Hi,
I will be in Glasgow for a month. I hope to see as much of Scotland as possible, over the weekends only though.
Would anyone have suggestions how I could plan for 3 weekend travels to get the best out of Scotland.
I would love to receive any tips. Since I will be traveling alone, I guess it would be unwise to rent a car since I hope to do budget traveling- and hence minibus backpack tours are one option I have been considering.

thanks a lot
shak

I think the minibus tours would be great for you.

Personally, I would also take at least one weekend to go to the Outer Isles. You can get a flight from Edinburgh airport to Stornoway, Benbecula, or Barra, and the buses will look after you after that. There is a chain of hostels which should make your accommodation afforable.

Thanks for the help. Ill do that.

Shak

If you are interested in doing that, I'll happily help sort something out for you.

(I do get fed up of encouraging people to go off the beaten track when all they're really interested in is Edinburgh, inverness and Skye)

Sheila,
Give us suggestions for travelling " off the beaten path" please.

Hi Sheila,

Now that I am considering a weekend in the outer Isles seriously, could you tell me whether there is a cheaper/better option than to fly from Edonburgh. Is there a means of transport from Glasgow (since that is where I am based) that will get me to these island - train+ferry etc. Also do you have any suggestions for hostels etc. or do I just go by by my guide book.

thanks a lot
Shakul

Oh, Laly, there are thousands. All of the islands; everything north of the Great Glen, Angus, the Borders, Dumfries and Galloway to name but a few.

And shak6uf (how do you pronouce that?), the cheapest (but not necessarily most efficient method of getting to the Outer Isles is bus plus ferry. If you look up the Caledonian Macbrayne web site (I think it's cal-mac.co.uk, but it's bookmarked at home, not here) you will see on the timetables page that they start at the Bus Station at Buchanan Street in Glasgow. The only train option is to Oban, where you can get the long connection to Lochboisdale in South Uist.

Could I suggest that you have a look at the following clusters; and try to deecide and then we can put a weekend together round one of them

1. Lewis and Harris
2. The Uists
3. Coll and Tiree
4. Islay and Jura

I think anything else is too complicated for a weekend, and I KNOW the last two are Inner Hebrides, but they have a certain air about them anyway.

We can sort hostels once you've decided on islands.