HI all!!! My husband and I are in the process of planning our 1st BIG trip together....alone....without our kids...ever..in September. I should say that I am planning the trip since my husband is so easy going I usually plan EVERYTHING and he comes along haha. We are planning to go for two weeks, since any longer will kill me from missing my kids too much. We have been married for 8 years, 4 kids, and never had a honeymoon or dating time really since I became a mother to his two daughters who where 6 and 8 when we met and had been without a mom for many years sadly. So needless to say we need to enjoy being ourselves-together as a couple and not parents. We never get to do anything with just us before having to rush home to kids, work, bills, well....life.
We have both been to England and I have been to Wales and neither of us have been to Scotland but that is the plan. England, Wales, and Scotland. I am trying to figure out the logistics at this point since I am not using a travel agent for anything since we like to self tour. I am trying to decide weather to fly to Scotland and leave from London, fly in and out of London, or into London and leave from Scotland back to the US. Both of us have seen London and don't really care to spend much if any time there and rather use the time exploring the English countryside, Wales, and most of Scotland, especially Edinburg and the Highlands but NOT Glasgow. I want to do as much traveling as I can by hired car but if the train will cut time in half in a lot of places that will be the key.
Basically, I want to cover as much ground cost and time effective without feeling like we are rushing. I am a HUGE Outlander fan so I want to visit Inverness and the Culloden Battlefield and other famous sites, my husband and I are not fans of Whisky....a sin..I know, sad but true but we LOVE history especially military.
If anyone can give some insight on the best way to see these beautiful places I appreciate it greatly.
Thank you in advance,
Christie

>>use the time exploring the English countryside, Wales, and most of Scotland, especially Edinburg and the Highlands but NOT Glasgow.<<

Congratulations on your big trip. Now - a bit of a reality check. If you want to see 'most of Scotland' - you need to eliminate any of England and Wales. And with just 2 week you'll only see a little bit of Scotland - not close to most of it.

>>Basically, I want to cover as much ground cost and time effective without feeling like we are rushing.<<

That is two competing goals. You either dash around squeezing in as much territory as you can - OR - or you slow down a bit and visit what you can comfortably. Do you have any guidebooks? That is the first thing I'd do -- get a couple of guidebooks about Scotland. Also go on line and look for filming locations of the movies and TV shows you like - you can lear all that on the web. Scotland is nothing BUT history, military history, and gorgeous scenery. You can fly in to either GLA or EDI - even if you don't want to visit Glasgow, it is a useful airport.

There is nothing that says you have to go to London - so don't.

September is a GREAT time to visit Scotland and with your limited time I'd just plan on going there.

janisj, Thanks for your insight. I appreciate your feedback and will consider what you have told me in my planning. Thanks so much!!!!

Two words: hub, spoke.

Pick 2-3 hubs, do day trips from there within range of the base. One hub should be EdinburgH. Don't get a car for Edinburgh - take trains out of the city for day trips (like to Stirling or Glasgow) and buses (or cabs, they're not too pricey) within. [Note, Edinburg is in Texas, Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland.]

When you go outside Edinburgh, have a car. What's a "hired car"? In British (which includes Scottish, no matter how much they try otherwise) a "hire car" is a rental. A hired car in American is chauffeured, which just means someone drives it for you. If you have that kind of shmundo caring for four hobbits, go nuts. If not, just rent a car ("hire a car" in British) and drive around the countryside. I'd rent from an American brand (Thrifty, Avis, etc) or Europcar.

Again, 2-3 hubs - one can be outside Inverness (the city is ok for dinner and shopping, but notsomuch for tourist activities so stay outside town) - the key is the area because it includes Culloden, Cawdor Castle, Dunrobin Castle, some monster-infested lake, short drive to Eilann Donan and Urquhart, etc. We did an Edinburgh-Inverness-Aberdeen (just outside each of the latter two) and it worked well way back when.

And look into this - even if you only hit three of the listed attractions it'll likely save you money.

Hope your trip is fabulous. Just wanted to say we really enjoyed our stay in Portree, on the Isle of Skye. Google and check out some photos. Lots of B&Bs and places to eat. We were surprised at how long it took to actually get from A to B in Scotland. The distances are not huge but it always took longer than we thought it would.

Also I read recently that if you want to stay overnight in a castle, there are a lot around Aberdeen. Just a thought - it would be something really different.

Kay

Forget trains - your plans dictate driving from London (maybe airport) west and then up - maybe first night in Salisbury (Stonehenge, Avebury Circle) then over to Bath - Wales - Lake District onto Scotland. Or take a train London to Bath and pick up car there - book trains early at National Rail Enquiries - Official source for UK train times and timetables for discounted fares. www.seat61.com has load on doing that.

Glasgow the few times I've been there was rather surprisingly nice in central and other areas but is no Edinburgh.

You do not have nearly enough time for all that - especially not if you want any time in Scotland and don't want to devote any time to London. That plan would have you using 7 to 10 days just getting TO Scotland.