Scotland and England itinerary & Qs
Sep 29th, 2003, 03:17 PM
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Scotland and England itinerary & Qs
Mid age mom with 16/13 yr daughters, 3 weeks next July. London only stop in England, main trip is Scotland. Itinerary:
Day 1 leave Canada
Day 2 arrive Heathrow late morning, express to hotel to drop bags, sightsee/lunch, early to bed.
Days 3, 4 sightsee
Day 5 fly to Glasgow, check in, sightsee
Day 6,7,8 - Glasgow, 1/2 day Strathaven
Day 9 to Edinburgh, checkin/laundry/sights
Day 10, 11 - sights, me one morning at GROS while kids sleep, one evening horror tour
Day 12 - on to East Coast - Montrose, Forfar, Brechin in Angus, Markinch in Fife. Train or bus up to Aberdeen, have lunch/look about, rent car, drive back to Montrose, check in
Day 13 Montrose - girls sleep in while I'm at archives. Afternoon at beach and family sites and areas.
Day 14 Drive to Inverness, check in/laundry and sights.
Day 15 Drive to Grantown, Rothiemurchis, Culloden. Return car?
Day 16 Tour to Loch Ness, Ft. William, Glencoe
Day 17 Inverness Highland Games
Day 18 Work back to Glasgow via Stirling, Bridge of Allan, the Trossachs
Day 19 - Train (or plane?) to London - 5 hours. Sightsee after check in/dinner?
Day 20 Get to London Heathrow for late afternoon flight home (allow 4 hours travel, etc. to airport.
-May look strange, but many stops are where family members came from and family history is why I'm doing this trip.
-Days 2,3,4 - need recommend for reasonable hotel or B&B in decent area under GBP120 per nite, room for 3, takes kids, central to sights we want to see - for sure: Tower of London, London Bridge, Eye, Changing of Guard at Buck. Palace, Play (Globe?), Westminster Abbey. If time - Harrods, Hyde Park, V & A Museum. Plan to travel mostly by tube/bus.
-Am I better off doing tour than driving on Day 16 due to summer crowds/traffic? If not, could keep the car another day.
-Not planning anything in London for Days 19/20 - maybe can do something previously missed or finish shopping. Rather come back a second time than wear the kids out at the end.
-How far ahead do I need to book my automatic transmission rental car and accommodation for Inverness Highland Games?
-Sorry to be so long winded but posts I'm reading seem to want more info than less.
Day 1 leave Canada
Day 2 arrive Heathrow late morning, express to hotel to drop bags, sightsee/lunch, early to bed.
Days 3, 4 sightsee
Day 5 fly to Glasgow, check in, sightsee
Day 6,7,8 - Glasgow, 1/2 day Strathaven
Day 9 to Edinburgh, checkin/laundry/sights
Day 10, 11 - sights, me one morning at GROS while kids sleep, one evening horror tour
Day 12 - on to East Coast - Montrose, Forfar, Brechin in Angus, Markinch in Fife. Train or bus up to Aberdeen, have lunch/look about, rent car, drive back to Montrose, check in
Day 13 Montrose - girls sleep in while I'm at archives. Afternoon at beach and family sites and areas.
Day 14 Drive to Inverness, check in/laundry and sights.
Day 15 Drive to Grantown, Rothiemurchis, Culloden. Return car?
Day 16 Tour to Loch Ness, Ft. William, Glencoe
Day 17 Inverness Highland Games
Day 18 Work back to Glasgow via Stirling, Bridge of Allan, the Trossachs
Day 19 - Train (or plane?) to London - 5 hours. Sightsee after check in/dinner?
Day 20 Get to London Heathrow for late afternoon flight home (allow 4 hours travel, etc. to airport.
-May look strange, but many stops are where family members came from and family history is why I'm doing this trip.
-Days 2,3,4 - need recommend for reasonable hotel or B&B in decent area under GBP120 per nite, room for 3, takes kids, central to sights we want to see - for sure: Tower of London, London Bridge, Eye, Changing of Guard at Buck. Palace, Play (Globe?), Westminster Abbey. If time - Harrods, Hyde Park, V & A Museum. Plan to travel mostly by tube/bus.
-Am I better off doing tour than driving on Day 16 due to summer crowds/traffic? If not, could keep the car another day.
-Not planning anything in London for Days 19/20 - maybe can do something previously missed or finish shopping. Rather come back a second time than wear the kids out at the end.
-How far ahead do I need to book my automatic transmission rental car and accommodation for Inverness Highland Games?
-Sorry to be so long winded but posts I'm reading seem to want more info than less.
Sep 29th, 2003, 05:00 PM
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I'd skip Inverness Fort William & Aberdeen & substitute Isle of Skye.Especially skip Fort William & dont believe the tourist board when they say that Inverness is the "gateway to the highlands".It is nothing of the kind.
Sep 29th, 2003, 05:11 PM
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a few points - in general your route looks OK - but it does seem like too long in Glasgow. Unless that is part of the "family connections bit", I'd take a day or 2 away from Glasgow and add them to Edinburgh and somewhere in the north.
Also your plans for the car are pretty confusing - you want to tour up the east coast w/o a car, then rent one in Aberdeen, turn it in in Inverness and then tour back down to Glasgow. this is prteyy inconvenient. Pick up the car as you leave Edinburgh (Edinburgh airport is a great place to pick up a hire car) and turn it in at Glasgow Airport before flying back to London. It will be pretty difficult to get to all the places you want between Edinburgh and Aberdeen w/o a car.
I agree - there is no reason to "tour" Inverness or Ft William. Ft William has nothing to tour - just a LOT of traffic and a hundred B&Bs. Inverness has a little more to offer - but not much. Stay outside of Inverness - like near Culloden or over near Beauly.
Also your plans for the car are pretty confusing - you want to tour up the east coast w/o a car, then rent one in Aberdeen, turn it in in Inverness and then tour back down to Glasgow. this is prteyy inconvenient. Pick up the car as you leave Edinburgh (Edinburgh airport is a great place to pick up a hire car) and turn it in at Glasgow Airport before flying back to London. It will be pretty difficult to get to all the places you want between Edinburgh and Aberdeen w/o a car.
I agree - there is no reason to "tour" Inverness or Ft William. Ft William has nothing to tour - just a LOT of traffic and a hundred B&Bs. Inverness has a little more to offer - but not much. Stay outside of Inverness - like near Culloden or over near Beauly.
Sep 29th, 2003, 05:20 PM
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Me again.Don't recall anyone on this board headed for Strathaven before!
Not a bad wee place, off the tourist trail, must return & pay my repects to the Drumclog inn (if still there).
Pronounced straiven.
If you say it as spelt nobody will recognise the name.
Not a bad wee place, off the tourist trail, must return & pay my repects to the Drumclog inn (if still there).
Pronounced straiven.
If you say it as spelt nobody will recognise the name.
Sep 29th, 2003, 10:07 PM
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Fiirst off I would like to congratulate you on coming up with two destinations I'm pretty sure have never been mentioned here before- Strathaven and Markinch.
Second- what is GROS?
Glasgow can certainly command your attention for 3 and a bit days, if it has the sort of stuff you like. Let me know if there's any help you need filling your days. I guess with family here, you will get all the help you need from them
2 day Strathaven
Do you have family looking after you on day 12? If not, apart from the fact that it seems to be in reverse order, you may find that route hard on public transport.
I think you'd be better to get your car before going north, especially as that seems to be your main reason for going as far as Aberdeen. If you another reason for visiting Aberdeen, it's a comfortable hour from Montrose in the car.
In verness is NOT a great destination. Stay at Coylumbridge or somewhere. That still gives you scope to do your day trips. Again Fort William and Glencoe are tough visits by public transport, as is Speyside.
I don't know the answer to the car booking question; but Inverness is rarely full and I don't think its Highland Games will change that much. In any case (I say again) I would stay outside the town and only venture in for the games
Second- what is GROS?
Glasgow can certainly command your attention for 3 and a bit days, if it has the sort of stuff you like. Let me know if there's any help you need filling your days. I guess with family here, you will get all the help you need from them
2 day Strathaven
Do you have family looking after you on day 12? If not, apart from the fact that it seems to be in reverse order, you may find that route hard on public transport.
I think you'd be better to get your car before going north, especially as that seems to be your main reason for going as far as Aberdeen. If you another reason for visiting Aberdeen, it's a comfortable hour from Montrose in the car.
In verness is NOT a great destination. Stay at Coylumbridge or somewhere. That still gives you scope to do your day trips. Again Fort William and Glencoe are tough visits by public transport, as is Speyside.
I don't know the answer to the car booking question; but Inverness is rarely full and I don't think its Highland Games will change that much. In any case (I say again) I would stay outside the town and only venture in for the games
Sep 30th, 2003, 12:11 AM
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Sheila, GROS is the General Records Office (opposite Waverley Station). A wonderful institution. I would guess cami5 is fully clued up on genealogy sources, but if not and if it would help anyone else, the best places to start are www.genuki.org.uk and www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk - you can do a lot with Scottish records online, but visiting the GRO does allow you to do all sorts of checking out possibles from the computerised index against the complete record without having to pay any more.
Sep 30th, 2003, 12:23 PM
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Thanks for all the quick responses. Point taken re places not to waste my time with and car rental. No family left to speak of. Strathaven & Markinch both family related. Patrick correct re GROS attendance helpful when many possibles to go through and don't want to pay more online (Stewarts and Grants in my background!). I'm sure I'll be in touch again asking for your kind assistance.
