amelie

We are going away for 20 days, family in Aberdeen. Our main area of travel this trip is The Borders. We had to cut out D&G, so will do things in Aberdeenshire instead. A weekend in Edinburgh to see friends also.

rmmom

Thanks for the clarification indy_dad. We're Californians and raised on road trips so long days spent touring are fun to us. Knowing (from the many posts describing it) that the travel in Scotland will be much slower than we are used to made me want to get your advice on this particular leg. So, thanks again and enjoy your trip! I'm guessing you'll have a wee dram or two in Deeside. If you have good weather, tell it to stay until the end of June for us

janisj

I'm also a Californian - there ain't no I-5, 101 or 405 anywhere you are going

Plan on averaging 35-ish mph on average. In some areas you'll top 40mph but don't count on it.

Plus while the driving is GREAT fun - it also takes concentration so long spells behind the wheel really aren't that enjoyable. Don't even try to recreate a CA road trip experience . . . .

Mimar

What janis said. What with driving on the other side of the road and dealing with very narrow roads without shoulders, more attention is required than is usual in the US. Not to speak of the roads only one lane wide -- for both directions.

rmmom

Time is getting short for our trip. Only 4 more days until we leave for the UK! I need some advice from you Scotland experts (you know who you are) on one leg of our epic (in my DDs words)Scotland road trip. On one of our Scotland days, we will be driving from Inverness to Forfar. On this day, we have planned visits to Culloden and the Clava Cairns before we head to Forfar. Am I correct in assuming the cairns are free to visit at any time? If that's the case, so we can get an early start on the day, we'll go there first and then see Culloden after it opens at 9am. Can you recommend a route(s) from there to Forfar? There are a few options when perusing the maps, but maps don't give the "whole story" as it were- road conditions, how scenic it is, etc. If possible, it would be great to see Dunnottar Castle that day as well, so a route that would take us that way would be ideal. If we run out of time for Donnottar, we will save it for the next day. We aren't interested in whisky tasting so we don't specifically need to drive through that area. Thanks again for help with "the trip that Fodor's built".

janisj

Yes - you can visit Clava C anytime during daylight.

That would be a long tray but doable. Inverness to Culloden to Stonehave (near Dunnottar) to Forfar is a nearly 5 hour drive. Could actually take longer but count on 5 hours plus stops.

Culloden can be done in about an hour, but can also take much longer, Dunnopttar at least 2 gourds, Clava Carirns - 30-45 mins. So you are looking at an 8-ish hour day.

But going that way and then back tracking from Forfar to Dunnottar the next doesn't make that much sense.

If you were going to skip Dunnottar til the next day, you'd take a different route - and down the A9 Inverness to Forfar is only about 4 hours.

indy_dad

janis -- I think I can tell which posts you do on your iPad.

rmmom

Thanks janis. So should I turn south at Elgin and go through Dufftown and Banchory to Stonehaven or take the coast route all the way? And yes, anything typed on an Ipad is pretty obvious (as is typing when intoxicated, but we'll assume it was an Ipad ). On my wishlist is a keyboard for the darn thing. I'm hauling both my laptop and Ipad so I can try and keep up with my trip blog and upload photos, but all our trip info and maps is loaded on the Ipad. BTW, for other's info, I'm liking the CityMaps2Go app on the Ipad/Iphone. They are offline maps so you don't need wifi or data. We just downloaded one for London to start, but got an offer to upgrade to just about everywhere on the planet for nothing if we gave them a review. Bear in mind that they may not be super up to date in regards to recent road diversions, etc, but they are a good overview and addition to a paper map. I'll update my opinion after we actually use it. I didn't opt for a GPS in our rental car because it was pricey and the one we have is too old to update with the UK maps, so we will have lots of paper/Ipad map options. Thankfully, my one DD paid attention in Girl Scouts and knows how to read a map. Her sister, well... she'll be relegated to the back seat for the trip She's so easily distracted, we may have to put a leash on her in London like they use on toddlers in Disneyland. Except she's 19.

janisj

There <i>was</i> some wine involved as well

"So should I turn south at Elgin and go through Dufftown and Banchory to Stonehaven or take the coast route all the way?"

Actually I'd probably go via Huntly and skip Dufftown (unless you really want to visit Glenfiddich)

The short diversion to Dufftown including a distillery visit will add probably 1.5-2 hours to your day. I'd try to stop for a short stop at Huntly Castle and then press on to Dunnottar.

Taking the coast route will take probably an hour longer than the other two routes.

rmmom

Exactly the advice I needed! There are a lot of options on a map to get where we are going. And, like visitors to the US who want to get to Yosemite from the east in winter- it's best to get advice from someone experienced or local who knows a better way. It's good you're on the California forum as well!. I'm not interested in seeing Glenfiddich (I am a disappointment to the whisky lovers in my family), so we'll go through Huntly and try to take time for the castle. Now, off to start packing!