of 5- although I'm probably going to suggest that you stay there your last night as well- and one to the Borders. If you have the sort of soul that can be contented with getting the bus to Hawick (or Melrose or Kelso or where-ever) then do that. If not, get day trip with one of the mini-bus (van) companies- Rabbie's, Timberbush, Mac Backpackers; and let them take you off the beaten track.

Same for Fife.

As to going further afield, the probalem is the public transport system. It will get you to where you want to go- say, Inverness- but you will have difficulty picking up the conservation village of Dunkeld, Pitlochry and the salmon leap; Blair Castle; Dalwhinnie distillery; Ruthven Barracks; Rothiemurchius forest or Culloden on the way. If you were taking day trips on the train, that's one thing. To take your bag on and off at every stop, find somewhere to stash it, and get the few miles out of town for some of these, is quite another.

Again, the minibus people might be the answer. They do 3 and 4 day trips as well as one day trips.

But, if you hire and drive, the world opens up. I know it leaves you cocooned, and less likely to meet people- Danna and Rodgerdodger and plr all have strong views on this- but it does close down your geographic options not to have a car.

There is a triangle which &quot;you folks&quot; do. Edinburgh, Inverness, Skye and home. It's OK. I guess I've got to the point where I think it's pretty hackneyed, but the fact is you do it for a reason. Skye is popular, IMO, not just for the slightly cheesey Charlie connection, but for the spectacular scenery, expecially the mountains. So; do that. And finish off in Glasgow. Spend the evening in the Scotia Bar or the Clutha Vaults, and enjoy yourself.

Edinburgh doesn't do cute and affordable hotels. I'd pick the Holiday Inn Express or the Travel Inn Express, myself, for good value functional and well located. Glasgow, has more options. Stay at Babbity Bowster's.

Buy a copy of The List when you land to find out &quot;what's on&quot;.

If you decide on your means of transport and we can help you with a route, we can be very specific about things to see along it.

You can get some good treks in different places. Try:-

http://www.lochalsh.net/prts/facilities.html
for Skye.

You can, in fact, do the whole holiday on horseback- maybe not in October, tho'

Gil,

I am certainly no expert on Scotland but my husband and I just spent 2 weeks there and loved it. We started in London, then took the train to Edinburgh. Train was great. Loved Edinburgh. It definitely needs 3 days mininum. But like was suggested, if you stay there 5 days, you can do 2 day trips from there easily.

We rented a car at the airport and drove from there. Another idea might be to the train from Edinburgh up to Aberdeen. (Not even sure if there is one, but I would imagine there is.) Then rent a car there.

That would get you away from the busy traffic around the airport. This is assuming you would have taken a day trip to St. Andrews, a must see for the cathedral ruins. Awesome.

Here are some of our impressions:

Edinburgh - great
St Andrews - great - the cathedral and golf course
East Neuk villages - okay only if you have extra time
Dunottar Castle - awesome sight!
Glamis Castle - very nice. Best part is the fact that the Queen Mother grew up there. If you are not into that aspect and seeing photos of her and her family, this may not be all that interesting to you. But it still is very nice to see it.
Urquhart Castle ruins - very nice and the setting is beautiful. Lots of tourists there.
Kildrummy Castle ruins - okay
Crathes Castle and gardens - loved it. Nice interior tour and great gardens.
Craigevar Castle - very cute and nice but no gardens. kind of small version of Crathes.
Cawdor Castle - very nice! Gardens are wonderful!
The road to skye is interesting and pretty but takes a lot longer than you would expect and it is very demanding driving.

Skye is nice but large. The roads to all the best parts are one lane roads where you have to pull over to let oncomers pass by. I would recommend you take a day tour in a mini bus in skye. Let them do the driving and you can enjoy the views. Wish we would have done that. I think they might leave from Portree, the main city on the island.

Dunvegan Castle - just so-so. Don't make a big effort to see it. Not that great and you only see a few rooms. Okay if it is raining out.

Enjoyed the ferry ride from Skye to Mallaig. The drive to Fort Williams is gorgeous - green hills and mountians everywhere. Again, demanding drive for the driver.

Ferry ride from Oban to Mull - great. Nice views and you go right past Lismore lighthouse.

Stirling Castle - great.

Linlithgow - very nice!

Wallace Monument - very cool tall tower. It takes a lot of walking up steps to see each level. We only made it to the first level so can't tell you much about what is inside.

The last 2 nights we stayed in Callander at the Westeron Inn, a very nice b&amp;b in the residential section of the town. Callander is a very nice smallish town in a great location with lots of b&amp;b's, and inns and restaurants. Also, it has a nice downtown area with shops. I recommend the Westerton extremely hightly - beautiful, clean, wonderful hosts.


Have a great trip.

Ginny

That's the first time anyone called Portree a city!!

Gil, a few months back I was where you are in terms of planning. Now our first trip to Scotland is all set, thanks to tons/hours of research and great input from this forum. We'll be there in four weeks, and I've learned a lot!

Problem is always, so much to see and so little time. (Compounding that is the complexity of getting from place to place, and how long it takes on country/single-track roads.) We had to pare the first list way back and decide on three or so main destinations to visit: even then, this trip will be more tasting than exploring. At least we'll have a better sense of the options, so next visit we can do a deeper dive.

I found a lot of good information online, in addition to this forum. Check with visitscotland.com, undiscoveredscotland.com, and aboutscotland.com (the last with very good information about accommodation. That's where we found our B&amp;B in Ediburgh, owned by a French couple).

One thing we discovered is that there are many wonderful places to stay, from B&amp;Bs to castles. Some of them are very expensive, especially given the awful $ exchange rate ($1.90 to the pound today, eek!) For that reason, we limited ourselves to a couple of really nice &quot;country house&quot; type of hotels, then mixed some great B&amp;Bs in there too, to help keep the budget within bounds...

Enjoy the planning (to me, that's half the fun).