Planning for Scotland--June of '07
 

As some of you may recall, I was planning to go to Scotland this past June with my sister--until she broke her leg at the end of May (note: I'm a male, FWIW. People see that I'm travelling with my sister and usually assume otherwise). We're going to reschedule the trip for next June, with the added twist that we are planning to take our nephew (other sister's son) and add five nights in London to the trip.

We're probably going to fly into London, arriving on a Sunday (likely 10 June), and departing for Scotland on the following Friday. We will probably fly back to the US from EDI on the Sunday after next (24 June). My tentative plan is as follows (your suggestions and comments are welcome):

1. Friday--take an early train from London either to Edinburgh or Stirling, pick up a rental car, tour Stirling Castle, and proceed on to Inveraray (note: our Campbell ancestors came over from Inveraray, and therefore, we've got two nights planned there).

2. Saturday--tour Inveraray Castle and other local sites; possibly make a loop around to Oban.

3. Sunday--travel from Inverary to our lodgings on or near Skye (right now, I'm leaning towards staying at the Plockton Hotel) via Glen Coe and the Road to the Isles (catching ferry from Mallaig to Armadale).

4. Monday--tour Skye

5. Tuesday--take scenic drive of Applecross peninsula (and possible go on as far north as Inverewe Gardens) on the way to Inverness (staying at a B&B in town).

6. Wednesday--tour Cullodden and Fort George. Drive down to Urquhardt Castle for a quick look at Loch Ness (no Nessie exhibit or anything of that sort--sister just wants to see Loch Ness to be able to say she saw it).

7. Thursday--travel from Inverness to Edinburgh airport to return rental car. Would like to take A93 and go through Braemar, then on to Glamis, but would probably opt for taking A9 straight to Edinburgh (with a possible stop at Blair Castle) if our driving experience by that point makes the Glamis detour look like too much to take on.

8. Friday--tour Edinburgh

9. Saturday--tour Edinburgh

10. Sunday--fly home

Your itinerary looks good. How old is the nephew?

You might consider taking the sleeper train up. It would give you a full 1/2 day+ more time in Scotland w/o losing any useful time in London. It leaves so late that you could still do a fulll day in London and then wake up in Edinburgh at 7:30 a.m.

I've thought about the sleeper train, but I've been overruled on that one.

The nephew will be fourteen, which I hope is the right age to be interested in what he'll see in the trip (we're taking him because he expressed an interest in going to Europe, but we haven't said anything to him about it, and won't until it's certain we're going), but not so old that the uncoolness of travelling with his aunt and uncle will outweigh it.

Any thoughts on whether we should get off the train at Edinburgh or Stirling? I sort of think that we'd have to take a taxi to our rental car location in both cases (I don't believe the rental agency in Stirling is at the train station, and I'm not going to attempt to drive in downtown Edinburgh).

No consideration of flying up? I ask simply because the car rental places at EDI are very easy to drive out of and head north towards Stirling.

Stirling isn't all that easy to drive in (that mountain the town is built on) but not horrible just to pick up a car, tour the castle and head out.

If you are sure you are taking the train (and not the sleeper) I'd probably take it to Stirling.

Since you haven't booked anything yet - you might want to re-order things. Something like: Fly into EDI, pick up car and drive to Stirling. Then the rest of your Scotland Itinerary, drop the car at EDI, visit Edinburgh, train to London, rest of your London Itinerary, fly home.

We have just returned from 3 weeks in Scotland - loved every second of it - aside from the rain! We picked up a car in Edinburgh with no hassle at all - autoeurope. The traffic is not at all bad or busy but we are used to driving on the left. We did not stay at the Plockton Hotel but had dinner there 2 nights out of 4 and can recommend it highly - rooms look fine on website. Culloden is very atmospheric. Castles we loved were Glamis, Dunrobin and Cawdor. Urquhardt is picture postcard but very much a ruin of course. We trained it to and from London during the day and aside from engineering works (now over) messing us about it is a very relaxing way to do it and the days are so long that you still have a lot of the 'day' left once you get to Edin.

Itinerary looks very doable.

I would suggest that while in Inverarry you take time to visit Kilmartin Glen for the church and church yard, the stone circles and cairns, and the hill fort Dunadd.

The George has a lively restaurant and pub.

When you visit Culloden, a short drive will take you to the Clava Cairns -- another evocative bronze age site.

janis: I've considered flying, but I'm a little concerned that it would be more hassle, and little or not time-savings, over taking the train. I will certainly look into it some more before I book anything, but maybe you can clear some things up for me.

I'm hoping to rent an apartment in Pimilico or Kensignton, so if we take the train, I've only got to get to King's Cross, which I can do pretty easily using the Tube, but might take a taxi just for the convenience.

If, on the other hand, I fly to EDI, then I've first got to get to a London airport, and I'm under the impression (could well be wrong) that we'd be talking about an airport like Luton or Stanstead if we want a cheap flight. I could see the merit in flying if the price was the same and we could get to the airport easily (getting to Gatwick from Victoria Station would certainly qualify).

What is the likely price difference if we fly (and does it matter which airport we fly out of), and would we see any significant time savings by flying?

Actually BMI from LHR and easyjet from LGW are just as cheap w/o the hassle of going all the way to Luton/Stansted.

If you stay in Pimlico/Victoria area - then LGW is a no brainer. Kensington - then I'd probably use LHR and either take the Heatrow Express from Paddington or a car service. Or of course there is always the tube too.

I usually would prefer the train, but if your aim is to pick up a car at EDI - then flying makes a lot of sense.

I would recommend the Isle of Mull over the Isle of Skye...having just come back from spending a couple of days on each. And since you are going to Oban--that's where the ferry departs for Mull.

I LOVE Mull - but don't think it makes as much sense as Skye for twk. He only mentioned &quot;<i>possibly make a loop around to Oban</i>&quot;

Since they are heading so far north Skye is a better fit.

Thanks janis

I did look at prices and while the air route would be slightly more expensive, it it gets us to EDI and into a rental car before noon--there is a lot to be said for that (might give us time to swing by Doune Castle on the way to Inveraray). I also like the idea of getting to find my way out of EDI from the rental place before I have to find my way back in.

KTL: We do want to cover as much of the Highlands as we can without going overboard. Touring Mull instead of Skye pretty much keeps us in one little corner of the Highlands, as it would pretty much rule out going north of Glen Coe. And, while I respect your opinion, I've heard from so many people who say that one must go to Skye that I would feel like I left out something if we didn't make it to Skye. Mull would probably be doable as a daytrip from Inveraray on our itinerary if one was really determined to see the place (think I would take Rick Steeves's suggestion and take one of the guided tours of Mull and Iona), but I think I'd prefer a less ambitious itinerary.

Hello twk,
We spent a week on Loch Fyne last month not far from Inverary and I think you are right not to try to squeeze Mull in during your time there -- it is a very small town but the area is so pretty and there are a lot of options for exploring -- I don't think you'll regret giving yourself that time. Oban is doable and you can plan a very scenic drive there and back. (Perhaps I am just rationalizing because we did not make it to Mull, either; I really wanted to visit the abbey at Iona, but had to leave it on my list for next time.)

Barbara: Where did you stay near Inveraray? We're probably going to stay at the George Hotel, but I haven't ruled out other options.

For everyone: Anyone have experience taking the A93 route through Braemar to Edinburgh? If so, how long will that drive take, and is it preferable to taking the A9 (and, regarding preferences, my personal preference is to avoid traffic wherever possible--hate being stacked up in a long line of cars following single file).

The A939/A93 route is gorgeous - you would go through Tomintoul, see Corgarff and Braemar castles (and Balmoral/Crathie church if you wanted) and the amzing scenery down Glenshee. And it would be a short detour over to Glamis - maybe 12-13 miles. But this route will take a good deal longer than the A9. It is a much slower road - but traffic won't be a problem - except maybe a tiny bit right along the Dee between Balmoral and Braemar on a summer weekend.

If you mainly wanted to get to Edinburgh and see some nice scenery, I'd take the A9 w/ a stop at Blair castle and maybe Scone Palace. If you wanted to take the <b>full</b> day and drive through some gorgeous scenery, then take the A93.

I'd perfer the A93 - but if I was tired, got a late start, or was just fed up w/ too much driving - I'd take the A9. Wait until you get to Inverness and decide which way to go.

We were in a self-catering rental in Strachur, so unfortunately I don't know much about the local hotels or B&amp;Bs. I posted some pictures from Inverary and Strachur on my Shutterfly account -- I hope this link works. Some of the pictures are from a hike on private grounds but there are many short walks in the area that are equally pretty -- if you have time and some nice weather! Have fun planning --

http://bjbscotland2006.shutterfly.com/

The A9 is a very pretty road itself, especially the stretch through Glen Garry and down to Dunkeld. And it's by no means a superhighway! At various times, we have made the following short stops on this route:

Loch an Eilein (Rothiemurchus - it's a bit of a detour, and I was a little disappointed for some reason. There are some pretty castle ruins in the loch)

Ruthven Barracks (near Kingussie - this is a quick stop, very interesting, good stretch of the legs)

Blair Castle (this is nice if you have the time. The castles's cafe/tea shop has good food and great ice cream. You can walk up the road to the old village with pretty church ruins.)

Queen's View (gorgeous view from an overlook a few miles west of Killiecrankie)

Pitlochry itself is a lovely town, but quite busy with tourists. Scotland's smallest distillery, The Edradour, is on a hill just outside town, and might make a nice stop. On our first trip to Scotland, my oldest daughter was nearly 14, and the distillery tour we took was a highlight for them.

Your nephew will have a great time. It will still be an adventure for him, and traveling with an aunt and uncle is most definitely cooler than parents. Maybe we're lucky, but we have traveled with our girls all through their teens with minimal eye-rolling on their part.

If your nephew is at all a fan of the Monty Pyton and the Holy Grail movie, he should have added appreciation of Doune Castle. One of the extra features on the DVD shows the shooting locations of various scenes in the movie.

The scenery down the A9 is certainly good - it is a pretty drive for sure.

But over Tomintoul and down Glenshee is a whole different world.

I'm with you, Janis. Just fleshing out the A9 option if that's what they end up choosing on the day.

Thanks for the suggestions. Whether we take the A9 or A93 will definitely be a &quot;gametime decision.&quot;

The others have given you excellent advice - the hard part is narrowing the trip down, since there's always too much to do, and too many things to see!

I love the Tomintoul road that Janis mentions - it's a wonderful drive. The only disappointment on our recent trip was to discover that Corgarff was covered with scaffolding, so you couldn't really see it. But, we've done the Tomintoul road twice and loved it both times. (Click on my name for my trip report from May/June 2006; and an earlier report from September 2004.)

On my last two trips, I covered much of the same ground that you're considering. I tried to list B&amp;B's, prices, places to eat, etc., so you may want to take a quick look at the reports.

I suspect you'll like the train ride from London to Edinburgh - I'll look forward to a report when you return. We've always picked up a rental car at Heathrow and driven, but it is a lo-o-o-ong trip!

You will need to be a fairly &quot;brave&quot; driver for the Applecross road - we loved it, but it is narrow and very steep, and there are no guard rails. There's a lovely &quot;Potting Shed&quot; tea room in Applecross (quite a few signs point toward it as you enter the village).

Glamis was one of our favorite castle tours - it's such a family home that you couldn't help being fascinated by it. (And, we had a wonderful tour guide, which really helps.)

If I can just figure out where I've &quot;put it for safekeeping,&quot; I'll send you the title of a great guidebook that we used extensively throughout our trip - it had lots of pictures and very short (but helpful) descriptions of many of the sites along the way - big things and little things, which was a large part of its charm.

Have a great time planning your trip!

Gayle