Scotland Itinerary - Day trips from Stirling
May 7th, 2009, 05:38 PM
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 7
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Scotland Itinerary - Day trips from Stirling
A group of four will be staying in a condo in Stirling from September 5 to September 12. We will have a rental car. While we plan to spend time sightseeing and shopping in Edinburgh and Stirling, we are interested in day trips further afield. We have a special interest in visiting Macallan and Oban distilleries. We would appreciate comments on feasibility and routes and travel time from Stirling to:
Craigellachie
Oban
Loch Lomond
St Andrews
Islay
Other suggested day trip ideas welcomed.
Craigellachie
Oban
Loch Lomond
St Andrews
Islay
Other suggested day trip ideas welcomed.
May 11th, 2009, 04:30 AM
#2
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 8,159
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
You can't do Islay in a day. You're only in Scotland for a week, so I would write that off.
Craigellachie is a good 2 1/2 hour drive (ie 5 hours in the car in a day without any further messing about. Oban is about 2 hours, but you could put Glencoe into that trip.
You're only 45 minutes from Loch Lomond at the nearest point, but assuming you intend going all the way round you're back to about 4 hours again (In parenthesis, I drove up the west side of the Loch yesterday and Dante could have used that exercise in one of his circles of hell).
St Andrews is an hour and a half, and most of Fife, which is delightful, is en route.
Come back with your thoughts on this and I'll try to recommend more fully
Craigellachie is a good 2 1/2 hour drive (ie 5 hours in the car in a day without any further messing about. Oban is about 2 hours, but you could put Glencoe into that trip.
You're only 45 minutes from Loch Lomond at the nearest point, but assuming you intend going all the way round you're back to about 4 hours again (In parenthesis, I drove up the west side of the Loch yesterday and Dante could have used that exercise in one of his circles of hell).
St Andrews is an hour and a half, and most of Fife, which is delightful, is en route.
Come back with your thoughts on this and I'll try to recommend more fully
May 11th, 2009, 04:56 AM
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 7
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thank you! We have written off Islay and decided to hire a driver and guide for Craigellachie/Dufftown and stay overnight. Can you give us pointers for the east side of Loch Lomond? We may drive to Oban and back one day. Should we include Loch Lomond on that day? What are the don't-miss points in Fife?
May 11th, 2009, 02:00 PM
#5
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 8,159
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
On your Oban day go round the south end of Loch Lomond on the way there, and come back via Balquhidder.
In Fife, see Dunfermilne. Robert the Bruce, the hero king who won Bannockburn is buried here in Dunfermilne Abbey (although his heart is buried at Melrose in the borders); go back onto the main road and you will shortly come to Loch Leven, where Mary Queen of Scots was locked up in the castle on the island (v. romantic..the story of the escape- she then fled to her cousin in England for succour. She locked her up for 20 years then beheaded her.) You can take boat trips from Kinross.
Vane Farm Bird Reserve is on the other side of the Loch.
Then go due east to the coast. There are lots of other nice places, like Ceres, Falkland Palace, the East Neuk villages, Pittenweem, St Monans and Leven - a stretch of picture-postcard little fishing villages, with Anstruther, Crail, etc, leading toward St Andrews. For hiking, there's the Fife Coastal path that runs along the entire coast.
In Anstruther visit the fishing museum, then have the best fish in the world for your lunch. After that drive along the coast to Largo, home of the 'original' Robinson Crusoe. When Daniel Defoe wrote about Robinson Crusoe, he was writing about a real person. His name was Alexander Selkirk and he came from Largo in Fife. Defoe was an English spy up in Scotland in the 1700's and nicked the story. That area of Fife is well worth a visit
In St Andrews, take a trip underneath the castle in St. Andrews, Fife. It can be a bit of a squeeze so if you are claustrophobic then probably best to pass on this one. John Knox used to live in this castle - also get chance to see the bottle dungeon. St. Andrews with its ancient university, its cathedral (we do have a lot of them, don't we?) and the home of golf, the Royal and Ancient is seriously worth a visit. It has one of the best beaches in the world- the West Sands, which is where they filmed the opening sequence of Chariots of Fire- shame about the weather- and one of the best ice cream shops in the world (Jannetta's) apart from being a lovely little town.
Restaurants in the area which are very good would include the Ostler's Close in Cupar, the Cellar in Anstruther, the Cellar in St Monan's and the Peat Inn at Peat Inn.
In Fife, see Dunfermilne. Robert the Bruce, the hero king who won Bannockburn is buried here in Dunfermilne Abbey (although his heart is buried at Melrose in the borders); go back onto the main road and you will shortly come to Loch Leven, where Mary Queen of Scots was locked up in the castle on the island (v. romantic..the story of the escape- she then fled to her cousin in England for succour. She locked her up for 20 years then beheaded her.) You can take boat trips from Kinross.
Vane Farm Bird Reserve is on the other side of the Loch.
Then go due east to the coast. There are lots of other nice places, like Ceres, Falkland Palace, the East Neuk villages, Pittenweem, St Monans and Leven - a stretch of picture-postcard little fishing villages, with Anstruther, Crail, etc, leading toward St Andrews. For hiking, there's the Fife Coastal path that runs along the entire coast.
In Anstruther visit the fishing museum, then have the best fish in the world for your lunch. After that drive along the coast to Largo, home of the 'original' Robinson Crusoe. When Daniel Defoe wrote about Robinson Crusoe, he was writing about a real person. His name was Alexander Selkirk and he came from Largo in Fife. Defoe was an English spy up in Scotland in the 1700's and nicked the story. That area of Fife is well worth a visit
In St Andrews, take a trip underneath the castle in St. Andrews, Fife. It can be a bit of a squeeze so if you are claustrophobic then probably best to pass on this one. John Knox used to live in this castle - also get chance to see the bottle dungeon. St. Andrews with its ancient university, its cathedral (we do have a lot of them, don't we?) and the home of golf, the Royal and Ancient is seriously worth a visit. It has one of the best beaches in the world- the West Sands, which is where they filmed the opening sequence of Chariots of Fire- shame about the weather- and one of the best ice cream shops in the world (Jannetta's) apart from being a lovely little town.
Restaurants in the area which are very good would include the Ostler's Close in Cupar, the Cellar in Anstruther, the Cellar in St Monan's and the Peat Inn at Peat Inn.
May 12th, 2009, 04:16 AM
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 7
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
It is heartwarming to know that folks will take this much time and effort to pass along information to make our trip more enjoyable. We have purchased several travel books on Scotland but they do not begin to give such detail. Of course, that IS the reason for this site, isn't it! Thank you, thank you.
Trending Topics
May 12th, 2009, 07:04 AM
#8
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 7,313
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Another place to visit is Inchmahome Priory, on the Lake of Mentieth, not far from Stirling. It is a very serene priory on an island on the only Lake in Scotland, very beautiful.
In Callendar, you can stop by and see Hamish the Hieland Cow - he's a fixture
If you have a chance, try dinner at The Old Flax Mill near Killin. It is a fantastic Carvery restaurant, and the food is fabulous. You can pick and choose what you want for each course - a little bit of everything if you wish (hieland coo was even on the menu when we were there) and some simply sinful homemade desserts. Great atmosphere as well! Not cheap, but definitely worth it.
In Callendar, you can stop by and see Hamish the Hieland Cow - he's a fixture
If you have a chance, try dinner at The Old Flax Mill near Killin. It is a fantastic Carvery restaurant, and the food is fabulous. You can pick and choose what you want for each course - a little bit of everything if you wish (hieland coo was even on the menu when we were there) and some simply sinful homemade desserts. Great atmosphere as well! Not cheap, but definitely worth it.
