We have 5 days in Scotland. Would appreciate some opinions on our itinerary. <BR><BR>June 14th we land in Glasgow at 09:00 from the U.S. Worried about jet lag and adjusting to driving on the left, we don't plan on going far the first day. Our first overnight will be either Loch Lomond or Stirling. Which do you recommend?<BR><BR>Driving north, we plan to spend 2 nights (June 15 and 16) near Inverness. Our plan is to see Nairn, Cawdor, Forres, Kingussie, etc. We'll skip the touristy Loch Ness. Would it be feasible to squeeze in a trip to Skye?<BR><BR>Then we'll drive down to Edinburgh to see the city and overnight there the 17th. We fly to Dublin at 16:30 June 18.<BR><BR>We're 3 women in our mid-30s. We like castles, historical, pastoral, scenery, gardens, light walking. Driving an intermediate sized car. Any feedback would be appreciated!

You will have a hard time fitting Skye in to your itinerary. You could do it but it would mean hours of driving several days.<BR><BR>You indicate you don't want to see Loch Ness. But only the Nessie exhibit - which isn't actually on the Loch - is touristy and there is no reason to even stop there. Urquhart Castle on the Loch is very worthwhile.<BR><BR>Here is my suggestion: Drive to somewhere near Callander for the first night. It is near Stirling and there are many nice B&Bs in the area. I would drive directly to my B&B and relax for maybe an hour. then after lunch take the short drive over to Stirling and visit the castle.<BR><BR>next morning drive north through Glen Coe and along Loch Lochy and Loch Ness. Visit Urquhart - SKIP Nessie - and on through Inverness to somewhere near Nairn for the next 2 nights. Do not stay IN Inverness. From Nairn you can visit Culloden, Cawdor, Brodie Castle, Dufftown for the Whisky Distilleries, Fort George and Elgin. <BR><BR>Then drive down through Grantown on Spey and catch the A9 for the direct drive south to Edinburgh. The A9 links with the M90 at Perth and from there ist is a fast drive into Edinburgh. Drop the car off at the airport and take the shuttle bus to your hotel in the city center.

If you are willing to dedicate one full day to it, there is a wonderful bus tour from Inverness to the Orkneys. You catch the bus at the Inverness bus station around 8 am, travel up the coast (very impressive trip) to John O' Groats, leave the bus and walk on to take the ferry (45 mins) to Orkney, --keep an eye out for seabirds en route, we saw a couple of puffins as well as a seal in spite of rain and spray fogging the ferry windows--. In Orkney a bus picks you up, there's a stop at Stromness for lunch (hint: if you can possibly, pack something to eat so as not to waste the hour in Stromness waiting in an overcrowded restaurant) and then you go on to the Ring of Brodgar (stone age circle. Wow.), the town of Kirkwall (again, wow. The cathedral and palaces date to Viking times) and a distillery (more interesting than I had thought). You arrive back in Inverness after dinner time, approximately 8 pm I believe. Dinner is sandwiches on the bus which you order in the morning on the trip up.<BR><BR>This was a highlight of our ten days in Scotland last year. It would be a good substitute for Skye (unless Prince Charlie is the attraction, in which case you want to substitute Culloden!). If you can manage to see Nairn & Cawdor your first day in Inverness, then your second, full, day would be free.

Lovely plan.

Forgot to say-- travellers cheques very useful in Scotland. Any Bank of Scotland will cash them for you (unlike English banks, in England we had to seek out a Bank of Scotland or cash them at tourist sites). In Orkney especially we were glad of them b/c when I went to pay for an etching at the artists' co-operative, they could not accept VISA.

Hi Amy - <BR><BR>You could fit in Skye as a day trip if you didn't stay all the way up in Inverness. There is a really super hotel called Glengarry Castle on Loch Oich, which is just southwest of Loch Ness. Easy striking distance to Nairn, etc, and easy striking distance to Skye. Beautiful hotel in a beautiful setting.<BR><BR>I like the idea of staying in Stirling. Not crazy about Loch Lomond.

Firstly, if you're really concerned about jet lag I'd suggest heading to Loch Lomond first rather than Stirling. Basically, it's only about 30 minutes from Glasgow Airport and it is quite a nice area. What you could do as an alternative (once you've left the car at the hotel) is get to either Balloch or Helensburgh stations and get a train in to Glasgow. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of Glasgow, but you could have a good wander round the city centre, visit the West End (my favourite area, mainly because it reminds me of being a student...) where you can go to the Botanic Gardens just off Queen Margaret Drive.<BR><BR>Like Janis, I don't see why you want to miss out Loch Ness. Urquhart Castle is scenic and worth the trip. You could also visit Culloden, the site of the battle where Bonnie Prince Charlie lost to the English, and that way avoid the trip to Skye (on a practical point, it is a long drive and the roads aren't really what you would be used to in the US.)<BR><BR>Remember your drive to Edinburgh from Inverness is likely to take in the region of 4 - 5 hours. You might also want to stop at a couple of sights just off the A9 on the way down - Blair Atholl and the Pass of Killiekrankie spring to mind. Blair Castle (in Blair Atholl) is the home to the Duke of Atholl who is the only person in Britain to have the right to his own private army. The Pass of Killiekrankie is a sort of nature reserve (I can't think of a better description, I'm afraid) run by the National Trust for Scotland.<BR><BR>If you find time in Edinburgh, you could also visit the Botanic Gardens there - or use your time in the Castle.

I've spent several long (2-3 weeks) vacations in Scotland and I discovered that I much prefer the west to the east--with the exception of Edinburgh, which is lovely. The west has the more spectacular scenery, very friendly people, lovely castles, etc. Do you have family from the area around Inverness, so that you are particularly drawn to that area? <BR>But you can't do both, in five days, so Skye is too far. If you are interested in more west than east, write back and I'll give advice. Otherwise, I would suggest going to Stirling, where there is, yes, a castle, or maybe as far as Dunkeld, which is a charming little town with some excellent places to stay. <BR>Here is a website with an interactive map: http://www.aboutscotland.com/tour/<BR>It has a lot of good advice and very attractive pictures of places to stay, etc. (I once hiked up through Killiecrankie Pass from Dunkeld--that was wonderful.) Check out Ashintully Castle, where some friends of mine stayed, which is fairly centrally located, although somewhat to the west of where you have mentioned. <BR>The advice about staying away from Inverness should be taken seriously: it is the only place in Scotland I really try to avoid.

I also can recommed Callander as a great place to stay. I stayed at the Leny Lodge self catering, but they also run a b&b. On a farm just outside touw. The family runs a pub across tth street.<BR><BR>For castles, I especially like Threave Castle (search the site - I've wqritten about it several times) also Doune and Campbell which are near Stirling (can do all 3 in one day if you hustle)

That is you can do Stirling and Doune and Campbell in one day. Do Threave and nearby Caerverlock in another day.<BR><BR>From Callendar, Loch Ness is one very full day

While Threave and Caeverlock ARE wonderful, there is absolutely no way Amy could visit them on this 5-day trip. Both are in FAR SW Scotland. Amy wants to see the area around Nairn and Edinburgh which are very far from Dumfries/Galloway