Proposed Scotland Itinerary
May 24th, 2004 | 11:26 AM
#1
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Proposed Scotland Itinerary
After spending 2 days in Edinburgh, my wife and I and 2 kids, ages 8 and 10, will take a day trip up the coast to St. Andrews, stopping at the fishing villages, and, if we can get a dinner reservation, will have dinner at The Peat Inn. We then have 4 additional days to travel through the Highlands. With the help of Sheila, this is the route we currently have planned.
Day 1 we would head north, possibly stopping at Blair Castle, Ruthven Barracks, Culloden Battlefield and Cawdor Castle, and if time permits, going through Inverness and staying somewhere close by.
The 2nd day, we would come down Loch Ness, stopping at Castle Urquhart and Drumnadrochit, and then continuing on the Isle of Skye. We would have dinner at The Three Chimneys and stay for the night at White Heather Hotel.
The third day would be spent partly on the Isle, leaving in the early afternoon and driving down to Glen Coe. We would then somewhere around Oban.
The fourth day we would continue down the coast, then swing up to Inverary and then down to Glasgow for the night. We fly out the following morning.
Do we have enough time to see the things we should see on this general route? Along this route, what are some of your favorites sights, including castles, ruins, distilleries, etc., and what would you advise us not to waste our time with? Do you have any lodging or dinner recommendations? Thank you for your suggestions.
Day 1 we would head north, possibly stopping at Blair Castle, Ruthven Barracks, Culloden Battlefield and Cawdor Castle, and if time permits, going through Inverness and staying somewhere close by.
The 2nd day, we would come down Loch Ness, stopping at Castle Urquhart and Drumnadrochit, and then continuing on the Isle of Skye. We would have dinner at The Three Chimneys and stay for the night at White Heather Hotel.
The third day would be spent partly on the Isle, leaving in the early afternoon and driving down to Glen Coe. We would then somewhere around Oban.
The fourth day we would continue down the coast, then swing up to Inverary and then down to Glasgow for the night. We fly out the following morning.
Do we have enough time to see the things we should see on this general route? Along this route, what are some of your favorites sights, including castles, ruins, distilleries, etc., and what would you advise us not to waste our time with? Do you have any lodging or dinner recommendations? Thank you for your suggestions.
May 24th, 2004 | 12:52 PM
#2
Joined: Jan 2003
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Ehemm, there's stuff in tehre we didn't discuss. Principally the eating places.
May I come too?
Add ons- if you can't get the Peat Inn, try the Ostler's Close in Cupar or the Cellar in Anstruther.You're going back to Edinburgh that night, aren't you?
Try the Loch Melfort for food after Oban- think about staying in the Kilmartin Inn. Have lunch at the Loch Fyne Oyster Bar.
I can give you a detaied run down on teh route once you've done with it
May I come too?
Add ons- if you can't get the Peat Inn, try the Ostler's Close in Cupar or the Cellar in Anstruther.You're going back to Edinburgh that night, aren't you?
Try the Loch Melfort for food after Oban- think about staying in the Kilmartin Inn. Have lunch at the Loch Fyne Oyster Bar.
I can give you a detaied run down on teh route once you've done with it
May 24th, 2004 | 01:45 PM
#3
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Thanks Sheila. Actually the suggestion for The Three Chimneys did come from you, in a Best and Worst of Scotland thread. With this route, are we trying to do too much? We're moving around alot but we want to see as much as is reasonably possible, although I'm sure we will be back sometime.
Steve
Steve
May 24th, 2004 | 02:32 PM
#4
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Steve -- Last summer we drove from Inverness down to Edinburgh. We stopped at Culloden and had a great time finding our ancestors' marker on the battlefield.
The best time we had, though, was stopping at the ruins of Duffus Castle, right near the little village of Duffus! We had the best time exploring the ruins of the castle, some of which have slid down the hill and make for great pictures of kids trying to push the walls back upright! We were the only ones there and ended up spending at least an hour.
From the castle, we drove to Lossiemouth (just because we wanted to see the North Sea). The beach area was beautiful (but the water is absolutely frigid!), so we bought a picnic lunch from a nearby bakery and ate at the beach.
I'm not sure how this fits in your plans, but we were delighted with these unexpected discoveries of ours!
Have a great trip -- Annette
The best time we had, though, was stopping at the ruins of Duffus Castle, right near the little village of Duffus! We had the best time exploring the ruins of the castle, some of which have slid down the hill and make for great pictures of kids trying to push the walls back upright! We were the only ones there and ended up spending at least an hour.
From the castle, we drove to Lossiemouth (just because we wanted to see the North Sea). The beach area was beautiful (but the water is absolutely frigid!), so we bought a picnic lunch from a nearby bakery and ate at the beach.
I'm not sure how this fits in your plans, but we were delighted with these unexpected discoveries of ours!
Have a great trip -- Annette
May 25th, 2004 | 10:14 AM
#5
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Sheila:
We have decided on the following route, although we are unsure of a few things. First, are we going to have time to do many of these things on the first day and still get beyond Inverness? Where would be a good place to stay? On the second day, will we have time to see Loch Ness and make it to Skye (stopping at Eilean Donan on the way) with time to explore part of the Isle? Along this route, what are some of your favorites sights, including castles, ruins, distilleries, etc., and what would you advise us not to waste our time with? Thank you for your suggestions.
Steve
We have decided on the following route, although we are unsure of a few things. First, are we going to have time to do many of these things on the first day and still get beyond Inverness? Where would be a good place to stay? On the second day, will we have time to see Loch Ness and make it to Skye (stopping at Eilean Donan on the way) with time to explore part of the Isle? Along this route, what are some of your favorites sights, including castles, ruins, distilleries, etc., and what would you advise us not to waste our time with? Thank you for your suggestions.
Steve
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May 25th, 2004 | 12:56 PM
#9
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Edinburgh to Inverness is a pretty good road, so, without stopping, you should get there in 3 hours. So, depending on how long a day you want, you have time to do quite a lot. If it were me, (and I don't have your kids), I would want to be over the Forth Road Bridge before the worst of the traffic, which you will be going against anyway. So, I'd maybe leave central Edinburgh about 7.30am. Then my first stop would be Loch Leven, where you can see the whole Mary Queen of Scots thing. I guess it would be sensible to check out how early they start. Get a bacon roll and a cup of coffee in the cafe in Milnathort and bribe the kids with some of the superlative ice-cream there too.
Then back on the road and zap through Perth and stop, perhaps briefly, in Dunkeld. Park in the square, have alook at the cathedral and buy the makings of a picnic in the deli on the main road.
Back in the car, quick wazz down to the gorge at Killiecrankie; and make sure the kids know about the soldier's leap. You have a lot of castles on this route, and I might give Blair Atholl a by- tho' it is very well done.
If you decide not to do Blair Atholl, have a picnic at Killiecrankie, then straight on up to Kingussie and Ruthven. That shouldn't take more than half an hour, and then I'd go to Culloden on the main roads. Once you've done that, see if you have time to do Cawdor.
Cross the river quickly (bridges- Brahan seer, remember) and head 20 or 30 minutes over the other side. Have a look at the Lovat Arms at Beauly for a place to stay. Otherwise, anywhere along the lochside.
It's only an hour from Inveness to Kyle, so you could spend the whole morning seeingthe tourist stuff on Loch Ness and have lunch in Broadford (aside- stop at teh petrol station in Broadford- you know those old Esso ads (Exxon to you) "I've got a tiger in my tank"? They do them in Gaelic on a car sticker for free- "Tha an Tiger ann mo thainc"
Eilean Donan is about a 15 minute diversion down the loch before you cross the bridge. I've never done it so can't comment but there's masses of advice on her to the effect that you shouldn't bother going inside.
Along that bit of the route, the bid issue is scenery. On this route your oprions for distilleries pretty much amounts to Edradour at Pitlochry, Dalwhinnie at Newtonmore, and Talisker on Skye.
Don't bother with Inverness. Everything else is triff. Go with the flow.
Then back on the road and zap through Perth and stop, perhaps briefly, in Dunkeld. Park in the square, have alook at the cathedral and buy the makings of a picnic in the deli on the main road.
Back in the car, quick wazz down to the gorge at Killiecrankie; and make sure the kids know about the soldier's leap. You have a lot of castles on this route, and I might give Blair Atholl a by- tho' it is very well done.
If you decide not to do Blair Atholl, have a picnic at Killiecrankie, then straight on up to Kingussie and Ruthven. That shouldn't take more than half an hour, and then I'd go to Culloden on the main roads. Once you've done that, see if you have time to do Cawdor.
Cross the river quickly (bridges- Brahan seer, remember) and head 20 or 30 minutes over the other side. Have a look at the Lovat Arms at Beauly for a place to stay. Otherwise, anywhere along the lochside.
It's only an hour from Inveness to Kyle, so you could spend the whole morning seeingthe tourist stuff on Loch Ness and have lunch in Broadford (aside- stop at teh petrol station in Broadford- you know those old Esso ads (Exxon to you) "I've got a tiger in my tank"? They do them in Gaelic on a car sticker for free- "Tha an Tiger ann mo thainc"
Eilean Donan is about a 15 minute diversion down the loch before you cross the bridge. I've never done it so can't comment but there's masses of advice on her to the effect that you shouldn't bother going inside.
Along that bit of the route, the bid issue is scenery. On this route your oprions for distilleries pretty much amounts to Edradour at Pitlochry, Dalwhinnie at Newtonmore, and Talisker on Skye.
Don't bother with Inverness. Everything else is triff. Go with the flow.
