Scotland day trips from Aviemore
Mar 4th, 2006, 06:24 PM
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Scotland day trips from Aviemore
Hi - We (2 adults and 2 girls, ages 12 and 9) are travelling to Scotland and England for three weeks in March and I have been reading the posts on these areas with great interest. I have tried to use the information to plan our itinerary, but I am beginning to wonder about the feasability of some of our plans...
We fly to Edinburgh on March 9 and will spend two nights in the city before renting a car and heading up to a timeshare in Aviemore for a week. We are planning to take the following day trips from Aviemore:
Day 1 - Loch Ness, Urquart Castle, Inverness, Culloden, Fort George and Elgin
Day 2 - Blair Castle (only open in morning at this time of the year), Glencoe
Day 3 - Five Sisters, Eilean Donan (from outside only), Plockton, Isle of Skye (to Armadale Castle and Kylerhea only)
Day 4 - Doune Castle, Stirling Castle, New Lanark
Day 5 - Black Isle, Cromarty (boat trip to see dolphins and seals), Dornoch
Any advice as to whether these trips are reasonable would be most appreciated.
We fly to Edinburgh on March 9 and will spend two nights in the city before renting a car and heading up to a timeshare in Aviemore for a week. We are planning to take the following day trips from Aviemore:
Day 1 - Loch Ness, Urquart Castle, Inverness, Culloden, Fort George and Elgin
Day 2 - Blair Castle (only open in morning at this time of the year), Glencoe
Day 3 - Five Sisters, Eilean Donan (from outside only), Plockton, Isle of Skye (to Armadale Castle and Kylerhea only)
Day 4 - Doune Castle, Stirling Castle, New Lanark
Day 5 - Black Isle, Cromarty (boat trip to see dolphins and seals), Dornoch
Any advice as to whether these trips are reasonable would be most appreciated.
Mar 4th, 2006, 09:05 PM
#2
Some of your days are awfully long but mostly doable. Aviemore has an advantage of being on the main north/south road through Scotland, but the disadvantage of being a long way from a lot of the sites.
The only day that doesn't make sense is your day 4. Stirling and Doune are great and then there are a LOT of other wonderful things to see nearby, and between there and Aviemore. But New Lanark is south of Glasgow/Edinburgh. It will be a long enough day just visiting Stirling and some of the wonderful scenery/villages/lochs in the Trossachs w/o traveling down to Lanark. Stirling Castle by itself takes at least 2 hours.
Fort George is absolutely huge - all of Edinburgh Castle would fit in just its parade ground. It isn't a place you can see in a short stop. It takes a LOT of time to just walk from one end to the other. BTW - you often can see dolphins from up on the walls of Ft George. They come w/i a few yards of the shore/fort's walls.
Another thing to consider is you are traveling in March and you might have bad weather at least some of those days. So I wouldn't try to cram so much in every single day.
The only day that doesn't make sense is your day 4. Stirling and Doune are great and then there are a LOT of other wonderful things to see nearby, and between there and Aviemore. But New Lanark is south of Glasgow/Edinburgh. It will be a long enough day just visiting Stirling and some of the wonderful scenery/villages/lochs in the Trossachs w/o traveling down to Lanark. Stirling Castle by itself takes at least 2 hours.
Fort George is absolutely huge - all of Edinburgh Castle would fit in just its parade ground. It isn't a place you can see in a short stop. It takes a LOT of time to just walk from one end to the other. BTW - you often can see dolphins from up on the walls of Ft George. They come w/i a few yards of the shore/fort's walls.
Another thing to consider is you are traveling in March and you might have bad weather at least some of those days. So I wouldn't try to cram so much in every single day.
Mar 5th, 2006, 02:59 AM
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I agree with Janis. the one you can't do is Stirling (well you could, but it would kill you)
I did a day trips from Laggan thing for somewone a while ago, Laggan being a few miles south of Aviemore. The text follows
Day Trips from Laggan
This is a part of the country I like very much but there isn’t much built heritage. Not many people and lots of hills- can’t be bad, can it? You are not far from Aviemore. It is the pits. A nice Highland village, developed for ski-ing in the ‘60s- with all the worst excesses of ‘60s architecture. It is, however, where the shops are, so you’re bound to end up there at some stage.
The following are some random thoughts about the area, plucked from advice I’ve given before and saved. You need to read it with a map in front of you and work out some routes. I’ll happily do it for you if you tell me which things you want to see as musts and how long you’re prepared for your days to be.
Tomintoul to Drumnadochit (but not in a stright line). Go east to Dufftown. Here you will find Glenfiddich distillery. Still not my favourite dram, but probably one of the best sellers in the world and almost certainly the best tour.
Follow the road down to the Spey at Aberlour (or Charlestown of Aberlour, to give it its Sunday name) You are right in the heart of Speyside, on the Whisky Trail. If you want to see more, almost every second distillery is open to the public. If you have a favourite, ask at one of the tourist offices if they do a tour and just go along. The Macallan is probably the best Speyside whisky, but Aberlour itself is a good second. Follow the river to Grantown then go up to Nethy Bridge on the south bank. Outside Nethy Bridge you will find Abernethy Forest and Loch Garten which is a huge nature reserve and is worth stopping at to see the Ospreys.
Pick up another distillery. Make sure that one of the distilleries you go to see has a malting floor. Go to Rothiemurchus which has all sorts of visitor facilities and maybe take the new funicular up Cairngorm.
Hikes- Big mountain-Ben Macdui/Cairngorm? (why walk through the valleys, when you can look down on them instead?)
Low level stuff- Loch an Eilean
South of Aviemore are Newtonmore and Kingussie. I can never remember which comes first, but at the second one there is a superb 17th century barracks built by the English to keep the Scots down after Culloden. Worth a trip. It's immediately adjacent to Insch Marches which is another bird reserve- lots of brilliant ducks and waders (did I mention I was into birds?) You come first to Rothiemurchus, then to Abernethy estate, which is also owned by the bird people (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds- like the Audobon) At their Loch Garten reserve you can see Osprey which are wonderful fish eating raptors which live in Africa in winter and come to visit us in summer. They always come back to the same nest so the RSPB have a live TV camera showing everything that is going on. In any case, Rothiemurchus and Abernethy are remnant Caledonian pine forest- our oldest trees; and I guarantee you, that, unless you are made of stone, a walk off the track will make your skin tingle. You have the sensation of being where generations have been before. If you go up into the hills here (quite a long walk- 4-5 hours, but worth every minute) you may well see Golden Eagle. If you carry on towards and past Grantown you are back into the whisky country of Speyside.
On the A9 you can drive on to Inverness, capital of the Highlands. At Aviemore, you have the Cairngorms Mountains on your right and the Monadliath Mountains on your left. It's just grand.
Just before you get to Inverness on the A9 going north, turn right and go back as far as Culloden-6 miles.(as an alternative to this you could carry on east from Dufftown and arrive at Elgin and come up the A96, stopping at some of the Moray fishing villages on the way. Culloden will appear on your left before you get to Inverness. (see more below))
Inverness itself is at one end of the Caledonian canal, which you need to see. It has nice pubs and hotels, but is essentially a sweet little town with little to keep you in it. It's what is nearby that matters. Spend about 10 minutes in Inverness itself. Acquaint yourself with the prophesies of the Brahan seer and then count the bridges (spooky).
Leaving Inverness going north, you cross the Kessock Bridge over the Moray Firth. You should stop at the tourist information office just over the river. It has a live closed circuit TV linkup to a Red Kite's nest; and you may see dolphins in the river from the car park. If you decide to do one of the dolphin boat trips please pick one of the boats which is "approved" ie doesn't hassle and hound the dolphins all day.
Take the steamtrain trip at Boat of Garten. Other things to do in the area include the Highland Wildlife Park, and the Landmark Centre. Posh for dinner is the Cross at Kingussie.
Drive down the Spey to Craigellachie then north to Elgin, and visit the castle. Very good shopping (but expensive) at Johnston’s of Elgin-cashmere a speciality. Then go on to Brodie and Cawdor castles. Brodie is a lovely little gem and has attached a place called Brodie Counytryfare, which is worth a shopping browse round. Cawdor is most famous for its Macbeth connection (“Hail Macbeth…”and all that). Then you should stop at Culloden to see the battlefield which is very special. It was the site of the last battle on British soil and was probably one of the bloodiest. It wasn't, as most people think, the Scots versus the English, but the Jacobites against the Hanoverians (there were more Scots fighting for the Hanoverians than fought for the Jacobites). Poke about long enough and you may a find a claymore (sword) or brooch or whatever. Nearby are the Clava Cairns, a prehistoric site of renown. You will have passed the fort built at Ardersier to keep the revolting Scots down.
Having crossed the Moray Firth you can head off down Loch Ness. Stop at Castle Urquhart, and Drumnadrochit. Buy your Nessie tee-shirt here. If you haven’t seen the movie, make sure you do.
A good day out would be
br />
drive straight down the A9, passing Kingussie (Ruthven Barracks); Dalwhinnie (distillery); House of Bruar (the Harrods of the north), Killiecrankie and the soldier's leap; west at Pitlochry to Aberfeldy and Kenmore and Loch Tay; along the south side of the Loch; down to Killin at the other end of the Loch then along Glen Dochart via Lix past Crianlarich to Tyndrum (Green Welly shop because you just HAVE to); across Rannoch Moor down to Glen Coe- through the Glen of Weeping (National Trust), over the Bridge at Ballachulish; 12 miles north along Loch Linnhe to Fort William (armpit of the west) and on north west passing Aonach Mor and Ben Nevis. You can cut up to Laggan from Spean Bridge (Commando Monument) or you can go on up the Great Glen to Inverness then south to Aviemore (architectural nightmare, but good for Cairngorm- you can take the funicular to the top if you like) and home.
If you make a day trip to Skye- which is quite a good thing to do- you can, on Loch Ness, at Invermoriston, hang a right and go up Glen Moriston to Cluanie, then through Kintail in the shadow of the 5 Sisters. Stop at Dornie to see Eilean Donan and then cross the bridge to Skye
An alternative, is having crossed the Kessock Bridge to go north to nearly Dingwall, where you turn west through Strathbraan, southwest through Glencarron and along the south side of Loch Carron. Have a look at Plockton then go on to Kyle of Lochalsh.
Here are a range of things I looked up before for someone based not far away who was into history and archaeology.
Ancients- Apart from Clava Cairns, there’s a stone circle at Aviemore, and, Sueno’s Stone at Forres. There are so many ancient sites, it’s difficult to list them, but here are three web links that might be of usebr />
http://www.darkisle.com/picts.html
http://www.megalith.ukf.net/
http://www.scenicscotland.net/invern...t/historic.htm
As to history, the area you’re in is not the most historic, because there was a lack of written history until they moved from Gaelic to English. You might want to learn a little about the 1715 and 1745 rebellions and some stuff about the Wolf Of Badenoch, which will mostly affect the direct area. The castle on the island at Loch an Eilean was his and he was the boy that burned the roof off Elgin cathedral. The ’45 finished at Culloden and Wade had his men in the Highlands after the ’15 creating better communications. Subduing the Highlanders was the excuse for Forts like Ardersier too.
The Spey is Scotland’s second best salmon river, and the tributaries are pretty good too. Most hotels will be able to fix permits (you can go rough fishing anytime but some species are private and you need to have permits). The fishing shops in the larger villages will keep you right.
You are in some of the best walking country in the countryJ Apart from the forests at Abernethy and Rothiemurchus try Glen Feshie, Loch Morlich, down Loch Lagganside and into the National Park at Ben Meggaidh. I have books with long walks and books with short walks and high hills and lochsides.
Castles- the Tourist Board market the area north west of Aberdeen as “Castle Country”. I have some stuff saved on the area, if you think there are insufficient options listed above. I suppose the big attraction is Balmoral, where Lizzie Windsor spends her summer holidays.
Churches are not a great feature. We were too poor. Elgin Cathedral is worth a look as is Pluscarden Abbey. Apart from that there’s nothing south of Dornoch or west of Aberdeen.
Another trip in the opposite direction is to go back up to Aviemore then east aiming for Nethy Bridge. past Abernethy and Rothiemurchus Go on over the hill to Tomintoul and stop in this pretty village. Buy your whisky in the specialist shop here, rather than in Edinburgh or elsewhere. There is also a very good wood carvers shop here. and keep going south past Corgarff (special Wade castle here), and down Donside nearly to Alford where you turn south as far as Craigievar castle, supposed to be the model for the Disney cartoon castle emblem, and cross onto Deeside.Take the A93 out to Crathie then meander on along Deeside. You’re just a few miles from Balmoral, where Lizzie Windsor spend her summer hols. Go all the way out to Braemar and on to Mar Lodge for another walk . Then drive south through Glen Shee and turn west towards Kirkmichael. This road takes you back onto the A9 at Pitlochry. Turn northwards to home.
A day into the far north would run from Inverness where you take a turn through the Black Isle and visit Rosemarkie for its sculpted pictish stones, and Cromarty and the courthouse, then come north to Tain. We have a silversmith there who does lovely work in modern style based on ancient designs. Highly recommended. Come north to Dornoch with its cathedral, Golspie and Ben Braggie and see the “Mannie” and then Dunrobin Castle. Go to Helmsdale and north through Kildonan, and see if you can get all the way without weeping (reference the Highland Clearances). I’ve missed out Thurso and Wick, which are old very parochial towns with a strong Norse influence. It’s not much of a detour if you want to do them, too. From Melvich, at the top of the Kildonan road, come west to Tongue. then pass Hope and Durness, and if you feel adventurous take the 11 mile detour up to Cape Wrath, Scotland’s most north west point. Come down through Kinlochbervie and Scourie, which is stunning; then down through Assynt, with its interesting local history, to just north of Ullapool. Lots of lovely mountains and sea and island views This is a long day.
I did a day trips from Laggan thing for somewone a while ago, Laggan being a few miles south of Aviemore. The text follows
Day Trips from Laggan
This is a part of the country I like very much but there isn’t much built heritage. Not many people and lots of hills- can’t be bad, can it? You are not far from Aviemore. It is the pits. A nice Highland village, developed for ski-ing in the ‘60s- with all the worst excesses of ‘60s architecture. It is, however, where the shops are, so you’re bound to end up there at some stage.
The following are some random thoughts about the area, plucked from advice I’ve given before and saved. You need to read it with a map in front of you and work out some routes. I’ll happily do it for you if you tell me which things you want to see as musts and how long you’re prepared for your days to be.
Tomintoul to Drumnadochit (but not in a stright line). Go east to Dufftown. Here you will find Glenfiddich distillery. Still not my favourite dram, but probably one of the best sellers in the world and almost certainly the best tour.
Follow the road down to the Spey at Aberlour (or Charlestown of Aberlour, to give it its Sunday name) You are right in the heart of Speyside, on the Whisky Trail. If you want to see more, almost every second distillery is open to the public. If you have a favourite, ask at one of the tourist offices if they do a tour and just go along. The Macallan is probably the best Speyside whisky, but Aberlour itself is a good second. Follow the river to Grantown then go up to Nethy Bridge on the south bank. Outside Nethy Bridge you will find Abernethy Forest and Loch Garten which is a huge nature reserve and is worth stopping at to see the Ospreys.
Pick up another distillery. Make sure that one of the distilleries you go to see has a malting floor. Go to Rothiemurchus which has all sorts of visitor facilities and maybe take the new funicular up Cairngorm.
Hikes- Big mountain-Ben Macdui/Cairngorm? (why walk through the valleys, when you can look down on them instead?)
Low level stuff- Loch an Eilean
South of Aviemore are Newtonmore and Kingussie. I can never remember which comes first, but at the second one there is a superb 17th century barracks built by the English to keep the Scots down after Culloden. Worth a trip. It's immediately adjacent to Insch Marches which is another bird reserve- lots of brilliant ducks and waders (did I mention I was into birds?) You come first to Rothiemurchus, then to Abernethy estate, which is also owned by the bird people (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds- like the Audobon) At their Loch Garten reserve you can see Osprey which are wonderful fish eating raptors which live in Africa in winter and come to visit us in summer. They always come back to the same nest so the RSPB have a live TV camera showing everything that is going on. In any case, Rothiemurchus and Abernethy are remnant Caledonian pine forest- our oldest trees; and I guarantee you, that, unless you are made of stone, a walk off the track will make your skin tingle. You have the sensation of being where generations have been before. If you go up into the hills here (quite a long walk- 4-5 hours, but worth every minute) you may well see Golden Eagle. If you carry on towards and past Grantown you are back into the whisky country of Speyside.
On the A9 you can drive on to Inverness, capital of the Highlands. At Aviemore, you have the Cairngorms Mountains on your right and the Monadliath Mountains on your left. It's just grand.
Just before you get to Inverness on the A9 going north, turn right and go back as far as Culloden-6 miles.(as an alternative to this you could carry on east from Dufftown and arrive at Elgin and come up the A96, stopping at some of the Moray fishing villages on the way. Culloden will appear on your left before you get to Inverness. (see more below))
Inverness itself is at one end of the Caledonian canal, which you need to see. It has nice pubs and hotels, but is essentially a sweet little town with little to keep you in it. It's what is nearby that matters. Spend about 10 minutes in Inverness itself. Acquaint yourself with the prophesies of the Brahan seer and then count the bridges (spooky).
Leaving Inverness going north, you cross the Kessock Bridge over the Moray Firth. You should stop at the tourist information office just over the river. It has a live closed circuit TV linkup to a Red Kite's nest; and you may see dolphins in the river from the car park. If you decide to do one of the dolphin boat trips please pick one of the boats which is "approved" ie doesn't hassle and hound the dolphins all day.
Take the steamtrain trip at Boat of Garten. Other things to do in the area include the Highland Wildlife Park, and the Landmark Centre. Posh for dinner is the Cross at Kingussie.
Drive down the Spey to Craigellachie then north to Elgin, and visit the castle. Very good shopping (but expensive) at Johnston’s of Elgin-cashmere a speciality. Then go on to Brodie and Cawdor castles. Brodie is a lovely little gem and has attached a place called Brodie Counytryfare, which is worth a shopping browse round. Cawdor is most famous for its Macbeth connection (“Hail Macbeth…”and all that). Then you should stop at Culloden to see the battlefield which is very special. It was the site of the last battle on British soil and was probably one of the bloodiest. It wasn't, as most people think, the Scots versus the English, but the Jacobites against the Hanoverians (there were more Scots fighting for the Hanoverians than fought for the Jacobites). Poke about long enough and you may a find a claymore (sword) or brooch or whatever. Nearby are the Clava Cairns, a prehistoric site of renown. You will have passed the fort built at Ardersier to keep the revolting Scots down.
Having crossed the Moray Firth you can head off down Loch Ness. Stop at Castle Urquhart, and Drumnadrochit. Buy your Nessie tee-shirt here. If you haven’t seen the movie, make sure you do.
A good day out would be
br />
drive straight down the A9, passing Kingussie (Ruthven Barracks); Dalwhinnie (distillery); House of Bruar (the Harrods of the north), Killiecrankie and the soldier's leap; west at Pitlochry to Aberfeldy and Kenmore and Loch Tay; along the south side of the Loch; down to Killin at the other end of the Loch then along Glen Dochart via Lix past Crianlarich to Tyndrum (Green Welly shop because you just HAVE to); across Rannoch Moor down to Glen Coe- through the Glen of Weeping (National Trust), over the Bridge at Ballachulish; 12 miles north along Loch Linnhe to Fort William (armpit of the west) and on north west passing Aonach Mor and Ben Nevis. You can cut up to Laggan from Spean Bridge (Commando Monument) or you can go on up the Great Glen to Inverness then south to Aviemore (architectural nightmare, but good for Cairngorm- you can take the funicular to the top if you like) and home. If you make a day trip to Skye- which is quite a good thing to do- you can, on Loch Ness, at Invermoriston, hang a right and go up Glen Moriston to Cluanie, then through Kintail in the shadow of the 5 Sisters. Stop at Dornie to see Eilean Donan and then cross the bridge to Skye
An alternative, is having crossed the Kessock Bridge to go north to nearly Dingwall, where you turn west through Strathbraan, southwest through Glencarron and along the south side of Loch Carron. Have a look at Plockton then go on to Kyle of Lochalsh.
Here are a range of things I looked up before for someone based not far away who was into history and archaeology.
Ancients- Apart from Clava Cairns, there’s a stone circle at Aviemore, and, Sueno’s Stone at Forres. There are so many ancient sites, it’s difficult to list them, but here are three web links that might be of use
br />
http://www.darkisle.com/picts.html
http://www.megalith.ukf.net/
http://www.scenicscotland.net/invern...t/historic.htm
As to history, the area you’re in is not the most historic, because there was a lack of written history until they moved from Gaelic to English. You might want to learn a little about the 1715 and 1745 rebellions and some stuff about the Wolf Of Badenoch, which will mostly affect the direct area. The castle on the island at Loch an Eilean was his and he was the boy that burned the roof off Elgin cathedral. The ’45 finished at Culloden and Wade had his men in the Highlands after the ’15 creating better communications. Subduing the Highlanders was the excuse for Forts like Ardersier too.
The Spey is Scotland’s second best salmon river, and the tributaries are pretty good too. Most hotels will be able to fix permits (you can go rough fishing anytime but some species are private and you need to have permits). The fishing shops in the larger villages will keep you right.
You are in some of the best walking country in the countryJ Apart from the forests at Abernethy and Rothiemurchus try Glen Feshie, Loch Morlich, down Loch Lagganside and into the National Park at Ben Meggaidh. I have books with long walks and books with short walks and high hills and lochsides.
Castles- the Tourist Board market the area north west of Aberdeen as “Castle Country”. I have some stuff saved on the area, if you think there are insufficient options listed above. I suppose the big attraction is Balmoral, where Lizzie Windsor spends her summer holidays.
Churches are not a great feature. We were too poor. Elgin Cathedral is worth a look as is Pluscarden Abbey. Apart from that there’s nothing south of Dornoch or west of Aberdeen.
Another trip in the opposite direction is to go back up to Aviemore then east aiming for Nethy Bridge. past Abernethy and Rothiemurchus Go on over the hill to Tomintoul and stop in this pretty village. Buy your whisky in the specialist shop here, rather than in Edinburgh or elsewhere. There is also a very good wood carvers shop here. and keep going south past Corgarff (special Wade castle here), and down Donside nearly to Alford where you turn south as far as Craigievar castle, supposed to be the model for the Disney cartoon castle emblem, and cross onto Deeside.Take the A93 out to Crathie then meander on along Deeside. You’re just a few miles from Balmoral, where Lizzie Windsor spend her summer hols. Go all the way out to Braemar and on to Mar Lodge for another walk . Then drive south through Glen Shee and turn west towards Kirkmichael. This road takes you back onto the A9 at Pitlochry. Turn northwards to home.
A day into the far north would run from Inverness where you take a turn through the Black Isle and visit Rosemarkie for its sculpted pictish stones, and Cromarty and the courthouse, then come north to Tain. We have a silversmith there who does lovely work in modern style based on ancient designs. Highly recommended. Come north to Dornoch with its cathedral, Golspie and Ben Braggie and see the “Mannie” and then Dunrobin Castle. Go to Helmsdale and north through Kildonan, and see if you can get all the way without weeping (reference the Highland Clearances). I’ve missed out Thurso and Wick, which are old very parochial towns with a strong Norse influence. It’s not much of a detour if you want to do them, too. From Melvich, at the top of the Kildonan road, come west to Tongue. then pass Hope and Durness, and if you feel adventurous take the 11 mile detour up to Cape Wrath, Scotland’s most north west point. Come down through Kinlochbervie and Scourie, which is stunning; then down through Assynt, with its interesting local history, to just north of Ullapool. Lots of lovely mountains and sea and island views This is a long day.
Apr 5th, 2006, 11:12 AM
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Thank you so much for your quick replies, Janis and Sheila. I printed this off and tucked it in my purse and away we went! Sure enough, our first day in Aviemore was a snow day - all roads closed! We were so anxious to get out and about, and we tried to tell the front desk staff that we are Canadian and drive in the stuff all the time, but they (wisely!) told us to enjoy our day off in Aviemore...and we did...found the grocery store to get some supplies and a nice coffee shop and a book store and it was all good!
I laugh now when I look back at the day trip plans that we had...we found the driving times were considerably longer than we had anticipated (probably made worse by the fact that this was my first experience driving from the right side of the car on the left side of the road - I found it quite fun after awhile, but I must say mu husband never recovered! He's a bit of a backseat driver at the best of times so by day two, the girls and I relegated him to the back seat as my eldest daughter wanted to learn to navigate...)
Here's what we did (I will post this as a trip report in a more comprehensive document later on):
Day 1(Sunday) - snow day
Day 2 (Monday)- Loch Ness (cold and windy that day so took in the Loch Ness 2000 exhibit and skipped the boat tour - we thought it was pretty good and the kids really liked it...), Urquhart Castle (we enjoyed the movie at the interpretive centre and the ruins are very interesting), Battlefield at Culloden (again, enjoyed the interpretive centre and the movie, dashed out to the thatched cottage out back, but too cold and windy to wander through the fields) and Clava Cairns (it had just closed when we arrived, but we were able to read the information plaques from the fence and see the site - with the weather that day and the trees not yet in leaf, it was very atmospheric and lonely - perfect!)
Day 3 (Tuesday) - Blair Castle this morning (since it turns out it is only open Tues. mornings on weekdays in the winter - we enjoyed the talk in the reception hall - I really enjoyed the mulled wine warmer! - and the tour was very interesting - the girls loved hearing about the needlepoint firescreens that were designed to prevent ladies' makeup from melting off their faces in the heat of the flame...). We then travelled down to Aberfeldy for lunch, thinking that we would take Sheila's recommendation about the scenic route home. After having roast beef and yorkshire pudding at the local pub - the Fountain - (the girls loved the men in the bar in their tweed knickers and caps cheering on the horse races...and the food was good and the fire in the fireplace was roaring - it was all good!)we decided we had travelled far too little in the itinerary at that point to make the rest of the scenic route reasonable so we veered up towards Castle Menzies and took the road along the north shore of Loch Tummel back to the motorway. This was a lovely drive, over the mountains, along the water, through pretty little towns, etc. but it was a very long day in the car for us (kids' main goal was to return to Aviemore to get a good swim in at the end of each day!)
Day 4 (Wednesday) - Husband had a hankering to see the sea today and since the sun was shining, we headed off to Elgin and Lossiemouth through Grantown-on-Spey. We wandered around Elgin for a bit and had lunch at a local tea room. Then we walked to the cathedral - we really enjoyed the ruins and I think even the kids were moved by the fact that it was abandonned 400 years ago! Lossiemouth was a cute little place and we tried to walk on the beach, but the wind was very high...so we found a little tearoom overlooking the water and had cream tea instead! The girls really embraced the notion of putting butter, then jam, then cream on scones (unheard of here!) and we all enjoyed the restorative effect of a good pot of tea! On the way home, we stopped in Grantown-on-Spey and husband found a fishing store and was able to purchase a special surf fishing rod he had been looking for, so everyone was happy!
Day 5 (Thursday) - The sun was shining and the sky was blue again, so we headed up to the Black Isle seeking some warmer breezes...We poked around in the little towns on the way to Cromarty and then stopped for lunch at a pub in Cromarty. We walked around the town - to the sea, to the lighthouse, to the bakery (are you detecting a family liking for sweets yet?!) - actually we bought the most amazing toffee bread at the bakery there!
Day 6 (Friday - last day) In the spirit of compromise, we agreed to spend a day at Rothiemurchus Estate (ie. minimal driving and horseback riding on Highland Ponies for the girls, fishing for Dad). The girls and I went horseback riding in the morning while Dad stayed back to do laundry (that's how much he dislikes horseback riding!) - the ponies are very well cared for and the guide, Jane, was very interesting - the girls were hoping for a more exciting ride (having ridden for transportation last year in Costa Rica), but I liked the slower pace just fine! Then we met up for lunch and dropped Dad off to fish for rainbow trout while the girls and I took a LandRover tour of the estate. This was a very interesting afternoon and turned out to be one of the highlights of the whole 3 week trip to the UK for the girls. My eldest adored the Highland Cattle with their shaggy hair and my youngest thought feeding the red deer was amazing. (I didn't tell her that the venison that she had eaten in Edinburgh the week before was from the herd at the Blair Castle Estate...) We drove out to see Loch an Eilean which I thought was so romantic and beautiful (the girls were less interested in viewing a ruin in the middle of a lake, unfortunately). Our guide Callum was very knowledgeable and very patient with the girls, and their questions, and their likes and dislikes. After the tour was over, we picked the angler up (he was in heaven, having caught and released about 15 rainbow trout walking up a lovely little river) and drove back to Grantown-on-Spey to get some packaging for the new rod. We took the shopkeeper's recommendation and went to the Garth Hotel for tea that afternoon and had a lovely time. The hotel was very quiet and we had the lounge to ourselves, but it was very warm and inviting.
So, we had a great trip, but I was disappointed to not see more of your beautiful country. Next time! We decided that while timeshare is wonderful for family holidays to ski resorts, cities and sun destinations, it is not great for the type of touring we wanted to do in the UK - driving to different places was great, but the trip home was tedious and long - much better to move from place to place and actually be able to spend an evening and wake up somewhere different, I think...
Thank you again for your help.
I laugh now when I look back at the day trip plans that we had...we found the driving times were considerably longer than we had anticipated (probably made worse by the fact that this was my first experience driving from the right side of the car on the left side of the road - I found it quite fun after awhile, but I must say mu husband never recovered! He's a bit of a backseat driver at the best of times so by day two, the girls and I relegated him to the back seat as my eldest daughter wanted to learn to navigate...)
Here's what we did (I will post this as a trip report in a more comprehensive document later on):
Day 1(Sunday) - snow day
Day 2 (Monday)- Loch Ness (cold and windy that day so took in the Loch Ness 2000 exhibit and skipped the boat tour - we thought it was pretty good and the kids really liked it...), Urquhart Castle (we enjoyed the movie at the interpretive centre and the ruins are very interesting), Battlefield at Culloden (again, enjoyed the interpretive centre and the movie, dashed out to the thatched cottage out back, but too cold and windy to wander through the fields) and Clava Cairns (it had just closed when we arrived, but we were able to read the information plaques from the fence and see the site - with the weather that day and the trees not yet in leaf, it was very atmospheric and lonely - perfect!)
Day 3 (Tuesday) - Blair Castle this morning (since it turns out it is only open Tues. mornings on weekdays in the winter - we enjoyed the talk in the reception hall - I really enjoyed the mulled wine warmer! - and the tour was very interesting - the girls loved hearing about the needlepoint firescreens that were designed to prevent ladies' makeup from melting off their faces in the heat of the flame...). We then travelled down to Aberfeldy for lunch, thinking that we would take Sheila's recommendation about the scenic route home. After having roast beef and yorkshire pudding at the local pub - the Fountain - (the girls loved the men in the bar in their tweed knickers and caps cheering on the horse races...and the food was good and the fire in the fireplace was roaring - it was all good!)we decided we had travelled far too little in the itinerary at that point to make the rest of the scenic route reasonable so we veered up towards Castle Menzies and took the road along the north shore of Loch Tummel back to the motorway. This was a lovely drive, over the mountains, along the water, through pretty little towns, etc. but it was a very long day in the car for us (kids' main goal was to return to Aviemore to get a good swim in at the end of each day!)
Day 4 (Wednesday) - Husband had a hankering to see the sea today and since the sun was shining, we headed off to Elgin and Lossiemouth through Grantown-on-Spey. We wandered around Elgin for a bit and had lunch at a local tea room. Then we walked to the cathedral - we really enjoyed the ruins and I think even the kids were moved by the fact that it was abandonned 400 years ago! Lossiemouth was a cute little place and we tried to walk on the beach, but the wind was very high...so we found a little tearoom overlooking the water and had cream tea instead! The girls really embraced the notion of putting butter, then jam, then cream on scones (unheard of here!) and we all enjoyed the restorative effect of a good pot of tea! On the way home, we stopped in Grantown-on-Spey and husband found a fishing store and was able to purchase a special surf fishing rod he had been looking for, so everyone was happy!
Day 5 (Thursday) - The sun was shining and the sky was blue again, so we headed up to the Black Isle seeking some warmer breezes...We poked around in the little towns on the way to Cromarty and then stopped for lunch at a pub in Cromarty. We walked around the town - to the sea, to the lighthouse, to the bakery (are you detecting a family liking for sweets yet?!) - actually we bought the most amazing toffee bread at the bakery there!
Day 6 (Friday - last day) In the spirit of compromise, we agreed to spend a day at Rothiemurchus Estate (ie. minimal driving and horseback riding on Highland Ponies for the girls, fishing for Dad). The girls and I went horseback riding in the morning while Dad stayed back to do laundry (that's how much he dislikes horseback riding!) - the ponies are very well cared for and the guide, Jane, was very interesting - the girls were hoping for a more exciting ride (having ridden for transportation last year in Costa Rica), but I liked the slower pace just fine! Then we met up for lunch and dropped Dad off to fish for rainbow trout while the girls and I took a LandRover tour of the estate. This was a very interesting afternoon and turned out to be one of the highlights of the whole 3 week trip to the UK for the girls. My eldest adored the Highland Cattle with their shaggy hair and my youngest thought feeding the red deer was amazing. (I didn't tell her that the venison that she had eaten in Edinburgh the week before was from the herd at the Blair Castle Estate...) We drove out to see Loch an Eilean which I thought was so romantic and beautiful (the girls were less interested in viewing a ruin in the middle of a lake, unfortunately). Our guide Callum was very knowledgeable and very patient with the girls, and their questions, and their likes and dislikes. After the tour was over, we picked the angler up (he was in heaven, having caught and released about 15 rainbow trout walking up a lovely little river) and drove back to Grantown-on-Spey to get some packaging for the new rod. We took the shopkeeper's recommendation and went to the Garth Hotel for tea that afternoon and had a lovely time. The hotel was very quiet and we had the lounge to ourselves, but it was very warm and inviting.
So, we had a great trip, but I was disappointed to not see more of your beautiful country. Next time! We decided that while timeshare is wonderful for family holidays to ski resorts, cities and sun destinations, it is not great for the type of touring we wanted to do in the UK - driving to different places was great, but the trip home was tedious and long - much better to move from place to place and actually be able to spend an evening and wake up somewhere different, I think...
Thank you again for your help.
Apr 5th, 2006, 02:15 PM
#5
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Your initial trip report was so enjoyable, Liz. It sounds like your girls are real troupers, and you guys balanced the family interests very well. Flexibility is always such an important part of traveling.
We took our first trip to Scotland in 1999 when my girls were 11 and 13. We did a two week circuit with anywhere from 1 to 3 nights per location, with the lodging set up in advance. It still involved a fair amount of driving. Every day I would pull out my notes and we would choose from what would be near our route. We got a taste of the country and an appetite for seeing more, especially islands and highlands.
We took our first trip to Scotland in 1999 when my girls were 11 and 13. We did a two week circuit with anywhere from 1 to 3 nights per location, with the lodging set up in advance. It still involved a fair amount of driving. Every day I would pull out my notes and we would choose from what would be near our route. We got a taste of the country and an appetite for seeing more, especially islands and highlands.
Apr 5th, 2006, 03:25 PM
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Sheila, it did seem funny to find a surf rod in inland Scotland...but it is a very long fishing rod (15' or so - breaks down into three 5' pieces) that is used for fishing over the surf from a beach - it's a very popular form of fishing in, for example, the Outer Banks in the U.S. - my husband carries one with him (much to my dismay, I can assure you) on all of our trips to any beach community just in case the opportunity arises to wet a hook...a dedicated angler, he is! He was so delighted to find one that he just had to buy it (that was his excuse anyway)...and then we carried it around for the rest of our trip through England, including the tube in London...but he was happy!
Apr 5th, 2006, 04:16 PM
#8
Glad you were able to make a great trip out of some pretty bad weather, etc.
One point tho'. Don't give up on time shares (or renting self catering cottages) in the UK. Aviemore would not be my choice of location and I understand your feelings (in fact I have turned down free stays there). But there are MANY better located resorts all over where you can get to tons of amazing sites w/o hours of to-ing and fro-ing.
One point tho'. Don't give up on time shares (or renting self catering cottages) in the UK. Aviemore would not be my choice of location and I understand your feelings (in fact I have turned down free stays there). But there are MANY better located resorts all over where you can get to tons of amazing sites w/o hours of to-ing and fro-ing.
