janisj

Sorry you feel that - there are all sorts of castles and many are quite different from each other.

Maybe it was just which castles you chose - because some are pretty similar.

GoAway

From where are you arriving in Scotland?

If your plane lands at 9:45, it may be closer to noon by the time you get through the airport, pick up luggage and get to your airport. If you're travelling across the Atlantic to get there, you may find yourself way to jetlagged to get very much more sightseeing done.

I don't think there are any days where there is too little planned.

sheila

Jodirb, if you're still there, would like to post your present draft, and let us (me) have another pop at it?

jodirb

Hi Sheila- Thanks for the offer! I have posted the newest itinerary below:

Sunday:
Hop-on Hop-off bus (Take full tour, then get off at top of Royal Mile, walk up to castle, see sites on way back down) Guide Friday Bus
Holyrood Palace
Botanic Garden
Tartan Weaving Mill
Princes St. Garden

Monday:
Carlton Hill
Arthur's Seat
Pub lunch on the Shore in the old docks area
Royal Yacht Britannia (Leith- get a regular number 22 bus to Ocean Terminal.)

Tuesday:
Day trip: Ayr (Culzean Castle)

Wednesday:
Craigmillar Castle
Tantallon Castle
Night: City of the Dead tour

Thursday: (Leave Edinburgh for Callander)
Pick up car at Edinburgh Airport- 10am

Poppies Hotel

Drive through Stirling on the way, leave car at car park. Catch Bus for the following:
Stirling Castle
Wallace Monument
Bannockburn

Friday:
Cambuskenneth Abbey
Scone Palace
Balquhidder Glen
Rob Roy Centre

Saturday: (Leave Callander for Isle of Skye)

Dunvegan Hotel

Eilean Donan Castle (picture op)
Armadale Castle
Dunvegan Castle
Skye Skyns

Sunday:
Central Skye

Monday:
Northeast Skye:
Fairy Glen
Kilt rock/waterfall
Old Man of Storr (picture op)
Quiraing (picture op)

Tuesday: (Drive to Uig for Ferry @ 9am traveling to Tarbert)
Arrive in Tarbert, drive to Callanish

Loch Roag Guest House

Arnol Blackhouse Museum (time/distance allowing)
Broch of Dun Carloway
Callanish Stones
Beach for breather

Wednesday: (Drive to Stornoway for Ferry @ 6am traveling to Ullapool)
Drive to Inverness from Ullapool

The Waterside Hotel

Loch Ness
Culloden Battlefield
Clava Cairns

Thursday:
Day tour: Puffin Express to John O’Groats

Friday: (Drop off car 8am Inverness Airport, take train to Edinburgh)

Point Hotel

Relax

Saturday:
Flight departs for home @ 1:45pm

sheila

Geez! You're still not taking any prisoners, are you?

Sunday:

You still have a lot on. FWIW, the Botanics should come after the Palalce and, you could stroll (sprint?) through Princes Street Gardens on your way home.

Monday:

Do Calton (sp) Hill first. Get the bus down Leith Walk from the bottom of the hill, have your lunch and then get a bus back up. You will have plenty of time to do Arthur's Seat (as, in CLIMB Arthur's Seat) in the afternoon/early evening.

Tuesday: fine


Wednesday: fine

Thursday: fine

Friday: You can't do Scone Palace in with the other stuff. You just can't. One or the other.

Saturday: Ditch Armadale, I think (or at least, leave that as a an option). I must say, I'd definitely use the Mallaig Ferry to get to Skye, and ditch Eilean Donan, but I assume you've made that choice.

Sunday: fine

Monday: fine

Tuesday: No comment. Don't know Lewis/Harris.

Wednesday: fine if that's the direct route.

Thursday: fine

Friday: fine

Have a great trip

caroline_edinburgh

Hi Jodi. Like Janis said, you've obviously researched carefully. My tuppence-worth...

I think that the only open top bus tours which go past the Botanics are those which go to Britannia. I'd recommend sticking to the core Old/Town New Town route - you'll have more than enough to do especially since it's your day of arrival. If you find you have an opening you can just get the regular 23/27 bus there.

Only my opinion but I don't find the Botanics all that great, and don't think they are worth trying to squeeze into what is really only 3 days in Edinburgh. Instead I'd spend any spare time exploring the New Town on foot.

And then there are the museums & galleries...? (But fair enough if not of so much interest to you.)

Not sure what you mean by tartan weaving mill in Edinburgh - I'm only aware of shops. Maybe one of the shops has a demonstration loom or something, does it ? (Just don't want you to be disappointed.)

As Alan asked, by the Royal Observatory do you mean the one on Blackford Hill ? I think I've read that it has closed to visitors, except for special events. Blackford Hill is quite nice but not really worth the detour, especially if you are already going up Calton Hill and maybe Arthur's Seat.

Do you know how you will get to Tantallon Castle ?

For lunch on The Shore I recommend the pub/restaurant which is also called The Shore. I think it's nice just to be casual & eat in the bar, especially now it is no smoking. (And you can see my new flat from there !)

So you are coming in September, are you ? If you want company one evening we could meet up for a drink or a bite, if you'd like.

Chop

I've just returned from my first visit to Scotland and have a couple of observations, pretty much along the lines of others. First, be careful not to 'over ogranise' your itinerary. Some of the sights you have listed will take a lot longer to do properly and others, less time. Also, most importantly, leave plenty of time for driving. The Motorways can be prone to peak hour jams and just one accident will destroy your drive time. The 'back roads' are more scenic but be prepared to share them with tractors, etc and often overtaking is not an option. Throughout my 16 days driving, the trip computer told me I averaged 30mph overall !

jodirb

Sheila-
Sunday- Have now removed Botanic Garden to save room for the other activities on this day. Plus, I think I'll just be tuckered out!

Tuesday- Thanks for the order this should go in! I have now modified this portion.

Friday- I'll have to restructure this day. Thanks for the tip. I knew it would be a long day, but didn't realize it would be an impossible sort of day.

Saturday- I'll definitely think about taking the ferry over from Mallaig. I've already gotten my tickets from CalMac for the island hopping, but I chose the Mallaig journey for the wrong day, it didn't matter at the time since I was going to go over the bridge. I'll have to see if I can get this changed to the correct day. I have skipped Eilean Donan, I was thinking of only stopping on the side of the road for a picture op and head on my way. Although, I may skip that as well depending on time.

Caroline- For the Tartan weaving mill, I read that there was one across from the castle that showed tartan weaving on traditional looms with exhibitions and the like. I thought this would be interesting for a short stop in. If not worth it, please let me know!

I did remove the observatory from my list as I looked and there were no showings on the nights I was there.

Not sure yet how I'll get to Tantallon Castle. I though I would find out from the tourist centre when I got there. I do have the Leith bus schedule but haven't had a chance to really try to understand it yet

Thanks for the recommendation on The Shore as well. I will now put a name to the area for the lunch!

I am going to be in Edinburgh from 9/10-9/14 and again on 9/22 and would really like to meet up with you. That would be great!

Chop- Thanks for the tip. I figured I would be going pretty slow, not just for traffic jams but because of driving on a different side of the road, and from what I'm used to being the passenger seat!

caroline_edinburgh

Don't worry about the Leith bus schedule. The 22 goes to The Shore as well as to Ocean Terminal where Britannia is & it's very frequent - just go to the bus stop & one will soon show up.

I'm curently free on 10, 11, 13 & 22 Sept. Maybe 11 or 13 since you'll probably be wanting an early night on your first day ?

jodirb

Caroline- the 11th would work out really great. Just let me know where you would like to meet and what time. I can also email you my mobile number in case you need to reach me.

noe847

jodirb, there is a tartan weaving place on the Royal Mile. It's very touristy but fun for a short stop. If memory serves, you can see the looms weaving the tartan, and of course many opportunities to buy the cloth. If it's a sunny day, the Camera Obscura (maybe called Observation Tower?) is worth a stop as well. It's up near to the Castle, and was one of my favorite things to see.

Oh, and I'm with historytraveler about the lovely little drive on Skye that takes you past the small villages of Tarskavaig, Tokavaig and Ord. It's not long afteryou leave Armadale. I took some amazing pictures there, and it's also where we saw a guy walking along with his sheep, his dog, and carrying his bagpipe.

And, lucky you - getting to meet the famous caroline_edinburgh!

jodirb

noe847- Thanks for the advise on Skye for the drive. I have that as a possible route to drive on the way to my hotel and you make it sound wonderful. I'll have to do a map search on that now and see if I can make it official. And yes, very lucky to meet Caroline. I've had great help from her and all the Fodorites for my trip so I'm looking forward to meeting her! Thanks again for the suggestion!

noe847

I don't know if you have seen the previous posts about maps in Scotland, but I'd suggest you pick up a 'book' type road atlas in Edinburgh before you head out in your rental car. It will cover all of Britain, as I don't think there are any that are specific to Scotland. The atlas will show many of the smaller roads and will be invaluable for the routes that you will be driving. Bring it home in the bottom of your suitcase and you can use it for planning your next trip!

sheila

That road, noe just mentioned? As you reach the crest of the hill, you get what, for my money, is the best view of the Cullins available

jodirb

noe and Sheila- I have now rerouted to go through Tarskavaig, Tokavaig and Ord. Why be on Isle of Skye if not for the scenery? Thanks!

pittpurple

This itinerary looks much better! Just a few bits of information -
Stirling Castle currently has people weaving traditional tapestries, which I actually enjoyed more than the tartan weaving. Since you'll be there anyway, you could see that if you miss the tartan exhibition.

Tantallon Castle isn't that easy to get to by public transportation. You'd take the train to North Berwick, and then it's a couple mile walk up the road to the castle. We were lucky enough to have a friend drive us there, but I wasn't able to take my parents there. It was my first castle, and therefore sticks out in my memory, but with all the other castles you're having a chance to see, it wouldn't be a disaster to miss (just my .02!)

Eilean Donan is beautiful. If you do drive by, the best spot for a picture is past the castle when you pass it on the left. We actually went to the castle, but the best pictures we have are past it.

Scotland is beautiful and we're having a wonderful time exploring (we just moved here). You honestly can't go wrong with any of the choices on your list. Make sure to take advantage of all the opportunities for afternoon tea - my favourite discovery here!

pittpurple

oh yeah -
Also, my husband works at the Royal Observatory, and honestly - you aren't missing anything. There are some good views of the city from up there, and it's a nice walk through Braid Hermitage, but you'll get just as nice views from the castle. Just so you don't think you're missing out!

jodirb

Thanks pittpurple, really good information to have!

caroline_edinburgh

Aw shucks guys

Jodi, you can e-mail me at DH's g-mail address - [email protected].

jodirb

Thanks Caroline! I will email the information tonight