Scotland bound college students
 

Hey everyone!

I will be part of a group of college students in Ireland for the spring semester, and after the program is finished we have the option of doing some extra traveling. Some of us are thinking that we would like to go to Scotland for several days after classes are done (in early May). We have a couple ideas of places to possibly go (the Hebrides, possibly Huntly in Aberdeenshire where the author George MacDonald was from), but we're looking for other ideas. We'll be on a college student budget, obviously, so nothing too grandiose, but we are really looking to get a good view of the culture. We don't have a particular region to choose from; in fact, there is a good chance we will be traveling to England, as well, so we would be going the length of the country if we were able to do that as well.

Also, what is the mode of transportation that would be the most affordable and straightforward to use?

Thanks so much for reading and replying if you choose to do so!

You could see a good bit of Scotland by organizing your trip around Scottish authors. George MacKay Brown was from the Orkneys, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Robert Louis Stevenson from Edinburgh, Sir Walter Scott from the Borders near Galashiels, and Robert Burns from Ayr.

You would get a good look at Scotland by visiting the Highlands, the Islands, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

The cheapest form of transport (other than thumb) will be bus; and that will provide greater flexibility than train because of all the places trains don't go. BUT trains are much more comfortable, but Caledonian MacBrayne do a "value ticket" which combines train and ferry so that might work better for you.

Even Scotland doesn't have one homogenous culture. Is there something in particular you might be interested in?

Sadly, I think the number of people in the area who know about George MacDonald might be counted on the fingers of one hand (well, maybe two); but I'm one of them. If you decide you want to come to Huntly let me know. It's my home patch and I'd love to help

Thanks so much for your replies!

Fife, I will run the Scottish authors idea by my fellow travelers - Conan Doyle is one of my favorite authors, I didn't know he was from Scotland! We will probably look at routes covering the different regions you suggests and see how it pans out. :)

sheila, thanks for suggesting the bus - my sister has spent extended amounts of time in the UK, so I suspected that the bus would be best from talking to her, but it's good to get it confirmed from a resident. I think as far as what parts of Scotland we're looking at, we're just looking for the widest experience possible over the course of a few days in as inexpensive a way as possible. So basically, we're wide open for ideas! Thanks for your thoughts :)

It would be helpful to know exactly how many days you plan to spend in Scotland as this will certainly influence where you'll be able to go especially if using the bus.