Hi all,

Have read many posts on Scotland but still need some help!

I have a business meeting in Edinburgh Aug16 thru Aug19 & have decided to make the most of it & bring along my wife & 2 children aged 8 & 10.

I have also extended the trip as follows:
Sat Aug14 arrive Edinburgh Airport pickup car
Sat 14 to Mon 16 - explore Highlands? ( 2 nights Inverness?)
Mon Aug16 - Thur Aug19 Edinburgh - Family sightseeing ( I work!)
Fri Aug 20 - Sun Aug 22 Explore Lowlands?(2 nights Glasgow?)
Sun Aug 22 drop off car at Edinburgh Fly 14:00

Any suggestions on where to base ourselves for the start/end of trip would be most welcome as well as 'must see' highlights

I know it's short notice ( & our trip is short ) but any advice would be great

Thanks!

One thing you need to keep in mind is that you may be in Edinburgh during the annual Festival, which will be both a good and bad thing. Good - there will be tons of interesting venues to see and the place will be rockin'. Bad - it will be very crowded, hotels will be full, and some shows - like the Tattoo - already sold out. But Festival aside, my personal "must sees" for the areas you mentioned are:
Edinburgh - the Castle (try to be there at 1:00 pm any day but Sunday to see & hear the cannon shot off), Palace of Holyroodhouse, The Royal Mile which runs from Castle to Palace, Princes Street Gardens (climb the Scott monument for spectaular views), Royal Yacht Britannia, St Giles Cathedral on the Royal Mile (see where my great-grandfather was baptized), Royal Botanic Garden, and shopping at Jenners on Princes Street (the "Harrods of the North&quot.

Inverness area - Culloden Battlefied (site of the last battle ever fought on British soil), and Loch Ness (monster or no monser, it's still a beautiful place and a boat ride on the loch is wonderful.)

Enjoy yuor trip to Scotland!

Your general ideas are fine - as long as you Edinburgh accomodations are already booked.

But I personally would not stay IN Inverness. The town is centrally located for seeing a lot of great things -- but the town itself is basically just a busy business/retail center for the northern part of Scotland. It is crowded and not very scenic. But outside of the town are many small villages that have lots of fine B&Bs to choose from. East of town between Culloden and Nairn, south near Loch Ness or west on the Black Isle or near Beauly would all be better locations than Inverness.

And staying IN Glasgow would be a difficult base for seeing much countryside. It is a great city but it is massive and VERY busy. Better locations would be either west of Stirling (for Loch Lomond, the Trossachs, Loch Katrine, etc) OR south of Edinburgh (near Galashiels, Duns, Kelso, Melrose, etc. to see the borders and the East Lothian coast)

Daisy54,
Many thanks for the tips on Edinburgh - they coincide with our 'must do' list - we realize it will be busy but have both accomodation ( & even Tattoo tickets) so are fairly comfortable with that part of the trip.

Janis,
Thanks for the advice on both Highlands & Lowlands - we picked Inverness & Glasgow from the map as they both seemed logical bases for exploring these areas. Do you have any specific accomodation recommendations in the areas you suggested? We're fairly easy going & will stay in anything from homely B&B through to mid-priced 3star hotels - our preference is for family/connecting rooms given our childrens ages.

Again many thanks,

Pat

Personally, I would have to agree with Janis, Glasgow would not be my choice to base myself in, nor would I choose Inverness. I feel that Fort William would be a better choice, as it is within striking distance of the Isle of Skye, Loch Ness, and also Isle of Mull.
Just behind Fort William is a fantastic drive to Glen Nevis, where they filmed a lot of the movie "Braveheart". Also behind Fort William is Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in Britain. Also enroute of Fort William, you will pass through Glencoe & the Scottish Highlands.
Best to get a booklet from one of the B&B services in Britain, and with the aid of your AA Big Road Atlas map of Britain, choose a B&B in the lowlands of Scotland, that will place you close to the attractions you want to see.
We always stay either on a farm B&B or a village B&B, so much nicer, friendly hosts, and driving distances to attractions is no bother. I think you will find staying in a B&B in the country, so much enjoyable, than a city or large town.

pat7764 - I was going to mention also, that on our last trip to Edinburgh, we stayed in a B&B in the suburb of Dalkeith. We were able to leave our car on the premises each day, & catch a bus into Edinburgh. No searching for parking, no stress, so easy.

Daughter and I will be there in early September. If you'd like to stay at the south end of Loch Lomond, we've booked a B&B at Balloch. Website is www.lochlomondshores.co.uk. The name of the B&B is Willowdale and Geoff and Iona have been a great e-mail help in planning our itinerary.

Decisions..decisions..decisions!

Many thanks for all the input - having checked out the travel times we're starting to focus on Fort William as our base for our first 2 nights - arriving in Edinburgh at 11.00 guess we will be our of the airport by 12.30 in our car and on the way for the 3hr drive to Fort William ( as per www.theaa.com)

TROPO do you have any specific recommendations for accomodation? We know it's getting late & will have to compromise but on checking some of the B&B listings we were put off by many having child restrictions ( our kids are 8 & 10) - an alternative would be a family room in a small 2-3star hotel, nothing fancy but clean..

all suggestions welcome

Thanks

Pat

Checked out www.visitscotland.com - seems to be good availability of B&Bs in Fort William for a family room so will email them tomorrow

Still unsre what to dop for our last 2 nights - Lowlands with a base around Peebles was our original choice but now we're looking as maybe spending the last 2 nights north-east of Edinburgh - perhaps Perth

Any advice?

Thanks in advance

Pat

I've only visited parts of Scotland but can offer a few ideas based on things we liked from our trip in June/July -- and we were traveling with an 11 year old.

We enjoyed the area in/around Trossachs Nat'l Park, including Loch Katrine, Inchmahome Priory, etc. Between that and nearby Stirling, there would probably be enough to fill several days. It will probably be more crowded in mid-August and I don't know whether you'd have issues finding a place to stay, but it is a beautiful area.

Also, we very much enjoyed staying in Oban as a base for some things around there, including the thousands-of-years-old artifacts at Kilmartin Glen. That area also offers options for a day trip to Mull/Iona.

We've posted a long trip report and pictures, which might give you a few ideas. You can find it by clicking on my name above ("12 spectacular days...&quot.

Whatever you decide, you will have a great time.

hi ms_go!

already had a read of your trip report & had a peek at your photos wow! you mustz have had a great time!!

We're a little more restricted - I have to be in Edinburgh for a meeting Aug16 to 19 so having decidied to have the family tag along, we're fitting a weekend before & a weekend after to do some additional sightseeing.

Plans are firming up and the latest itinerary is as follows:

Sat Aug14 - arrive Edinburgh 11.00/pickup car - drive to Perth stopping along the way ( scone Castle)... ( emailed THE GABLES B&B for 2 nights - anybody know it?)

Sun Aug 15 - day trip to Glamis / Dunkeld/ Blair Castle / Kenmore ( Crannog Centre) / Crieff

Mon Aug 16- Thur 19 Edinburgh

Fri 20 drive to Fort William with stops at Stirling, Doune, Loch Lomomd & Glencoe ( emailed GLENLOCHY B&B - anybody stay there? )

Sat Aug 21 - day trip Loch Ness, Urquhart Castle, Inverness, Culloden, return via Kingussie ( sidetrip Dalwinnie)

Sun Aug 22 - return drive for flight at Edinburgh at 15:00

That seems to be the best we can do given the time..

any thoughts??

I know you want to try to squeeze in as much as possible -- but you have a couple of problems. Your day trip out of Perth is especially strenuous and nearly impossible. Both Blair Atholl and Glamis Castle take at least a couple of hours, and the drive over to Glamis will not be fast. Since the properties don't open until 10 a.m., you need to eat at least one meal alongthe way and also want to visit Crieff, Dunkeld and Kenmore you will basically be spending a LOT of time in the car and not have enough time to really see each place.

Glamis is a great place to visit, but it just doesn't fit in with the other places that day. Dropping Glamis will give you enough time to see all the other places.

And your travel day from Edinburgh to Ft William is pretty full. Stirling Castle (w/o seeing anything else in the town/area) will take 2 or 3 hours, and Doune castle will also take some time-- especially if yu are Monty Python fans. The only access to the east side of Loch Lomond is via a slow single track road from Aberfoyle. Getting to the west side of loch Lomond will take you out of your way. I'd drop the detour to Loch Lomond and go from Doune through the Trossachs, up to Glen Coe and over to Ft William.

Loch Lomond is lovely - but you'll have chances to see other lovely locsh while you are in Perth (Loch Tay, Earn, etc.)

MEANT TO ADD - Weekends any time and especially in Aug. bring very, VERY heavy Traffic and many tour buses all along the A82 (Loch Lomond, Ft William, Loch Ness).

Along both Loch Lomond and Loch Ness it can be bumper to bumper for miles on end w/ no places to get around the buses. Also the bit of the A82 south of FT William can be really congested.

Another reason to drop Loch Lomond.

Janis,

Thanks for the informative advice - having read as many messages as possible on this board I want to do as much as possible ( but not too much!)

Will drop Glamis ( over Blair) & skip Loch Lomond - also re the HEAVY traffic - will 3hrs be enough time on late Sunday morning to get back from Fort William to Edinburgh for our 15:00 flight?

Again many thanks to all the super info sources out there..

On a Sunday morning you should be able to do the Ft William to Edinburgh airport run 3 hours but I'd probably give it 3 1/2. The worst traffic will probably be on the short portion of the A82 between Ft William and Ballachulish. Much of the traffic splits off there to head down to Oban or takes the ferry across to Ardgour. From Ft William to Ballachulish is a bit of a bottleneck because it is the only option for going to several different destinations. Once you get on the A85/A84/M9 you'll be able to make good time.

It is about 125 miles from Ft William to the airport which is a few miles west of the city.

Many thanks to everyone's suggestions - our agenda is just about complete ( just finalized the B&Bs), the latest version is below - any last minute comments??

Sat Aug14 - arrive Edinburgh 11.00/pickup car - drive to Perth stopping along the way ( Scone Castle)... ( stay RHODES VILLA B&B Perth for 2 nights )

Sun Aug 15 - day trip to Dunkeld/ Blair Castle / Kenmore ( Crannog Centre) / Crieff

Mon Aug 16- Thur 19 Edinburgh
family to Edinburgh Castle, Royal Mile, Caste, Holyrood ( I work!)
Evening at Tattoo ( tickets secured) & another at Scottish Evening at Prestonfield Hotel ( anybody know the show?)

Fri 20 drive to Fort William with stops at Stirling, Doune & Glencoe ( stay Fort Willian BENNEVIS VIEW B&B )

Sat Aug 21 - day trip Loch Ness, Urquhart Castle, Inverness, Culloden, return via Kingussie ( sidetrip Dalwinnie)

Sun Aug 22 - return drive for flight at Edinburgh at 15:00 stop along the way