brucen

Hi,

We are traveling to Scotland/Ireland in mid April and we welcome comments, advice on hotels, restaurants, scenic routes and sites along the route as well as suggested route changes to our proposed itinerary. What are the best castles along this route? We plan on leaving the car in Stirling to avoid driving in Edinburgh. Also considering buying a GPS for the trip.


Day1: Land in Inverness
Day 2: Overnight Inverness, get car
Day 3: To Island of Skye
Day 4: Overnight Island of Skye
Day 5: To Fort William
Day 6: To Stirling
Day 7: Overnight Stirling
Day 8: Leave car in Stirling, train to Edinburgh
Day 9: Overnight Edinburgh
Day 10: Fly to Dublin
Day 11: Overnight Dublin
Day 12: Get car, drive to Killarney via Adare
Day 13: Overnight Killarney
Day 14: Overnight Killarney
Day 15: To Shannon/London/Home

Looking forward to advice from the expert contributors to this board.

Thanks,

Bruce
Winnipeg, Canada

janisj

The way you lay out your itinerary is sort of confusing.

Day1: Land in Inverness <font color="blue"> Overnight Inverness</font>
Day 2: Overnight Inverness, get car
Day 3: To Island of Skye <font color="blue"> Overnight Skye</font>
Day 4: Overnight Island of Skye
Day 5: To Fort William (WHY Ft William?)
Day 6: To Stirling <font color="blue"> Overnight Stirling</font>
Day 7: Overnight Stirling
Day 8: Leave car in Stirling, train to Edinburgh <font color="blue"> Overnight Edinburgh</font>
Day 9: Overnight Edinburgh
Day 10: Fly to Dublin


So what you have is
2 days/nights Inverness
2 days/night on Skye
1 night in Ft William (I'd skip it entirely - you can pass through on your way SE w/ stopping)
2 nights in Stirling
2 nights in Edinburgh.

If it was me: I'd drop the night in Ft William and add it to either Edinburgh or somewhere near Inverness. I would not stay in Inverness but somewhere w/i 5 or 10 miles. I also would not stay IN Stirling but somewhere in the general area (Callander, Doune, Aberfoyle, etc). And finally I'd not drop the car in Stirling but in Edinburgh, or at EDI on your way into the city. There are things you can detour to see enroute from the Stirling area to Edinburgh. Driving in Stirling is no piece of cake. So if you are nervous about the driving - drop the car at EDI and take the cheap airport bus into Edinburgh city centre.

As for castles - you'll see many -- Eilean Donan, a great photo op but no need to go inside. Urquhart on Loch Ness. Stirling. Doune. Lots of others.

For the areas you'll be driving you honestly don't need a GPS. The roads are pretty straightforward and some GPS programming will get you into fixes. Just jet a good road atlas.

There are articles just about weekly in the UK press about lorry drivers and tourists getting stuck in farm yards or dead end roads by the &quot;GPS lady&quot;

crckwc1

agree with janisj -- drop car at Edinburgh airport.

caroline_edinburgh

Not wishing to be unkind, but your question is very broad. Have you done any research or read any guidebooks yet ? Reading a good guidebook would give you an idea of sights which might appeal along your itinerary. But here are some brief words of advice.

Neither Inverness nor Fort William is very nice - any particular reason to stay in either ?

You aren't even spending one whole day in Edinburgh ?

Bear in mind you may be here during the Easter holidays - Easter Day is the 12th but I'm not sure of the extent of the school holidays. Especially around the actual bank holiday weekend (Fri-Mon), roads may be more crowded , accommodation may get booked up (so book ahead if you want to stay in particular places) and flights to Dublin will probably be more expensive. Have you already booked your flight to Dublin ? If not I suggest doing it *now*.

brucen

I have done some research but was looking for confirmation I’m in the ball park, so far. Of course, I will continue to research, and will have gone through every guide book at the library by the time I am finished.

I thought a night at Inverness would give us a day to do Loch Ness and surrounds. Fort William was somewhat arbitrary so I could easily switch it. Dropping the car where you suggest, sounds like a good idea. Thanks for the tips re Easter, and thanks in general to all for taking the time to help me out.

Happy Traveling
Bruce