astein12

I could use some help with my Scotland itinerary. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. We are arriving on the morning of Tues, Sept 28 and departing on the morning of Sun, Oct 10. Basically works out to 12 nights. We are renting a car and are planning on spending most of the time in B&B's.

Let me know what you think? Also any suggestions on where to stay, where to eat, what to see would be great. If I can return the favor for similar driving treks in Ireland, New Zealand or South Africa, just let me know.

Day 1 - Arrive early AM. Drive to Aberdeen area via St. Andrews.

Night 1/2 - Stay two nights in Aberdeen area exploring northeastern area.

Night 3/4 - Stay two nights in the Inverness area.

Night 5 - Drive to Isle of Skye and spend the night (does this make sense or should I spend a day from Ardanaiseig to drive to Oban and take the ferry to some of the islands?).

Nights 6-10 - Ardanaiseig Hotel (arriving via ferry from Skye to Oban). Any suggestions on driving, hiking, sites, pubs for lunch, etc in this area are appreciated.

Nights 11/12 - B&B outside Edinburgh (already booked this one).

Thanks again for any help!
alan

Stellarossa

alan

What airport are you arriving at? I'd stay the night in St Andrews and make that do for the first day. It's a small town but worth dawdling over. Give you a chance to see the East Neuk of Fife as well(an old stamping ground for me).

St Andrews has the castle, the golf course, the West Port area, shopping, a bunch of cutesy alleys invariably with pubs at the end of them. Might strike lucky and find one without students - not sure if the University has started by then. Oh and that reminds me, the University is worth a look, too. Way too much for a 2 hour stop.

You done the garden route in South Africa?

astein12

Thanks for the advice... I'm flying in to EDI. I debated doing exactly as you suggested and staying in St. Andrews. I was trying to avoid moving around too much, so was thinking that I could probably be in St. Andrews by later morning and spend lunch plus much of the afternoon before moving on.

We did drive the garden route (Capetown down to Cape of Good Hope and then all the way up the coast to Grahamstown). If you need any info, let me know. It was a great trip.

Stellarossa

Alan

Could you email me?

[email protected]

I'd like to hear about the Garden Route; the wife and I are planning a South African trip for the near future.

I can also help you with your Scotland trip if you like.

regards

Tony

astein12

Tony,

Just emailed you regarding S.A.

Later!

sheila

What's this, Stellarossa? "the" wife?

You're roots are showing, man!

astein12, try the Redgarth Hotel in oldmeldrum for the Aberdeen stop off. What's the agenda there? Can a local help at all?

I wouldn't stay 2 nights around Inverness. 1 is bearable but then go west young man! OTOH, you MUST stay on Skye. But I've just bought you a day to do something out of Oban. The islands are all very different from each other.

astein12

Sheila,

Thanks for the info... no particular agenda anywhere yet, so any suggestions are appreciated.

Are you suggesting something like 2 nights in Aberdeen, 1 around inverness, and one or two on skye (or one on skye and one on Oban or on another of the islands)?

Thanks again for your help...

Jen

To echo Sheila, I would only stop one night in Inverness. I don't know what I was expecting, but was underwhelmed with the city in general. While the eastern Highlands were certainly nice, we found the western Highlands to be much more beautiful. I have not been on any of the islands.

I loved Edinburgh-- I would give yourself an extra night there. If you like Indian food, check out Far Pavillions in the New Town section.

Are you a golfer?

astein12

Jen,

Thanks for the info... I'm a golfer, but my wife isn't.

As for Inverness, I had this planned just so that we could do some of the touristy Loch Ness kind of things. Is there a better base for this?

Scheduling only allows me two nights in Edinburg, so I won't be able to change this.

ms_go

I agree with Sheila -- stay on Skye if you can. Take a drive around the Trotternish Peninsula. If you like hiking, the walk up to the Old Man of Storr (a little north of Portree) is fabulous in decent weather. Portree is a nice, colorful little town for lunch and some shopping; there are also many B&Bs there. We stayed in Uig, but I probably wouldn't recommend staying all the way out there if you are only on the island for one night. There also are some good hiking trails in the Cuillins; we just didn't have time.

While at Ardanaiseig, you are in striking distance of many interesting areas and some extraordinary scenery: Loch Lomond, Loch Fyne and Inveraray, Kilmartin Glen (ancient stone circles, carvings, etc.), and possibly even Glen Coe. We really liked Oban as well, but it is only about 30-45 minutes from Ardanaiseig; don't know if it is worth moving hotels for that distance, but it is nice for strolling in the evenings and there are some decent restaurants there. It would be a bit farther to get to Loch Katrine and Inchmahome Priory (Lake of Menteith), but that area is very nice as well. There is a very nice path along Loch Katrine where you can rent bikes or just go for a nice walk.

I agree with the others on Inverness. It is a nice town, but a bit big and not a lot to do in the town proper. You might look at some of the towns nearby, such as Nairn, which also has a beach on the Firth of Moray.

We covered a lot of the same areas that you will. We posted a trip report and photos, in case any of that is helpful.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...een_name=ms_go

astein12

ms_go,

Thanks for all of the info. I'll check out your thread.

I've done similar driving holidays in England, Ireland, New Zealand and South Africa and have never had as much trouble as I'm having now in deciding on an itinerary. Not sure why, but...

Thanks again,
Alan

ccrosner

My husband and I did a similar trip 12 years ago and I cried when we boarded the plane to come home (may have something to do with my strong Scottish heritage~). Others have given you good ideas. Will just add one. Instead of staying in Inverness, we stayed in Drumnadrochit (sp?) which is on the western shore of Loch Ness. Polmairy House was the name, I believe, and it was lovely. Then we went on to Skye.

Have a fabulous trip!

astein12

Thanks for all of the great information.

Maybe you can all answer a question for me: Does it make sense to head straight north from EDI towards the Loch Ness area and then spend the trip concentrating on the western half of Scotland (skipping St. Andrews/Aberdeen/Inverness)?

Seems that most of the recommendations are for the western side of things. My wife and I like outdoor kind of stuff (walking in towns, hiking, castles, historical sites, etc).

Thanks again!

KT

Just to confuse you, let me put in a word for the northeast. While not as dramatic as the west coast, it is really quite beautiful in a rolling-hill sort of way, and it has a high concentration of castles and archaeological sites (right, Sheila?). I've been to many parts of Scotland, and I've thoroughly enjoyed the NE, so I wouldn't automatically write it off.

astein12

Thanks KT,

I hadn't written it off yet... almost everyplace that we've been, we realized that we'd have to return to see things that we missed the 1st trip (the northern half of Ireland, more time on the north island of New Zealand).

So, I'm starting to think that maybe we do a more thorough trip thru the north and west and save the south and east for a later trip.

I'M SO CONFUSED!

ms_go

I agree with the previous poster. In 12 days, you should have some time to get a flavor of the east. I loved the western highlands, but I wouldn't skip the east. The rolling hills, the areas along the Dee and Spey and the Grampians are beautiful in their own right. We spent a few nights up near the Moray (about half way between Abdereen and Inverness) and really enjoyed things like Elgin cathedral and some of the ruined (Kildrummy) and non-ruined (Cawdor, Scone) castles in that area. If I was doing this, I would pick an area in the northeast (central to some of the things you want to see) for a few nights, then drive through Inverness and by Loch Ness on your way to Skye.

I can empathize with the difficulty of planning. There are just too many good things to do and see. But whatever you decide, it will be great.

starr

I was in St. Andrews in 2002, about the same week as when you will be there. I am an avid golfer so sitting on the steps of the old R & A was a must. Unfortunately registration was on the same day. We had a difficult time finding a place to stay and parking was a nightmare with all the students and their parents in town. I'd still go again though. The castle is great and my friend who doesn't like golf enjoyed herself too. I would just make sure to find out registration dates and try to avoid them.

astein12

ms_go,

How long is the drive from Edinburg to Elgin?

Thanks,
Alan

ms_go

We left the lot at EDI at about 11am and arrived at our hotel at about 6pm. In the interim, we spent about an hour and a half at Scone Palace and close to an hour at Kildrummy Castle. We also took some winding 'B' roads -- i.e., we weren't exactly in a hurry.

astein12

Thanks... that's about what I thought.

Any opinions on spending a couple of days near Elgin, a day near Loch Ness (we want to do the tourist Loch Ness kind of stuff) and then 2 days in and around Skye? Then on to Ardanaiseig and Edinburgh.

Would you recommend two nights on Skye or one night there and one night elsewhere in the area?

Thanks again... all of you guys/girls are awesome. I've always found that half the fun of traveling is the planning and they fodorite's are always a highlight of my planning.