Next June my husband, son and I will head to to Europe. Our plan is to fly into Eidenburg and hop over to Irland for 4-5 days then to London for 2-3 days. At this point my husband will fly to Germany to meet up with his sons to attend some of the World Cup Games. My son (11 years old) and I would like to visit Stone Hege and some of Scotland for 5 or 6 days (Loch Ness included).

Can any experts out there help with how I should tackle this part of the trip with my son and I? I hope not to rent a car if we could make it by train.

What would my son not want to miss in Scotland?

Should we take a group tour that takes us through the best parts of Scotland?

Thanks

We visited Scotland last year with our (at that point) 11 year old. She still calls this her favorite of six trips to Europe. Our trip report might give you some ideas of what she liked (Loch Ness was not one of the highlights).

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34511776

OK - you have a pretty confusing plan - or beginnings of a plan anyway.

You want to Fly to Edinburgh, go directly to Ireland, then to London, and then back up to Scotland.

It sounds like you have 5 days after your husband goes on to Germany - Right?

Stonehenge (note the spellings of Edinburgh and Stonehenge - it makes things a lot easier when you search for things) is a convenient day trip from London - but it is hundreds of miles from Scotland.

Is there a reason you are flying into Scotland to get to Ireland? It would make a LOT more sense to fly into Shannon (or Dublin), spend a few day in Ireland, then fly to London for the rest of the full familiy's stay. Then you and your son can take the train or fly directly to Edinburgh .

Or - skip Ireland this trip - you really don't have enough time to see 3 countries - especially w/ a child in tow. Where are you flying home from -- London, or Edinburgh, or Germany, or ???

There are too many open questions to be able to give you useful advice. Tell us a bit more about your plan/schedule and we can give a LOT of help.

Sorry for all the confusion. And thanks for the spelling tips. My husband's been to Scotland so he really wants to spend 5 days in Irland. We haven't really made the plans for our flights yet, it may make more sense to fly into London. Because we need to go round trip (all of us)- my son and I (maybe roundtrip from Florida-London with a island hop to Ireland)while my husband would need to get to Germany and then hit his second part of his roundtrip back to Florida. So the flying part is still up in the air. We still need to figure that all out.

Anyway, we will be seperating from my husband in London and we want to spend some time exploring Scotland, but we'll have to return to our departing flight city to get back to Florida when we are finished with our adventure.

MS go - I'm going to check out your trip report. Thanks a lot.

I don't have time to give you a detailed response now - but at least this will bring your thread back to the top,

But I just want to mention - open jaw flights usually don't cost any more than R-T to/from the same city. Or if they do cost more the difference isn't much.

For instance you could all fly into Shannon or Dublin, you and your son could fly home from London or Edinburgh, and your husband could fly home from Germany.

IrEland!

Ignoring the discussion about the flights, what are your and your son's interests?

Our interests are "non-city" type things. Old structures - ancient ruins or castles, unique terrain and shorelines and all things out of doors. Things with interesting history. Hikes, bike riding would be great too, but don't know if it fits this trip.
I don't invision us spending any time inside art muesums or shopping.

Thanks.

ms_go: is the the walk you took to Old Man of Storr?

http://www.b-mercer.demon.co.uk/skye.htm

Nancy - that looks like it, but we only went up and back to the Old Man of Storr. We did not do that full loop up to the Storr Summit. There's definitely an incline, but we did not find it terribly difficult. There are a few photos from this in one of our albums:

http://community.webshots.com/album/160291889LhiXEB

OK; first comment; I'm having trouble doing this by train. Have a look at Haggis Backpapckers, Mac Backpackers, Rabbie's Trailburners et al, and see if any of their 5 day trips would work for you.

Otherwise, if you're going to spend 5 days in Scotland, and you want to go to Loch Ness, may I suggest that you get the train from your point of entry-Edinburgh- to Stonehaven; and go to see Dunottar Castle, then come on to Aberdeen and north to Huntly and see Huntly Castle.

Next day take the train to Inverness. You COULD stop at Elgin and see Elgin Cathedral.

From Inverness take the boat trip down the Loch and back. Then get the bus to Skye, and spend a couple of days there.

Then go back to teh Central Belt.

Frankly this is no good. Why don't you go to Orkney and follow one of the Go Orkeny itineraries. I wish I could find someone doing the same sort of thing on the mainland.

http://www.puffinexpress.co.uk/orkney.htm

sheila: Thanks for all of the good ideas. I agree, it doesn't seem like I can really do this trip by train. I would rent a car but concerned about trying to drive on the wrong side of the road AND also follow a map. I'll look at your suggested tours although we may need to just fly to one place in Scotland and then take short road trips by day.

When I was in college I did "a bit" of Scotland by train with a friend, and the other posters are right -- it was difficult without a car. The Highlands appeared impossible without one.

We took the train north from London to Edinburgh. I think your son will like the castle there -- lots of military stuff and the guides were both informative and very funny. Even though I was a history major, I found the palace tour (also in Edinburgh) to be the opposite -- dry and kind of arrogant although I loved the palace building.

Then we took the train (changing at Glasgow) to Balloch at the base of Loch Lomond. There are boat rides onto the loch, which we did; check the destinations mini guides on this website for contact info.

The boat we took was a 1-2 hour ride. We heard about a mail boat you could arrange to ride on between April and October, and goes clear up among the islands in the loch (which, as I recall, is 23 miles long).

We also took a regular local bus several miles up the road by the loch and then did a short hike to see the view from up in the hills. I don't know if we even had a map. Incredible view. A lot of sheep dung though.

We stayed at the youth hostel in Balloch, which was a 1700s century manor house right on the loch. However, with an 11 year old you would need to find out if they have a "family room" for you and him to share. Also, ask the hostel proprietor to have a taxi meet you at the Balloch station if you are arriving after dark.

Also, as I recollect it is also possible to visit York (for a half or whole day) on the way up from London to Scotland; it is on the main train route. Read about York (a walled city) on this website.
Good luck!

A few places any kid would love include:

Edinburgh Castle, Dunnottar Castle, Stirling, Castle, Linlithgow Palace, Huntly Castle, NE Scotland Falconry Center, Tantallon Castle and a boat ride (on Loch Ness, Loch Lomond, or a few others). Dunnottar, Huntly, Tantallon and Linlithgow are all very extensive ruins that you can clamber up nad down towers, into the cellars and all through the bldgs.

You don't have time to see all of them, and some are easier by train than others. But outside of the major cities driving isn't bad at all -- Honest.

If you want to stick to rail travel - Here is a way it would work. Take the overnight train from london to Edinburgh. Your son will enjoy going on a sleeper and it gains you extra sightseeing time since you arrive in the morning. Then stay in Edinburgh 2 days/2 nights. The next morning, as Sheila mentions, go to Stonehaven, visit Dunnottar and then on to Huntly for the 3rd night. Visit Huntly castle in the late afternoon if you get there in time - otherwise see it the next morning. Then to Inverness for the 4th night take a boat ride and visit Urquhart Castle.

You would then have a full day to get back to Edinburgh by train - you could stop off in Stirling if you aren't castled-out by then.

This is only one option - and pretty hectic w/ lots of one night stays, but is doable.

He'll have a blast in Edinburgh. There are a fair number of tours that head north, but driving (like others have said) would grant you the most flexibility.
On a side note, I lived near Stonehenge last year. I have to say, I'm not sure it's worth all the effort to make it out there unless you're dead set on it. You'll spend almost a full day getting there and back (you could pair it with a trip to nearby Bath I guess). There's not much to do there--- and you are not allowed to get very close.

It's not the train that's limiting per se; it's that you can't just dump your bags and get on and off when you want.

I do have some suggestions for day trips from Edinburgh on the train, if that might help?