Traveling in July - We will be 2 nights in Edinburgh and then ----- ----
I am now second guessing my itinerary which is one night each in Grantown on Spey, Ullapool, Plockton and Oban before heading home from Glasgow. Should we do 2 nights in one of these towns? We would like to see castles, distillery (maybe 2), enjoy the scenery and enjoy a bit of shopping. I've noticed there is a festival in Loosiemouth which interests us. You have responded to us in the past and I apologize for revisiting my schedule but this trip is important to us and we need all the advice we can get.
Thank you!!

I don't think Ullapool is worth a night unless it's conveniently located on your route. We enjoyed our one night in Plockton; it has good hotels and good restaurants. But even that was probably unnecessary. More that 1 night definitely not.

Loosiemouth is a bit out of the way from what I deduce is your route. And Oban in itself is not a interesting destination. Are you going to Mull? Iona? Maybe stay on Mull.

Usually we try to stay in one place and make multiple daytrips from there. But driving trips in the Scottish Highlands lend themselves to one-night stops because there's usually not a lot to do at any one place, not a lot of roads leading off in all directions.

It's all a matter of perception, isn't it?

When you ask about doing 2 nights, is that by ADDING something or by replacing a night somewhere on this list with another night somewhere else?

On that route you have castles galore- take your pick of Loch Leven, Scone Palace, Huntingtower, Glamis, Crathes, Drum, Craigievar, Balmoral, Braemar, Corgarff- a randome sample depending on route- between Edinburgh and Grantown. Distilleries- probably Glenlivet. I don't go a bundle on the whisky but they do a mean tour. Balvenie as an alternative but you have to book. They have a floor malting.Oban or Talisker would be your second.

You just have to look out of the window to get the scenery. And you'll find good shopping in Brodie Countryfare, Gairloch, and Oban. Odd good shops scattered around elsewhere.

I don't know Lossiemouth Folk Festival, but it looks like fun. It's a hop skip and a jump from Grantown to Lossie. Why Grantown anyway?

Ullapool is a good place to stop if you decide to get off that endless triangle your compatriots are addicted to. It's a busy fishing port, with lovely scenery north and south.

Plockton is a little gentrified these days. You're not so likely to see coos in the street as once you were, but... pretty town; couple of nice pubs.

Oban is a good base for what's round about and there is a LOT round about. Busy port- main route to the islands.

Is there anything specific you want to check?

When I heard about the festival in Lossiemouth I thought it might be a fun time and maybe we needed to adjust our schedule to include it. We decided upon Grantown simply because I felt it was a doable drive our first night out of Edinburgh. How do you feel about the norther coast vs. western area? Part of me thinks we should just stick to our original plan and hopefully find other festivals along the way. Is there another town you would suggest on our first night out? Many thanks for your advice.

I had a thought about Festivals. Have a look here

http://www.musicinscotland.com/gigguide.htm

Check out the links on here (and keep an eye on it, since the diary is updated regularly)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radioscotland/f...ravelling_folk

And this

http://www.tmsa.org.uk/events/index.asp?offset=40

The north coast is the road less travelled, but it has its great beauties.

Excellent - will do and thanks!